Cement prices threaten Nigeria's economic recovery
Nigerian property developer Olawale Ayilara is grappling with spiraling costs.
He's CEO of LandWey Investment, which is building 12,000 homes across 14 sites in the affluent Lekki district of Lagos.
But the price of cement is soaring - raising concerns that construction, seen as crucial to the recovery of Africa's largest economy, is being impeded.
''It has a large effect in what the price of building development will be right now in Nigeria and it is a lot of problems because already prices are really really skyrocketing but this is due to…there is nothing the developers can do actually but this is due to the raw materials of the likes of cement and then some other things.''
Ayilara says cement prices rose by over a third in November.
Lawmakers blame the dominance of three large firms.
Dangote Cement, founded by Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, has 60.6% market share, Lafarge Africa - 21.8%, BUA Cement - 17.6%.
That monopoly stems from an import ban that has been in place for most of the last 20 years.
Its aim was to develop self sufficiency in cement production.
Joachim MacEbong is a senior analyst at Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence.
''The fast way will be to allow import of cement into the country, the slow way will be to invite other cement players, the bigger cement players who are more efficient with regards to how they run their plants and so on, and who can over time bring down prices down.''
Nigeria emerged from its second recession in four years in late 2020.
A third of the labor force is unemployed.
Ayilara says the government needs to intervene.
''Monopoly or not, I feel that the government they, are still a very big player in regulating some of these things and they have to come to the table and then make sure that they do what is fair by everybody.''
Last month Nigerian lawmakers urged a loosening of licensing restrictions to create the competition needed to drive down prices.
The ministry of industry, trade and investment did not respond to a request for comment on those calls.
相關影片推薦
- 2:21花9千網購買到假貨 利菁PO文揭兩步驟追款華視影音22,368 次觀看・7 小時前
- 1:44「阿姨 妳拿我的雞腿幹嘛」 抓包婦人偷雞腿TVBS新聞網影音39,490 次觀看・9 小時前
- 2:41日本90年代奇葩真人秀 諧星被迫全裸關房間逾一年 20年後紀錄片回顧創傷歷程Yahoo奇摩(國際通)15,942 次觀看・16 小時前
- 1:4131歲接家業! 殷琪婚姻兩度觸礁又未婚生子民視影音444,629 次觀看・1 天前
- 1:28兒媳搶家產 打人 還趕公公出門? 竹北紅布條引熱議東森新聞影音79,232 次觀看・9 小時前
- 1:35已婚男帶女子住高檔摩鐵 突然猝死妻錯愕|#鏡新聞鏡新聞2,722 次觀看・5 小時前
- 2:18乖乖存穩穩賺 鎖定「含金湯匙」ETF進擊的荷包55,356 次觀看・2 天前
- 1:18具荷拉鉅額遺產媽媽拿不到! 判決出爐網友狂讚:遲來的正義娛樂星聞421,045 次觀看・3 天前
- 1:59測試「帝王條款」?黑衣男擋列車90秒 將被罰款.移送華視影音1,958 次觀看・12 小時前
- 1:24志效綜藝玩哏「子瑜道歉事件」引眾怒 陶晶瑩不忍發聲:快變冷凍水餃娛樂星聞10,354 次觀看・10 小時前