Dangote cement factory in Dakar

Dangote Cement revised its 2015 spending plans to $1 billion from the $700 million estimated nine months ago after commissioning two new African plants in June, Nigeria’s biggest listed company said on Friday.

The company, also Africa’s biggest cement concern and majority-owned by billionaire Aliko Dangote, has embarked on an expansion outside its home market and invested more than $5 billion in such projects in the past few years.

Dangote Cement said the contribution to sales outside its dominant Nigerian home market grew to 14 percent of total revenue by June 30 from 3 percent a year ago. It expects an increased contribution from its operations in Senegal, Cameron, Ethiopia and Zambia by the second half of the year.

Dangote Cement commissioned operations in Ethiopia and Zambia last month, the company said in a presentation. It expects to begin production in Tanzania in September.

The clinker and limestone mixer said it had spent 100 billion naira ($502 million) this year by June 30. It budgeted to spend $1.4 billion as capital expenditure in 2014.

Gross debt increased to 309.2 billion naira by half-year from 242.6 billion naira in December, as it increased borrowing to fund capital expenditure.

Dangote reported a 20 percent rise in first-half pretax profit on Thursday.

Separately on Friday, Dangote Industries Ltd announced that its planned $9 billion oil refinery, with projected production of 650,000 barrels per day, would receive a $997,443 grant from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to fund training.

The refinery is expected to come onstream in Nigeria, Africa’s top crude producer country, by the first quarter of 2018, the company said. Nigeria for decades has been hindered by a lack of refining capacity.

The company’s shares are down 14.7 percent this year but gained 0.29 percent on Friday to 171.50 by 1231 GMT.

In Africa, Dangote Cement faces intense competition especially from arch rival Lafarge Africa, which combined its South Africa operation with its publicly traded Nigerian business last year to accelerate growth on the continent.

*Reported by Reuters