Kate Roland

BUA Cement Plc has announced plans to build a 3-million-tonne-per-annum cement production line in Sokoto, in a $240 million expansion project aimed at strengthening its capacity and supporting infrastructure development across West Africa.

The new facility will be constructed in partnership with China’s CBMI, a long-standing engineering and construction collaborator. Once completed, the Sokoto line will raise BUA Cement’s total annual production capacity to 20 million tonnes, further consolidating the company’s leading position in Nigeria’s cement sector.

The agreement marks a continuation of a 15-year partnership between BUA Cement and CBMI. Over the years, CBMI has helped deliver 14 million tonnes of cement capacity across BUA’s plants in Obu and Sokoto, underscoring the strength of their collaboration.

L-R: Zhang Wanjun, CBMI Deputy Director of Marketing; Finn Arnoldsen, Chief Operations Officer, BUA Cement Plc; Yusuf Binji, Managing Director, BUA Cement Plc.; Fengtao Geng, Assistant General Manager, CBMI; Zhang Sicai, Chairman CBMI Construction Ltd., Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman, BUA Cement Plc; Tian Bao, Nigeria Regional Manager CBMI; Chikezie Ajaero, Chief Financial Officer, BUA Cement Plc; and Yang Zhi, CBMI Vice General Manager.

Strategic Advantage in North-West Nigeria

Sokoto’s location in Nigeria’s North-West gives BUA Cement a strategic advantage as the region’s only cement plant, positioning it to meet growing domestic demand and supply neighbouring landlocked countries with construction materials.

Energy-Integrated Expansion

The project will be supported by a 700-tonne-per-day mini LNG plant currently under construction in Kogi, which is expected to supply reliable, cleaner energy to the new Sokoto line and existing operations. This integration of energy infrastructure reflects a broader trend among Nigerian manufacturers to co-locate power generation with industrial facilities, improving efficiency and reducing emissions.

With this expansion, BUA Cement is reinforcing its role in Nigeria’s industrial growth and regional infrastructure development, while advancing a more sustainable model for heavy manufacturing.