African Holdings)
Ethiopia has doubled its cement-making capacity with a mega-factory in the Amhara region in the north of the country, Addis Insight reports.
The $600m Lemi National Cement Factory will produce up to 15,000 tonnes a day.
It was built over two years at the Lemi Building Materials Industrial Park by a joint venture between West China Cement and the East African Holding Company, a conglomerate based in Addis Ababa.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed opened it last week.
At the inauguration, he said the factory was a “testament to our government’s commitment to building fast, building big, and building clean”.
He said it would produce 50% of all cement made in the country.
He called on the private sector to invest in similar projects in the steel and fertiliser sectors.
The factory is highly automated, and has a 174m-tall “pre-heating tower”, the world’s tallest.
It’s used to heat the clinker to 950 degrees C before it’s ground down to make cement.
Addis Insight said this improves efficiency and reduces energy consumption.
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