₦airaland Forum

bentenny:
It's about production cost.
The cost of locally producing a single item in Nigeria is extremely expensive compared to other countries around Nigeria.

This is why most imported products dominate the Nigerian market despite humongous taxes on such products.

So if raw materials are in your backyard, cost of production will be more expensive?

It's a shame that cement sells in Nigeria at a double of Africa's cement price.
In a saner clime, government regulates the price of critical commodities but that's not the case in Nigeria. If it becomes impossible to tame the private capitalists, then government should open the market for ready vendors to flood the market and the price will forcefully come down.
This is where the Nigerian government H
CONTINUEDS TO FAIL THE PEOPLE.

fineboynl:
Dangote cement in Ghana Benin and Togo is cheaper and they are exported from Nigeria.


Let me tell you something. Those countries already have a competition market before dangote break in so. In Nigeria we just run things as we like here. Bribing and corruption. Middle men and criminal minded.

The exploitation has chain reaction. House are costly now. Rent skyrocket as a result of the chain reaction. The economy is now so choked and destroyed.

Capitalist or whatever for one men to inspire to be so rich is not for we Africans. Certain things will not work here. We should look towards china and Indian. Wages are very low and we are coping capitalism

Capitalism does not work anywhere.

I don't know how Africans go to America, see the abundance, then see the visibly homeless and decide that is a good system.

China is going through the same, their homeless crisis has boomed.

Kingpele:
The government is still after Peter obi and looting public funds, they're not aware that dangote wants to use Nigerians to overtake Elon mask

Everything na Peter Obi una nor dey ever get anything meaningful to say.

jmoore:
I bought a bag of cement in Aba last two weeks for 12,000 naira.

The cost of producing things in Nigeria is expensive.

If rice is not being imported, we will buy a bag of rice for 100k.

But that is all what government is about.
To organise society.
You and I as individuals cannot do anything to save ourselves on this matter

But when we come together as a people we put a few individuals in office as leaders and empower them to do justice.

This we have consistently failed to do.
They get there and instantly become pals with the same folks who they are supposed to supervise and invariably work against the interests of the majority.

This is the tragedy of Nigeria.

ccollins:
Terrible wickedness of Nigerians to their fellow Nigerians. It's sad that many Nigerians do not see good things for being called Nigerians apart from the evil tribalism discrimination

The evil tribalism that also runs in your blood.

Sam8891:
[WHY THE PRICES DIFFER SO MUCH

1. Energy — kilns run on coal, petcoke or gas. Algeria and Egypt have cheap domestic energy and sit at the bottom. Anyone importing energy for their kilns pays more, full stop.

2. Local vs imported clinker — an integrated plant grinds its own clinker locally and is shielded from freight shocks. A grinding-only market imports clinker and eats freight and currency risk at the same time. That's a big reason East Africa runs pricier than North Africa.

3. Freight and landlocked penalty — inland transport adds real cost per kilometre. Uganda, Zambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and near-landlocked DRC pay an estimated extra $1–3 a bag just moving it inland. DRC is the worst case on the continent.

4. Exchange rate (and a correction people keep getting wrong) — a lot of people blame the naira. That's not it. The naira was actually appreciating over this period. Nigeria's Works Minister pinned the price on producer pricing power, not currency. FX is a real driver in Zimbabwe and Kenya — it's just misapplied to Nigeria.

5. Producer concentration — fewer producers, higher prices. Nigeria is the textbook case: Dangote and BUA dominate, and we lead the continent on price despite having surplus capacity. South Africa's big three do something similar. Egypt, Algeria and Morocco (where CIMAF forces real competition) price lower because supply is either state-linked or genuinely competitive.

6. Government taxes in different forms, that have increased astronomically under Tinubu and APC government that loots rather than employ well paid civil servants to provide enabling environment for businesses to flourish.

We had cheap energy before 2015 when Tinubu begged Buhari out of retirement to make Jonathan a one term president, thereby ending 16 years of PDP prosperity, peace and stability with cheap dollars and low debt, that was built on privatisation and deregulation policies.

Has any nairalander ever bought petrol for N70 or less since may 2015

anonimi:
Petrol should never cost more than N70 per litre, says APC

January 19, 2015

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as mere tokenism the reduction of petrol price from N97 to N87 per litre, saying the petroleum product ordinarily should sell for N70.

On Sunday, the federal government announced the reduction of petrol price, citing the fall of global crude oil price.

