Dangote Cement dismisses claims of posing unfair competition in the Volta Region

Dangote Cement Ghana Limited has dismissed suggestions that its imports are posing unfair competition against Diamond cement in the Volta Region.

“We don’t think we are competing unfairly. It is fair because we are operating under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS). Within the ECOWAS region", the Sales and Marketing Manager, Joseph Kwabena Abu, spoke with JOY BUSINESS.

Some youth of Aflao in the Volta Region earlier Thursday morning demonstrated against the Nigerian cement company for importing cement to Ketu South.

According to them, this has created unfair competition for the local cement manufacturer, Diamond Cement which has consequently planned to cut down on production from 5,000 to 3,000 tonnes a day and also dismiss some workers.

But Dangote Cement Ghana has denied this.
"We pay the right duties based upon the rules of the ETLS and we are not with-holding any tax so I don’t think its unfair. For Diamond Cement as they are fighting, they started bringing their goods from Togo in the year 2000 and nobody raised an alarm.

"We also have the Chinese bringing goods from China and I can provide the evidence they are rather dumping goods in Ghana yet no alarm is raised. Its only an attack on Dangote. We are sure we are doing business on fair grounds.

"We sell from our factory in Tema but we have some of our customers who buy from Tema and send it back to the Volta Region because they also have customers there” he said.

The agitated youth who demonstrated earlier today want government to stop Dangote from importing the product to Ketu South. But Mr. Abu says they should rather welcome the competition because it is in their own interest as consumers.

“Every manufacturer in Ghana has the right to sell in any region. Volta region is not exclusive for one particular company. In Tema we have other factories producing and this product goes allover Ghana. Every manufacturer should embrace competition and the competition is good for the employees or the youth in that community because it makes it more possible for you to be employed and treated better by other companies” he said.