Lawmakers worry as Senate approves sale of third-largest cement producer

Some senators on Thursday expressed reservations over the sale of Lafarge Africa Plc, Nigeria’s third-largest cement producer, to a Chinese company.

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The lawmakers expressed concerns about the transfer of ownership to Hainan Huaxin Pan-African Investment Company Plc, noting that the identities of major shareholders in the proposed ownership structure were not fully disclosed.

The ownership structure, according to the Senate ad hoc committee that reviewed the transaction, showed that Lafarge Africa is proposing to sell its 18 per cent market share to Huaxin, while Nigerian public investors currently hold a combined 16.19 per cent stake in the company.

The committee chairman, Abba Moro, while presenting the report during the plenary, recommended that the transaction be allowed to proceed and that all relevant regulatory authorities continue to monitor compliance with Nigerian laws and regulations.

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However, the report did not provide details of the remaining shareholding structure, either under the current arrangement or after the completion of the proposed acquisition.

The senators who opposed the sale said that a transaction involving one of Nigeria’s major cement producers should be conducted with greater transparency, including full disclosure of the company’s ownership structure.

The senator representing Bauchi Central, Abdul Ningi, was the first to question the proposed sale, describing the transaction as insufficiently transparent. Mr Ningi, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), criticised the committee’s report for failing to disclose the complete shareholding structure of the company.

“I would have imagined that the report of the committee should specifically give us shareholding. Sixteen per cent Nigerians, 18 per cent Lafarge, what about the remaining? Who owns that? So, we need to understand where we are coming from. It is when you know who owns the rest that you’ll understand whether Nigerians are benefiting from these sales,” he stated.

Similarly, the senator representing Gombe Central, Danjuma Goje, expressed concerns about Lafarge’s operations in Gombe State, arguing that the company had not sufficiently benefited its host communities. Mr Goje, a former governor of Gombe State, urged the committee to recommend stricter conditions that would compel the company to comply with regulatory requirements and existing agreements with host communities.

Also, the senator representing Kebbi North Senatorial District, Yahaya Abdullahi, called for stronger safeguards to ensure that Nigerians, particularly residents of host communities, derive greater benefits from the transaction.

The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, who presided over the session, maintained that the chamber could only act on the recommendations contained in the committee’s report. Mr Jibrin, who represents Kano North Senatorial District, added that anyone seeking additional details about the transaction could obtain them through the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

“Anybody can write an FOI to the appropriate body to ask whatever information they wanted to ask,” he said. The Deputy Senate President subsequently put the committee’s recommendations to a voice vote, with the majority of senators supporting them. The Senate thereafter approved the transaction.

Lafarge Africa, a major player in Nigeria’s cement industry, is a subsidiary of Holcim AG, a multinational building materials company listed on the Swiss stock exchange. Lafarge Africa itself is listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).

Holcim AG is reportedly finalising plans to sell its 83.8 per cent stake in Lafarge Africa to China’s Huaxin Cement Co. in a deal valued at about $1 billion, subject to regulatory approvals.

The proposed sale was first debated on the floor of the Nigerian Senate in March 2025, when the senator representing Ogun Central, Shuaib Salisu, sponsored a motion to address issues such as lack of transparency in the divestment process and limited access to the deal for Nigerian investors.

During the debate, senators were divided. While some cautioned against interfering in legitimate private-sector transactions and foreign investment, the majority stressed the need for regulatory oversight.

The Senate subsequently directed the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to ensure the sale aligns with Nigeria’s economic and national security interests, and mandated its Capital Market Committee to liaise with all relevant agencies for proper scrutiny.

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After the Capital Market Committee submitted its report recommending approval of the transaction, some senators remained dissatisfied, prompting the Senate to establish an ad hoc committee chaired by Mr Moro, the Minority Leader, to conduct a further review.

Lafarge Africa has many factories in Nigeria with cement operations in the South-west (Ewekoro and Sagamu in Ogun State), North-east (Ashaka, in Gombe State), and South-south (Mfamosing, Cross Rivers State). It also has Ready-Mix operations in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. Lafarge Africa has a current installed cement production capacity of 10.5 metric tonnes per annum.