Dangote Gives Distributors 150 Free Trucks to Boost Cement Distribution

Dangote Cement Plc has rolled out over 150 new trucks to ease the distribution and availability of cement across the country, noting that this move by the company was to help distributors service their customers, deliver the products in a timely manner and also take distributors, businesses to the next level.

The Group Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Oare Ojeikere, explained that the trucks were going to come at no cost to distributors, saying that all that was required was for the distributors to reach a certain volume of sales in three years and get the trucks for keeps.

Ojeikere during the redistribution fleet empowerment programme in Lagos said, “We will be giving away 150 trucks in all, this is just one phase. Our biggest customers will get 20 tonnes trucks to ease their burden while the next category of customers will get 15 and 10 tonne trucks. This is really about helping distributors service their customers, how to help you get the products in a timely manner. This scheme is about you and how to ensure we get your businesses to the next level. All we ask for is for the distributors to use them to service their retailers for three years to a certain volume and get the trucks for keeps.

According to him, “This scheme is about empowering our partners and ensuring they have what they require to get their products to their customers. In the current dispensation where exchange rate has more or less ballooned out of proportion, making it increasingly difficult for people to invest in new trucks, but our business is powered by the ability to get cement to the retailers and the end-users.”

He pointed out that in the past nine months, the group has embarked on different initiatives to improve the profitability of its partners, noting that its partners who drove growth, bought more and were also very aggressive in distribution, were rewarded for their diligence.

“We want to assure our partners that those who continue to drive growth will continuously get rewarded for their efforts. We have also made cement more affordable because our per capita cement consumption and with the huge housing deficit of over 18 million, we believe that if we are able to bring down the price of cement, we can drive much greater velocity in the amount of cement to be consumed in the country,” he said.

In his words, “We want to change the way we engage with our partners in progress. One of the commitments we have made for ourselves as a business, is that we want to ensure that our partners in progress serve as extension of our business. If you require trucks to get cement to the end users, we are looking for how we can participate to make it worth your while. This is really about ensuring that in whatever form that a customer wants to get their product from the retailers, with the trucks, we can service them optimally. We are doing a number of things in trying to change the way we do business with our partners.”

He stated that the company led an initiative by bringing down the price of cement from N2000 to N1400 which powered a significant growth, adding that the group is growing compared to previous year by as much as 100 per cent.