Dangote, Chinese firm partner in N31.5bn truck assembly plant

The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, is going into partnership with a leading Chinese company, National Heavy Duty Truck Group Company Limited, SINOTRUCK to assemble trucks mainly used for haulage business.

A statement made available to New Telegraph yesterday said the decision to go into the project was informed by the need to conserve foreign exchange in view of the current economic recession facing the country.

The project, which is worth N31.5 billion ($100 million), and expected to have an assembly plant that will produce 10,000 trucks per year, was signed in May 2014 in China, making it the eighth of such to be built abroad.

According to the agreement, the plant is 60 per cent owned by Dangote Group, trading under Dangote Industries Limited, leaving SINOTRUK with the remaining 40 per cent equity stake.

To make way for the plant in Ikeja area of Lagos, Dangote Agro Sacks Limited, which occupies the Oba-Akran Ogba premises of the former Nigerian Textile Mills, has been relocated closer to the group’s major operational hubs, particularly the cement plants in Obajana, Kogi State and Ibeshe, Ogun State.

The assembly plant is expected to generate employment for an estimated 3,000 workers when fully operational. The statement described Nigeria as one of the most important markets for SINOTRUK, with Dangote Group operating the largest truck fleet in Africa with over 10,000 trucks for the distribution of its products.

New Telegraph reports that the Chief Corporate Communication Officer of Dangote Group, Mr. Anthony Chiejina, confirmed that the project had taken off. Chiejina stated that when the plant becomes fully operational, the nation would be spared the huge amount of forex spent in the importation of the heavy-duty vehicles.

According to him, “there will be room for expansion of the project in years to come as it meets the national truck demand. It will also explore exportation to neighbouring countries to generate foreign exchange for the nation.”

He said the Group President, Dangote, had always believed that the current economic challenges, when approached positively, would make Nigeria stronger at the end of the day.

“Dangote still believes that Nigeria is one of the best places in the world to do business.” The automobile assembly plant is also coming ahead of another landmark project, a $17 billion 650,000 barrels per day capacity Dangote Refinery, petrochemical and fertiliser plants located in Lagos, which is expected to begin operations in the next two years with over 300,000 direct and indirect jobs by first quarter of 2019.

Read more: https://newtelegraphonline.com/news/dangote-chinese-firm-partner-n31-5bn-truck-assembly-plant/