Dangote Cement Plc has unveiled plans to empower some stakeholders in the Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) value chain as part of its contribution to global environmental preservation.
The company made this known in a statement signed by Mr Francis Awowole-Browne, Corporate Communications Officer, Dangote Industries Ltd., on Wednesday in Lagos.
Head, Alternative Fuel Project, Dangote Cement Plc, Engr Peter Anagbe, said during a visit to Irewole Local Government Area, Osun, that the company was committed to ascertaining the needs of the community and empowering them.
Anagbe added that the move was part of the company’s strategies to shore up and sustain availability of PKS as waste, which is co-processed in the cement kiln to recover energy.
He said the company had instituted periodic value chain analysis and community engagements with the PKS waste collectors as well as the palm oil millers in communities across Nigeria.
Anagbe explained that the visit was necessitated by the shift in global attention to alternative fuel sourcing, expected to contribute to the realisation of ‘zero emission’ and ‘zero waste’ concepts.
He added that alternative fuel could be produced from other agricultural wastes, municipal wastes, commercial and industrial wastes, thereby contributing to minimise waste to landfills.
“This whole drive is to explore avenues to empower them to bolster production which in effect would lead to sustainable generation of PKS to be co-processed in the cement kilns, leaving zero waste,” he said.
Also, Head, Sustainability, Dr Igazeuma Okoroba, told the community that the company was desirous of ensuring sustainable collection of waste materials as PKS, to improve the environment and act as a source of livelihood for them.
He urged the people to always look at alternative value adding opportunities to waste, taking a cue from the PKS which hitherto was openly incinerated as waste, leading to environmental pollution.
One of the community leaders, Elder Hammed Adekunle, said the main stay of the community’s economy was palm oil milling and that the use of PKS for co-processing, offered them opportunity to expand and diversify.
He said the community would appreciate any support from Dangote Cement to enable them acquire modern machines to process the palm oil and in turn, generate PKS.
“The entire process of getting PKS from the harvesting of palm tree involves as much as 30 people depending on the volume of the palm tree being harvested.
“This visit means Dangote cement values us as a critical stakeholder in the value chain of ensuring zero waste-to-landfill by evacuating the waste palm kernel shell (PKS),” he said.
Also, the Dangote team met with various stakeholders within the Ikire hub, Osun, during which the actors in the value chain enumerated the challenges faced by them while trying to collect the waste from different locations.
Meanwhile, Dangote Cement Plc, has ramped up production at its newest plant, in Okpella, Edo, as its earnings per share rose by 16.8 per cent to N6.18 for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022.
Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Cement, Mr Michel Puchercos, made this known in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos.
Puchercos said the move to increase production at the Okpella plant was part of the company’s efforts to increase cement supply in Nigeria and ensure timely supply of products in the South-South and Southeast geo-political regions.
He added that analysis of the company’s first quarter results indicated that it sold a total volume of 7.2 metric tones (Mt) with Nigeria accounting for 4.8Mt and the rest of Africa; the balance of 2.4Mt.
He said the company started the first quarter on a positive note in spite of uncertainties brought by a very volatile global environment.
He stated that increases were recorded in revenue and profitability that drove strong cash generation across the Group.
According to him, profit after tax rose to N105.9 billion, up 18 per cent compared to last year’s while Group earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to N211.0 billion, up by 18.6 per cent with an EBITDA margin of 51.1 per cent.
“On the operational side, we are ramping up production at our Okpella plant and are progressing well to deploy grinding plants to Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.
“Demand remained strong across all markets, and we remain confident that Dangote Cement is positioned to meet customers’ expectations despite these temporary challenges,” he said.
He added that the company, in continuing its efforts to deliver shareholder value had completed the second tranche of its buyback programme.
Puchercos said following the completion of both tranches, Dangote Cement had bought back 0.98 per cent of its outstanding shares.
According to him, the share buy-back programme reflects the company’s commitment to finding opportunities beyond dividend to return cash to its shareholders.
“The volatile international context is strengthening our efforts to ramp up the usage of alternative fuels and execution of our export-to-import strategy.
“Reducing our dependence on imported inputs and making our markets self-sufficient has never been more relevant from a regional perspective.
“Our continuous focus on efficiency, meeting strong market demand and maintaining our costs leadership drives our ability to consistently deliver superior profitability and value to all shareholders,” he said.
