The Zimbabwean government is under pressure from Zimbabwean cement majors to increase tariffs on imported cement, to reduce impact on local manufacturers.
Dangote Cement, Nigeria’s most valuable company, is a major cement importer into the Southern African country.
According to Bloomberg, Zimbabwe’s cement industry has called on the government to impose tariffs on imports from international manufacturers including Dangote Cement.
The Cement and Concrete Institute of Zimbabwe asked the government, in a presentation on Wednesday, to impose a tariff of $50 (N49,250) on every metric tonne of cement made at a lower cost in other countries and then sold in Zimbabwe.
The institute added that the local industry in the country had enough to meet the country’s demand, adding that Zimbabwe’s demand is expected to grow by as much as three percent to 1.17 million tonnes in 2016, compared with installed capacity of 1.85 million tonnes.
The institute further argued that cement manufacturers in countries such as South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia are taking advantage of lower manufacturing costs.
In the midst of all these, Dangote lost $2.4 million to prevailing economic realities, the Bloomberg billionaire index shows.
Dangote, who is currently the 51st richest man in the world, is worth $15.1 billion, making him richer than Donald Trump, America’s Republican prospective presidential nominee, and TV personality, Oprah Winfrey put together.
Dangote Cement had revenue of N491.7 billion ($2.49 billion) in 2015.
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