PRESS MEMO ON: WORKING SESSION BETWEEN THE MINISTER OF STATE AND THE AUTHORITIES OF CEMENT FACTORIES BASED IN CONGO

The Minister of State, Minister of Economy, Industrial Development and Promotion of the Private Sector, Gilbert ONDONGO, this Wednesday, August 03, 2016 in his office, will hold a working session with officials of various cement plants located in the Republic of Congo.

These include, among others, the leaders of SONOCC (New Cement Company of Congo) based in Loutété in the department of Bouenza; from CIMAF (Ciments de l'Afrique) to Hinda in Kouilou, Forspak to Louvakou, near Dolisie in the department of Niari. In addition to these cement industry managers who already produce regularly, there will be other managers of cement plants still under construction. This is the case of Dangoté Cement, a vast site being finished in Mfila, in the Yamba district, Bouenza department; Diamond Cement in Mindouli in the Pool Department. Also present at this working session will be UNIBECO S.A. Company based in Pointe-Noire, specializing in the import and packaging of Cement.

This working session is an opportunity that the Minister of State, Gilbert ONDONGO offers to these cement companies to discuss with him the various problems related to their sector of activity. Among these is the thorny problem of unfair competition faced by local cement producers. Indeed, established or occasional importers of cement impose a kind of dumping which, if we are not careful, could jeopardize local producers in terms of job creation as well as their obligations vis-à-vis the State.
From customs sources, the Congo imported more than one billion two hundred and thirty thousand (1.230.262 .811) tons of cement in 2015. Between January and February 2016, the quantity of imported cement had already reached about one hundred and twenty-nine thousand tons (129.000 tons).

For more than a decade, the Congo has experienced an upward production of cement. This, thanks to the impetus given by the President of the Republic, Denis Sassou Nguesso, especially with his previous society project (The Way Forward) which, among others, put a particular emphasis on improving the living and working environment of the Congolese. This production would currently be around one million one hundred thousand (1.100.000) tons.

NB: this tonnage only takes into account the cement plants that already produce: SONOCC = 300.000t / year; Forspack = 300.000t / year; CIMAF = 500.000t / year.
 

Press Officer

DieudonnéTsyberge T.