₦airaland Forum

Why Dangote Cement is cheaper outside Nigeria

Dangote has openly said that the price differential between his exporting cement and what Nigerians pay domestically is primarily caused by Nigeria's high tax and regulatory burden.

During a press conference with members of the press on Monday, exporting permits his company to avoid a variety of taxes that would dramatically increase production expenses at home.

“When you look at my invoice, the cement I export is cheaper than the one I’m selling domestically, because that’s how exports work… in export I’m saving a lot of money, I’m not paying 30% income tax, I’m not paying 2%, education, I’m not paying 1% health, I’m not paying 7.5% VAT, and I’m not paying 10% withholding tax.”

By eliminating these costs, the Nigerian billionaire noted that he would be able to price Nigerian cement competitively in global markets against producers from Turkey, Russia, and China.

In fact, Nigeria's fiscal framework makes it cheaper to sell locally produced items overseas than at home, reflecting deeper structural flaws in the economy.

“So when you reduce all these taxes, I can afford to go and compete with the international market, with the likes of Turkey, Russia, and China,” he stated.

The implication is clear: Nigerian consumers bear the cost of high taxes, various levies, and regulatory inefficiency. While local production is sometimes marketed as a remedy to high pricing, Dangote's experience demonstrates how policy decisions can undercut that goal.

https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/africas-richest-man-dangote-finally-explains-why-his-cement-is-cheaper-outside/6wxq2ge

His bringing PMS price down cos his refinery monopoly was been challenged by the cabals who wanted to frustrate him.
However,when BUA reduced price of cement, he didn't see the need to toe same path , been the highest producer of cement.
It's just unfortunate they busy reasoning is off ,despite the huge volume of raw materials within the country.

Moderator working overtime.

Government and Dangote, both needs to be come clean

The challenge with Bua cement is availability.

yinkus6750:
His bringing PMS price down cos his refinery monopoly was been challenged by the cabals who wanted to frustrate him.
However,when BUA reduced price of cement, he didn't see the need to toe same path , been the highest producer of cement.
It's just unfortunate they busy reasoning is off ,despite the huge volume of raw materials within the country.

By the time tinubu finish dealing with this country everybody eye go don clear. Tinubu plan is to end Nigeria and sell it on temu before 2027.

Same reason why some imported goods end up cheaper than locally produced ones.

Good2go1:
Why Dangote Cement is cheaper outside Nigeria



https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/africas-richest-man-dangote-finally-explains-why-his-cement-is-cheaper-outside/6wxq2ge

Government should also allow importation of cheap cement, so that he can concentrate on selling outside the country.

Dangote is talking nonsense. Complete jazz. But it's still from this heavily taxed domestic market that you became Africa's richest man.

There is always something to hold when capitalists want to deceive and lie. Now it is no more lack of power and electricity. There was a time that was the mantra, no power, no electricity. Now it's taxes.

Haba.

Freshandfitpod:
Moderator working overtime.

He is really trying hard to brainwash us all. The above explanation makes zero sense.

Does this mean with the new tax reform coming this 2026, Are we to brace up for another increase in the price of cement in the country?

Na wa ooo.

yinkus6750:
His bringing PMS price down cos his refinery monopoly was been challenged by the cabals who wanted to frustrate him.
However,when BUA reduced price of cement, he didn't see the need to toe same path , been the highest producer of cement.
It's just unfortunate they busy reasoning is off ,despite the huge volume of raw materials within the country.

una go just dey cap opata

yinkus6750:
His bringing PMS price down cos his refinery monopoly was been challenged by the cabals who wanted to frustrate him.
However,when BUA reduced price of cement, he didn't see the need to toe same path , been the highest producer of cement.
It's just unfortunate they busy reasoning is off ,despite the huge volume of raw materials within the country.

He is actually right about the taxes. He just disclosed the strategy he adopted to stay afloat and use export to sustain his business locally. There's one Important strategic benefit I believed he left out deliberately and that is forex as hedge.

It's important to listen and learn from folks like him if you are teachable.