But the APC through Lai Mohammed, its spokesman, on Monday accused the government of making a show out of deceit, saying “a 10.3 per cent slash in the price of petrol was a mere tokenism at a time the price of crude oil has crashed by about 60 per cent”.

It argued that the pump price of a litre of petrol should not be more than 70 Naira, alleging that at N87 per litre, the government was forcing Nigerians to subsidise the massive corruption in the oil sector by N17 for every litre of fuel.

https://www.thecable.ng/petrol-never-cost-n70-per-litre-says-apc/

Which kind nonsense writeup be dis, some reporters should never be seen anywhere near the job reporting.
No specific details, just throwing around figures here and there.
You can't even do a basic research of top 2 or 3brands per nation for like 10countries and give specifics

If dangote is not declared wanted, arrested,,tried and sent to prison or better still be exiled, don't ever believe that Nigeria will ever come close to Ghana and Cameroon in anything apart from insecurity and corruption

bentenny:
It's about production cost.
The cost of locally producing a single item in Nigeria is extremely expensive compared to other countries around Nigeria.

This is why most imported products dominate the Nigerian market despite humongous taxes on such products.

With respect, that assumption is incorrect. How else do you explain Nigerian-made cement being exported and sold more cheaply in Ghana?

mmsen:
Capitalism does not work anywhere.

I don't know how Africans go to America, see the abundance, then see the visibly homeless and decide that is a good system.

China is going through the same, their homeless crisis has boomed.

Capitalism works BETTER than communism and its softer variant of socialism.

Are there no homeless people in communist and socialist countries of extreme poverty paupers?
Is life better for Russians, Indians and Chinese people now than when they were having the government own and run businesses

Atlantian:
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Socialism principles: All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. Could not be any simpler than that. These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Can you think of a reason for not sharing this?
Neither could I.

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anonimi:
Neo-black Problem: Must Blacks Be Ruled by Whites in Order to Prosper?

In short, the neo-black dilemma may be framed as follows: is it better to live under white rule without political dignity but with basic life-sustaining standards for many;

or to live under black rule with illusory political dignity and without basic life- sustaining standards for the majority?
@
@
The path forward for Africa lies in cultivating higher and adequate levels of personal and communal agential integrity as well as full personal responsibility and productivity. Not to mention creativity (including epistemic creativity), productive justice (such as merit and freedom), harmony and reconciliation at local and international levels, and a proper domestication of capitalism and other related values and institutions.

Africa must stop wasting her time on dreams of socialism because it is a system of wealth distribution primarily. Whereas, capitalism is a system of wealth creation primarily, and wealth has to be produced before it can be distributed.

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2024/10/12/neo-black-problem-must-blacks-be-ruled-by-whites-in-order-to-prosper/

Bitter Obi supporters posted this
Bag of cement is 11k here
Oya convert it to dollars

Sam8891:
Cement For ₦15,000 While The Rest Of Africa Buys Cheaper — See The Numbers

If you've priced a building project in the last two years, you already know the pain. A bag of cement that should be a routine line item has become a whole budget event. I put together the numbers across 20 African countries. Nigeria is verified from a news report, most others are structural estimates (marked clearly so nobody quotes me wrong). Long read, but worth it.

WHAT'S CONFIRMED

Nigeria: The Guardian reported on 7 July 2026 that a 50kg bag sells for about ₦15,000, and called it "nearly double Africa's average." At ₦1,382–1,425/$1, that's $10.53–10.85 a bag. And this is happening despite Nigeria having a cement GLUT — we produce more than we use.

Tanzania: The Citizen reported manufacturers pushing prices toward Sh18,000/bag (9 July 2026). I couldn't verify a clean USD conversion so treat that one as unverified, roughly $6.50–7.50.

Ghana: CemNet reported cement inflation at NEGATIVE 14.5% year on year as of 26 June 2026. No exact cedi price was in that report, so ignore any specific figure floating around — the confirmed part is that prices are falling there, not rising.

If Nigeria's price is "nearly double" the continental average, that puts the African average around $5.30–5.70/bag. We're paying roughly 85–105% above that.

THE FULL 20-COUNTRY SPREAD
(USD per 50kg bag, mid-2026. Only Nigeria is verified, Tanzania's conversion is unverified, everything else below is a structural estimate — not a quoted price.)

