Lafarge, Dangote to benefit from 2,193km roads construction projects

Lafarge Africa Plc and Dangote Cement Nigeria may be getting huge contracts from the Federal Government for the construction of 2,193 kilometres of roads proposed in the 2016 budget as the National Economic Council (NEC) considers concrete roads option.

BusinessDay gathered the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo-led NEC has begun serious consideration of concrete roads construction in preference to asphalt roads for the proposed millions of dollars road construction projects across the country this year.

A source close to NEC meeting in Abuja recently told BusinessDay that the Council considered seriously the award of contracts to local contractors and multinationals operating in the country and that construction materials would be sourced locally which favours concrete roads construction.

Osinbajo who is the NEC chairman muted the idea of concrete roads construction in preference to asphalt roads at the 2016 Ogun State Investors’ Forum where he advised the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, to include concrete roads in the scheme of construction this year.

The Vice-President, in his remarks at the forum, speficically advised the minister to consider concrete roads construction in the scheme of work this year, saying, “Lafarge and Dangote are already pioneering concrete roads across the country”, hence government should support them.

Speaking on the preparedness of major cement companies for the proposed concrete roads construction, Mark Aibangbee, concrete road project manager at Unicem-Lafarge Africa Cement Plant, Mfamusing in Calabar, Cross River State, declared that the next and cheaper option for roads construction was concrete.

Aibangbee, who was justifying Lafarge’s investment of N12 billion and N700 million, in concrete roads construction at Unicem, Mfamosing in Calabar and Ashakacem, Maiganga in Gombe respectively, assured that concrete roads would surely solve Nigerian problems in roads infrastructure and create huge employment for Nigerians.

He said, “without maintenance, the concrete roads can last for 25 years, but with proper maintenance, concrete roads can last for 100 years, though we don’t have much of these roads in Nigeria except the pioneers in Nkalagwu and the rest. For those we have seen in advanced countries, concrete roads last for 165 years.

“It will reduce costs and what we call local content is more in concrete roads than asphalt roads. Bitumen is used for asphalt roads and this is an imported commodity that is very costly and adds to the problem of Forex we have in Nigeria now.

“If government decides to construct all roads with concrete, Lafarge has all it takes and government will save a lot in terms of foreign exchange used to import Bitumen for roads construction. Water and oil, such as diesel reduce the strength of bitumen but increases the strength of concrete.

“And Lafarge plants can cater for all roads if government decides today to adopt concrete roads construction. I can tell you that Unicem-Lafarge can take care of roads in the South-south and South-east let alone Ewekoro, Sagamu, Ashakacem and Altas plants”, he assured.

Ashif Juma also said the next option was concrete roads as against the asphalt roads which are more reliable option and solution to infrastructure deficit, saying concrete roads will save Nigeria about 23 percent production cost.

AG-Dangote Construction Company Limited, a partnership between AG and Dangote Group, specialises in construction, says it is ready for government’s contracts on concrete roads construction, disclosing that it had already begun experimenting with 2km roads between Ibese and Itori in Ogun state.

“I am almost two years in Nigeria, I think the option for concrete roads would be the solution to the infrastructure problem in Nigeria. In our study, what we found out was that concrete was less expensive than asphalt, almost 23 percent. And also, we have time frame for the project, we build concrete roads in less time”, Juma said.

“The important thing in Nigeria is about maintenance.‎ With concrete roads, you don’t need to spend so much money on maintenance. If you can see, in some countries that we built concrete roads like Brazil, Portugal, India, the concrete roads can last for 40 years. So, it is a good option for Nigeria to build concrete roads. To build concrete road is the same way that you build the asphalt road”, he added.

RAZAQ AYINLA