Littleton — Africa’s rapidly expanding cement industry could become an important early indicator of the continent’s future energy demand, as governments and companies build production capacity to support urbanisation, infrastructure development and industrial growth.

Africa currently accounts for less than 5% of global energy consumption, but the continent represents 42% of cement production capacity currently under construction worldwide, according to data from Global Energy Monitor (GEM). By comparison, Africa accounts for only about 8% of cement capacity already in operation globally.

The disparity highlights the scale of planned industrial expansion across the continent.

Cement As A Development Signal

Cement is a fundamental input for economic development, underpinning the construction of housing, roads, ports, factories, power infrastructure and other urban projects.

Africa currently has about 441 million metric tons per year of cement production capacity in operation, with another 43.3 million tons under construction. A further 23 million tons of annual capacity has been announced.

Combined, those additions could increase Africa’s cement capacity by roughly 15%, taking total capacity to more than 507 million tons per year.

The expansion suggests that Africa’s development path could require substantially more industrial energy and raw materials, even as other regions increasingly turn toward electrification and experience slower growth in heavy industry.

Nigeria And Egypt At The Forefront

Egypt currently has Africa’s largest operating cement capacity, at around 88 million tons per year.

Nigeria, meanwhile, has the continent’s largest cement capacity under construction, with about 10 million tons in the pipeline. Globally, Nigeria ranks second only to India for cement capacity currently being built.

Other countries with major cement construction pipelines include Libya, Mali, Angola, Uganda, Mozambique and Cameroon, underscoring that the expected expansion is spread across several parts of the continent.

With 16 African countries currently constructing new cement kilns, the investment points to continued demand for physical infrastructure as urban populations expand.

Energy Demand Could Rise

Cement manufacturing is highly energy intensive and requires substantial quantities of fuels such as coal, petroleum coke and natural gas.

As new plants become operational, demand could increase not only for industrial fuels but also for electricity and supporting infrastructure for importing, transporting and storing energy supplies.

This creates a potential tension for African policymakers: industrialisation can support economic development and higher living standards, while simultaneously increasing energy consumption and emissions.

Can Africa Build Cleaner Cement?

Africa’s expansion also presents an opportunity to deploy newer and more efficient technologies from the outset.

Modern cement kilns can achieve greater production with lower energy inputs than older installations. Renewable electricity, including solar power, could also be used for grinding and other processing operations.

Electric kiln technology offers another potential route toward reducing the industry’s energy intensity.

However, the cost of cleaner technologies could limit their adoption in some African markets. More expensive solutions such as carbon capture may prove difficult to deploy at scale where producers remain focused on keeping construction materials affordable.

As a result, fossil fuels are likely to remain an important part of the continent’s industrial energy mix while new cement capacity comes online.

Source: Reuters
Column: Reuters Open Interest (ROI)
Reporting: Gavin Maguire
Editing: Lincoln Feast