West Africa
- Nigeria — $10.53–10.85 (verified) — producer pricing power, glut notwithstanding
- Ghana — inflation −14.5% YoY (unverified price level) — easing
- Côte d'Ivoire — $6.50–7.50 (estimate) — coastal hub, branded premium
- Senegal — $6.00–7.00 (estimate) — import + regional producers
- Cameroon — $6.50–7.50 (estimate) — dual factory + import
- Mali/Burkina/Niger — $8.00–10.00 (estimate) — Sahel logistics, import dependence

East Africa
- Tanzania — $6.50–7.50 (unverified) — manufacturer hikes, clinker import
- Kenya — $6.50–7.50 (estimate) — imported inputs, FX pressure
- Uganda — $5.50–6.50 (estimate) — landlocked, supplied via neighbours
- Ethiopia — $5.00–6.00 (estimate) — state-linked integrated plants
- Sudan — $8.00–10.00 (estimate) — conflict-disrupted supply

North Africa
- Egypt — $4.50–5.50 (estimate) — big local capacity, cheap gas
- Algeria — $4.50–5.50 (estimate) — state-linked integrated plants
- Morocco — $6.50–7.50 (estimate) — CIMAF hub, coal energy cost
- Tunisia — $5.00–6.00 (estimate) — mature local industry

Southern Africa
- South Africa — $6.00–7.00 (estimate) — mature oligopoly
- Zambia — $5.50–6.50 (estimate) — power-cost pressure
- Zimbabwe — $7.00–8.50 (estimate) — FX disorder, power shortage
- Angola — $5.00–6.00 (estimate) — oil revenue offsets import
- Mozambique — $5.50–6.50 (estimate) — coastal, regional trade
- DRC — $8.00–9.50 (estimate) — near-landlocked, logistics penalty

Continental weighted average is roughly $5.30–6.50/bag.

WHY THE PRICES DIFFER SO MUCH

1. Energy — kilns run on coal, petcoke or gas. Algeria and Egypt have cheap domestic energy and sit at the bottom. Anyone importing energy for their kilns pays more, full stop.

2. Local vs imported clinker — an integrated plant grinds its own clinker locally and is shielded from freight shocks. A grinding-only market imports clinker and eats freight and currency risk at the same time. That's a big reason East Africa runs pricier than North Africa.

3. Freight and landlocked penalty — inland transport adds real cost per kilometre. Uganda, Zambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and near-landlocked DRC pay an estimated extra $1–3 a bag just moving it inland. DRC is the worst case on the continent.

4. Exchange rate (and a correction people keep getting wrong) — a lot of people blame the naira. That's not it. The naira was actually appreciating over this period. Nigeria's Works Minister pinned the price on producer pricing power, not currency. FX is a real driver in Zimbabwe and Kenya — it's just misapplied to Nigeria.

5. Producer concentration — fewer producers, higher prices. Nigeria is the textbook case: Dangote and BUA dominate, and we lead the continent on price despite having surplus capacity. South Africa's big three do something similar. Egypt, Algeria and Morocco (where CIMAF forces real competition) price lower because supply is either state-linked or genuinely competitive.

THE OWNERSHIP MAP HAS QUIETLY CHANGED

Most people are still arguing about this with outdated info. In the last 12 months:

- Lafarge Africa — still called a Holcim company by a lot of people — was actually acquired by Huaxin Cement of China in August 2025.
- Bamburi Cement (Kenya) went to Amsons Group of Tanzania in 2025–2026.
- Dangote Cement is still Dangote Industries.
- BUA is still BUA Group.
- CIMAF runs out of Morocco across West Africa.
- Heidelberg Materials still holds North/Southern Africa footprint.
- Suez Cement (Egypt) sits under Titan Cement International.
- Mugher (Ethiopia) is state-linked.
- PPC and AfriSam (South Africa) remain domestic.
- East African Portland Cement has been rising in Tanzania under Edha Nahdi.

The old "Holcim and Lafarge run African cement" story is dead. Chinese and Tanzanian capital now sit where European names used to be.

WHAT THIS MEANS IF YOU'RE A BUYER OR INVESTOR

Shipping finished bags across borders to arbitrage the price gap doesn't work — cement is heavy and low-value (about 1.5 tonnes per cubic metre), and freight plus handling alone eats $0.80–1.50 a bag before inland logistics finish the job.

Also correcting myself here — clinker moves across borders not because it's "higher value" than finished cement, it's actually the opposite. Clinker is the lower-value semi-finished input; it trades on bulk and shelf-life, not on value density.

The real openings are: clinker/grinding supply into deficient markets, energy-efficient kiln and packing tech into high-margin markets like Nigeria and DRC, agency deals with low-cost producers, and low-carbon certification once the EU's carbon border rules reach construction materials.