The so-called PMS importation cabals got themselves in a ditch they dug for themselves. They were myopic, lazy and lacking in vision that borders on lack of patriotism.

At some point in time, especially during the subsidies era, they were making so much huge profits that IPMAN bought out Mobil and changed to 11 Plc. They still had so much billions left and instead of investing the money to build refinery, they started buying up hotels upandan. They bought Capital Hotels Plc and took it private. They bought one of the most iconic hotels on Victoria Island, Lagos and continued on hotels buying spree!
There's one disgraceful interview by their M.D where he boasted that they will buy more hotels and I was so disgusted because I knew it was coded money laundering.


They never knew that a Nigerian would be audacious to build a refinery let alone build the largest single-train refinery in the world!

The cabals underestimated Nigeria and Nigerians. They should go and sell those hotels and use the funds to build their own refinery. If they don’t do it and keep thinking they can blackmail us with the monopoly nonsense, they are wasting their time!

They have just seen kesekese, kasakasa is still coming. Tell them in your WhatsApp group o.

[quote author=Awesome01 post=137870746]Does this mean with the new tax reform coming this 2026, we need to brace up to another increase in the price of cement in the country?
U Don see m

So if the next tax regime kicks off wetin go happen?
I see no reason why what you produce locally should be more expensive than its price abroad if not for subsidy or African magic.

Truth is it will be great if prices of cement can come down significantly. The recent cost of housing from like last year hasn't been a joke for both renters and builders.

I personally fell it can still be cheaper but "capitalism" always takes care of "itself" first.

I also feel that fuel from the refineries should be around #500/litre but we won't get that unless there's a significant drop in prices internationally, or our production surpasses the need of the west African market

Monopoly give one apple opportunity to detect or fix price unchallenged.

Even without monopoly. Market Unions are the same too but not as bad as monopoly.

If your product is good and cheaper you dont need any fight to the extent of calling someone out.

The Chinese dominance today is because their product are cheaper and better compared to others.

Telling government to ban importation because of your refinery is insensitive. Is like Innoson telling government to ban import of vehicles.

We ban import of rice and other food item because of farmers look at where we are today. Cheap local rice which no one want before became expensive than foreign rice.

I blame Obj for withdrawing Ibeto Cement Licence: his cement were stronger & even cheaper, but unrepentant & exploitative monopolist called Dangote did everything to frustrate Ibeto. We don't trust him & he knows.

Who else enjoys getting USD at cheaper rate than Dangote? Nigerians are Yet to benefit from such gesture. Yet he complains like when a woman wants to blackmail you with crocodile tears.

Restore Ibeto Cements Licence, and allow others, & see prices of cement crash!

Bat&co had better be kiaful with Dangote when it comes to Oil&Gas no matter the shareholdings he may want to use as baits!

Ño Nigerian billionaire is that selfless,concerning the cement it is a private business,regulatory agency should license people for cement importation,strangulating the cement economy out of macroeconomy you are immeasurable beneficiary is half sensible and cruelty.But I want nkalagu cement company revamped,south south governors are on stealing spree the cement issue is none of their business.

Freshandfitpod:
By the time tinubu finish dealing with this country everybody eye go don clear. Tinubu plan is to end Nigeria and sell it on temu before 2027.

What an abuse! The creator that gave you a functional brain wants you to use it! Read through what you just wrote, do you think you are being fair to your creator who chose to give you a functioning brain?

This situation reveals several important insights about Nigeria's economic structure and trade policy:

Tax burden distortion: The cumulative tax load (30% income tax + 2% education + 1% health + 7.5% VAT + 10% withholding tax = roughly 50.5%) significantly inflates domestic prices. This makes locally-produced goods less affordable to local consumers than to foreign buyers who don't bear these costs.

Perverse incentive structure: The tax system inadvertently encourages manufacturers to prioritize exports over domestic sales. When it's more profitable to sell abroad than at home, it undermines the goal of making locally-produced essentials affordable and accessible to Nigerians.

Structural economic challenges: This goes beyond Dangote's cement business—it reflects broader issues with Nigeria's fiscal framework. The country appears to be taxing domestic consumption heavily while subsidizing exports through tax exemptions, which is unusual for a developing economy still building infrastructure.

