Lafarge Holcim’s current Managing Director for West and Central Africa, Emmanuel Rigaux has been working in Africa for more than five years. Former country leader for Zambia and the DRC, he illustrates the ambitions of his group in this interview conducted on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum.
What does the West and Central Africa zone mean for LafargeHolcim in terms of country presence and investments?
It is an area that includes Francophone African countries with an industrial presence in 4 of these countries, namely Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Conakry, Cameroon and Benin. In addition, there is a commercial presence, notably in three of these countries, Mali, Chad and the Central African Republic. The zone is above all an extremely ambitious project development portfolio in the next three years to lead us to clearly establish our leading position in French-speaking Africa.
What is the dynamics of the cement and building materials market in the area?
there are two fairly clear trends. On the one hand, a fairly dynamic West African market (WAEMU zone) with strong growth and, next to it, a slower zone of Central Africa. The countries of the CEMAC zone will certainly take two years to rebound.
Can we safely say that growth in the cement and building materials market is mirroring the GDP growth curve?
Exactly. We would even say that not only does the growth in the consumption of building materials reproduce the GDP curve, but it amplifies it, generally being between 2 and 3 points above the rate of economic growth. In short, the consumption of cement is an indicator of economic health.
Investment in the sector has increased in recent years. Is French-speaking Africa now self-sufficient in cement?
This is almost the case. Each of the countries in the zone has developed a national production. The risk is now reversed and arises in terms of overcapacity. Imports of Chinese cement still practiced in some countries have been considerably reduced.
What about the standards and quality of cements produced in Africa. Is there a clear normative framework?
The framework exists but not enough in my opinion. Our policy in this area is to systematically raise the standards in all countries where we are present. This is not necessarily the case for all our competitors. It is important that the standardization agencies and relevant ministries ensure that the cements are up to the required standards. The same goes for the quality and safety of infrastructure and housing. We are for the respect of the standards on the cement and the quality of concrete, blocks or bricks. On this point, the market seems heterogeneous.
Your group stands as a leader in West Africa. Is it in terms of investments made and investments planned?
It can be said without fear. We have just doubled our production capacity in Côte d’Ivoire to 2.5 million tonnes. We will double our production in Guinea and Cameroon in the next 18 months. We will also announce the entry into industrial production in at least two countries. Today we are the fastest growing cement plant.
The press reports cement imports from Algeria to West Africa. What is it?
I do not know the situation in Algeria very closely. There are indeed residual problems of overcapacity. There will certainly be clinker imports to West Africa. This is normal since there are a number of countries including Côte d’Ivoire that do not have clinker. However, there is the possibility of substituting imported clinker with local materials. We are working on it and I firmly believe that in the coming years, there will be a significant proportion of local materials in the cement produced in Africa.
What will be the impact of the recently signed Continental Free Trade Area (CAFTA) in Kigali on your activities?
The CAFTA means significant progress for African economies. For us, who have a number of production sites in various countries, this will allow us to improve the service to countries, like our factory in northern Cameroon which could cover Chad and the Central African Republic. It would be important for this free movement to be in the direction of reducing clandestine exports.