BOTTOM LINE

A documented glut plus a near-double-average retail price is the signature of pricing power, not scarcity. Ghana shows the alternative — prices actually falling because the market structure allows it. Nigeria's price doesn't have to stay this high if competition and distribution improve.

It's not the naira. The minister said so, and the currency moved the other way while prices climbed. The real question: in a country that makes more cement than it uses, why is the citizen paying almost double the African average?

Sources
- Guardian Nigeria, 7 July 2026 — "Despite glut, local cement price nearly doubles Africa's average"
- The Citizen (Tanzania), 9 July 2026 — cement prices toward Sh18,000
- CemNet, 26 June 2026 — Ghana cement inflation −14.5% YoY
- Billionaires.Africa, 3 June 2026 — Nigeria cement sector Q1 2026 profit
- eciks.org — Abdul Samad Rabiu comments on BUA pricing
- Exchange rate ₦1,382–1,425/$1, July 2026

If you have the real factory-to-retail landing cost, drop it. If your state buys cheaper or dearer than ₦15k, say so with location. If you're in the industry and can confirm or correct the ownership list, floor is yours.

Doing business in Nigeria is expensive and unfortunately the cost is reflected in cost of goods and services. It starts from security, hailing customer to get a tip, to shady employee short charging business, to business owner wanting opulent lifestyle, to landlord unrealistic rent, to security operatives collecting money from those moving goods, to taxes to government interference to etc.

mmsen:
Capitalism does not work anywhere.

I don't know how Africans go to America, see the abundance, then see the visibly homeless and decide that is a good system.

China is going through the same, their homeless crisis has boomed.

it creates a huge gap between rich are poor housing becomes unaffordable. The results is massive crime rates and prostitutions as we are seeing in Nigeria lately.

Hold your government responsible. They make more money from cement than the manufacturers do in profit

The single reason why cement is more expensive here than elsewhere is because the government banned its importation during OBJ's tenure.

Open the gates again and the price would crash. The importation of petrol has prevented excessive profiteering that has characterised cement.

But most west Africa country still come to buy from Nigeria

jmoore:
I bought a bag of cement in Aba last two weeks for 12,000 naira.

The cost of producing things in Nigeria is expensive.

If rice is not being imported, we will buy a bag of rice for 100k.

This is the first constructive reply today.

The rest are just wailing.

bentenny:
It's about production cost.
The cost of locally producing a single item in Nigeria is extremely expensive compared to other countries around Nigeria.

This is why most imported products dominate the Nigerian market despite humongous taxes on such products.

production is one but the main problem is multiple taxation on the companies,how can government be taking more than 40% from the big companies and you expect the company not to pass the burden to consumers.

EdiskyHarry:
Nigeria is a failed state. The only area Nigeria is currently doing better than other countries is Mass killing of innocent people, corruption, borrowing and kidnapping.

ong bro..is just terrible that most of us in this country will unalive one day without experiencing what a good governance is in our life time

boxypane:
How you buy 15k thing come smuggle am go sell for 8k....

Because the demand is low in Nigeria due to the extreme price, people can't afford it

Bat naira devaluation after subsidy removal declaration in 2023 is Genesis of these !

If he had held naira at N700 -N800 while floating it (bridging of black market and official rate) things would have been a lot better.

anonimi:
Capitalism works BETTER than communism and its softer variant of socialism.

Are there no homeless people in communist and socialist countries of extreme poverty paupers?
Is life better for Russians, Indians and Chinese people now than when they were having the government own and run businesses


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Bro the system being run currently in Nigeria does not resemble capitalism at all

What we have is capitalism abuse
Or mockery of capitalism.

bentenny:
It's about production cost.
The cost of locally producing a single item in Nigeria is extremely expensive compared to other countries around Nigeria.

This is why most imported products dominate the Nigerian market despite humongous taxes on such products.

Nigeria has a cheap labour, so also the locally sourced materials

/
There is no reason a bag of cement should be less than N20k in Nigeria. Let the consequences of corruption be adequately shared.