Policy misalignment: If the government's goal is to make basic goods like cement affordable for national development (roads, housing, infrastructure), the current tax structure works against that objective. High domestic prices limit construction activity and economic growth.

Competitiveness paradox: While Nigeria can compete internationally by waiving taxes on exports, its own citizens pay premium prices. This suggests the tax system needs reform to balance revenue generation with domestic affordability and economic development.

The fundamental question this raises: Should a country's tax policy make it cheaper for its own producers to serve foreign markets than to serve their own people?

Every sensible and unbiased Nigerian knows that theses taxes by the FGN on locally made goods make us suffer, by buyng things costly. It is the Nigerians that are bearing the consequences of all the taxes government collects from local production companies which ordinary citizens pay indirectly.As if that was not enough, they are coming back with new tax laws come 2026. May Allah deliver Nigerians.

Now you see why the government have been quiet about the cement price. Even data price, I use airtel anytime i visit india and pay 200 rupees(3,500 naira) per month for almost unlimited data. But if you go to airtel india office that you would like to take the same sim and same data plan to nigeria, they will charge you a roaming fee of about 200k naira per month.

Does Nigeria government knows about it YES they do. The same airtel , different pricing, guess who owns the difference , the government !!!

Dangote will kill himself with his recent "cho cho cho". Tinubu will soon leave, and the next government will simply increase export tariff to encourage domestic sales.

Government is subsiding exports to encourage forex inflow. But if Dangote does not want to use his upstairs to know that the additional profit from export should be used to subsidise domestic production, then, he should be taught a big lesson. Rubbish.

Yes, I appreciate alhaji, but it seems he wants to keep enjoying low or zero tax for everything he does, and wants to justify high costs for everything when he enjoys so many incentives. By the time export tariffs go up, he will find the right step to take.

It is just obvious that government's policy is actually making Nigerians poorer and hungrier according to Dangote...but I have known this for quite some time.

So, let me get this straight: The Nigerian government has successfully turned its own citizens into a "poverty ATM" to fund their luxury lifestyles, while the rest of the world gets our resources at a discount?

​The math is simple but wicked:

​Foreigners: Get cheap cement because they live in "serious" countries.

​Nigerians: Pay for the 30% Income Tax, 7.5% VAT, and the "Education Tax" (for schools that are always on strike anyway).

​We are literally subsidizing the development of other nations while we can't afford to put a roof over our own heads. This isn't just "fiscal framework"; it’s economic sabotage sanctioned by the state.

If u sell it at a cheaper rate will u not still be the richest black man even though ur profits will reduce small?

Whatever rubbish they do in this country, they will always find a way to justify it....
When the news made in the Internet,I remember this same dangote denied it...
And now he has explanations for it

So Dangote doesn't pay income tax on cement exports?

If that's the case, then the government has to find a way to make the price lower in Nigeria. It's embarrassing that what we produce is being sold cheaper outside the country than here. That means there's more incentive to produce for export than meet local needs which should actually be prioritized.

P

yinkus6750:
His bringing PMS price down cos his refinery monopoly was been challenged by the cabals who wanted to frustrate him.
However,when BUA reduced price of cement, he didn't see the need to toe same path , been the highest producer of cement.
It's just unfortunate they busy reasoning is off ,despite the huge volume of raw materials within the country.

Nobody stopping you from buying from China and Russia

It is cheaper there

I am surprised that nobody could even try to discern a very important point in what this man is saying along with its implications going forward from 2026.
Excess TAXES!!
You can imagine a local manufacturer paying tax of over 40% and passing it on to the consumers. The Inflation is inevitable!!

Now imagine how this will affect the prices of goods and services going forward from 2026 with the enforcement of the new tax law.
Thats some serious inflation brewing up there.
And we are just docile about it instead of being proactive.
Make Una wake up ooh!
Tax should not be more than 10% of PBT, in a country like Nigeria with enormous natural resources than most countries in the world.

What do we even benefit as citizens of this country?