FIVE days ago, specifically on Monday February 19, 2024, the Federal Government and the cement manufacturers in the country met over the escalating prices of the commodity nationwide.
During the meeting, the Federal Government was represented by the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, among other officials.
The cement manufacturers were Dangote Cement Plc; BUA Cement Plc , and Lafarge Plc Africa. During the meeting, Umahi lamented that the current rate of cement , being sold at retail shops – N13,000 to N15,000 per bag, was abnormal and detrimental to economic prosperity sought after by the current administration.
The cement manufacturers answered that the soaring increase was caused by the high cost of gas, high import duties from their spare parts, bad road network and, the high FX rate.
The meeting ended with a plea from the government to the cement Manufacturers to sell a 50kg bag of cement at a retail price between N7,000 and N8,000, depending on location nationwide. Also, the government advised manufacturers to set up a price monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance with the prices that are set at the meeting.
” Umahi lamented that the current rate of cement , being sold at retail shops – N13,000 to N15,000 per bag, was abnormal and detrimental to economic prosperity sought after by the current administration.”
The manufacturers willingly accepted to do that and sanction any of their distributors or retailers found wanting.
The meeting concluded with an agreement to reconvene in 30 days (March 19) to assess the progress achieved.
“We will continue as a government to collaborate with the industries to deepen our engagements with them and remove bottlenecks to have smoother operations and the benefit of the backward integration program is enjoyed and felt by every citizen.
Nigeria stopped importing cement since 2012 and there is no reason why we should be experiencing the kind of issues we are having in cement pricing,” said Doris Uzoka-Anite.