/

I am not surprised. FG removed subsidy on virtually everything in Nigeria therefore prices are determined by market forces while other countries are still subsidizing. Common ,what do you bexpect from a country where only one man- Dangote is allowed to monopolize the country? Not long ago Nigerians from all walks of life were clamouring for Dangote to be sole supplier of petroleum products to Nigeria because he built a refinery. Some even called for total abolition of importations of refined petroleum products into the country even advocating for scraping of the NNPC to allow monopoly. Why now the cry.

chatinent:
For people like me that's more interested in the Naira conversion:

West Africa
1. Nigeria — ₦14,552–15,461 (verified) — producer pricing power, glut notwithstanding
2. Ghana — inflation −14.5% YoY (unverified price level) — easing
3. Côte d'Ivoire — ₦8,983–10,688 (estimate) — coastal hub, branded premium
4. Senegal — ₦8,292–9,975 (estimate) — import + regional producers
5. Cameroon — ₦8,983–10,688 (estimate) — dual factory + import
6. Mali/Burkina/Niger — ₦11,056–14,250 (estimate) — Sahel logistics, import dependence

East Africa
7. Tanzania — ₦8,983–10,688 (unverified) — manufacturer hikes, clinker import
8. Kenya — ₦8,983–10,688 (estimate) — imported inputs, FX pressure
9. Uganda — ₦7,601–9,262 (estimate) — landlocked, supplied via neighbours
10. Ethiopia — ₦6,910–8,550 (estimate) — state-linked integrated plants
11. Sudan — ₦11,056–14,250 (estimate) — conflict-disrupted supply

North Africa
12. Egypt — ₦6,219–7,838 (estimate) — big local capacity, cheap gas
13. Algeria — ₦6,219–7,838 (estimate) — state-linked integrated plants
14. Morocco — ₦8,983–10,688 (estimate) — CIMAF hub, coal energy cost
15. Tunisia — ₦6,910–8,550 (estimate) — mature local industry

Southern Africa
16. South Africa — ₦8,292–9,975 (estimate) — mature oligopoly
17. Zambia — ₦7,601–9,262 (estimate) — power-cost pressure
18. Zimbabwe — ₦9,674–12,112 (estimate) — FX disorder, power shortage
19. Angola — ₦6,910–8,550 (estimate) — oil revenue offsets import
20. Mozambique — ₦7,601–9,262 (estimate) — coastal, regional trade
21. DRC — ₦11,056–13,538 (estimate) — near-landlocked, logistics penalty

Continental weighted average is roughly ₦7,325–9,262.

You sat down, did an estimated cost to make comparison with Nigeria - what kind of statistical data or inference are you drawing on unverified data and information?
I guess you have achieved your aim, which is to attract criers' attention - they are already shedding premium tears under the incomplete data analysis. If you meant well, it doesn't cost anything for you to get an accurate measurable data. Even the price quoted for Nigeria isn't correct. All just to get an attention, keep people cursing and hopeless.

greatiyk4u:
Restore IBETO GROUP licence and see prices of cement go down very low

They will never do that because IBETO will beat dangote any day when it comes to cement as he was already doing before they refused to renew his license.

bentenny:
It's about production cost.
The cost of locally producing a single item in Nigeria is extremely expensive compared to other countries around Nigeria.

This is why most imported products dominate the Nigerian market despite humongous taxes on such products.

Everyone understand that energy is very key to manufacturing in every country, however, some Nigerians manufacturers are taking local consumers for a ride..

Some years back, between 2010 and 2014, cement products like Dangote was selling far less in Ghana than what's being sold per bag in Nigeria then and you know the shocking thing here? These same Dangote cement were being exported to Ghana from Nigeria, so how can a product produced locally be sold cheaper abroad considering the export logistics, duty and tax they paid to export the product abroad?

This is something I personally withness then cos I was living in Ghana during this period and there's this K-Ofori cement depot very close to my house.

Dangote want to compete with Elon Musk but has no product to compete...all he needs to do is enslave every Nigerians.

He wanted monopoly of cement and petroleum.

very callous person

Forumobserver12:
Everyone understand that energy is very key to manufacturing in every country, however, some Nigerians manufacturers are taking local consumers for a ride..

Some years back, between 2010 and 2014, cement products like Dangote was selling far less in Ghana than what's being sold per bag in Nigeria then and you know the shocking thing here? These same Dangote cement were being exported to Ghana from Nigeria, so how can a product produced locally be sold cheaper abroad considering the export logistics, duty and tax they paid to export the product abroad?

This is something I personally withness then cos I was living in Ghana during this period and there's this K-Ofori cement depot very close to my house.

Dangote produces his own power anywhere he has company. Cost of production does not arise here. The man is just selfish, greedy,mean and petty. Bua group pays better and rewards workers but Dangote NO. Let no one deceives you because Dangote is an appendage to FG.