Dangote Cement Plc (DANGCEM) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Dangote Cement Full Year 2025 Investor Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this event is being recorded. I would now like to hand you over to Michael Ani. Please go ahead, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, we seem to have lost our first speaker. Please remain online, and he will be joining us shortly. Thank you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We have been rejoined by Michael Ani. Please go ahead, sir.

Good afternoon, good morning, depending on where you joined us from. My name is -- I welcome you all to today's call. My name is Michael Ani, and I manage Investor Relations for Dangote Cement. As you are aware, Dangote Cement recently released its full year 2025 numbers. And on this call, our key management executive will be providing insight into this recently released numbers. To chair this conversation is no other person other than our GMD, Mr. Arvind Pathak. He will be supported by the Group Chief Financial Officer in the person of Dr. Gbenga Fapohunda. Ladies and gentlemen, before I invite GMD, may I please take your indulgence to please be audible when you ask your questions. And those who will be using the live [indiscernible], please be sure that you present your clear and precise questions as our key management executives are on ground to take all questions. Ladies and gentlemen, I will now hand over to our Group Managing Director, Mr. Arvind Pathak.

Thank you, Michael. Good day to everyone. Thank you for taking the time to join us today. It is my pleasure to welcome you to this conference call to discuss Dangote Cement's Full Year 2025 Financial Results. Let me begin by highlighting some of the key milestones we have achieved so far this year. Besides the excellent financial results, which I'll be speaking about it during my course of presentation. In October, we had a remarkable progress in our expansion strategy. To sustain dedication, commitment and hard work, we commissioned a 3 million tonnes per annum plant -- grinding plant in Cote d'Ivoire, increasing our total installed capacity to 55 Mta across Africa. This achievement underscores our commitment to regional self-sufficiency and further consolidates our leadership position as Africa's foremost cement producer. In addition to our expansion efforts, we have also made notable strides in cost optimization, export growth, profitability and sustainability, all of which will be presented in detail as we proceed. On Page 3, we highlighted the continued strength of our geographical footprint across Africa. Following the successful commissioning of our grinding plant in Cote d'Ivoire, Dangote Cement now has operational presence in 11 countries across the continent. Our expansion pipeline remains robust, the construction of our 6 Mta integrated Itori plant, a key project designed to support our export growth ambitions is progressing according to plan. In addition, we are advancing our $400 million investment to double the capacity of our Ethiopian plant and others reinforcing our commitment to meeting the growing demand for cement across Africa. On Page 4, we turn to the macroeconomic environment in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the cement market continues to demonstrate resilience prevailing global headwinds. According to International Monetary Fund, IMF, GDP growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to grow at a faster pace of 4.6% in 2026. This growth is underpinned by stronger commodity prices, sustained infrastructure investment and a gradual recovery in intra-African trade. Furthermore, like in 2025, Sub-Saharan African countries are projected to demonstrate resilience against the U.S. dollar, thus further easing foreign currency pressures and supporting regional business performance. On Page 5, we present an overview of the key domestic macroeconomic indicators. On a positive side, we continue to ease for the tenth consecutive month declining to 15.1% in January 2026. In addition, naira has shown encouraging signs of stabilization appreciating from NGN 1,549 per dollar at the end of 2024 to NGN 1,363.4 per dollar by the end of December '25. This improvement is largely attributed to increased foreign exchange inflows supported by a series of fiscal and monetary policy reforms aimed at announcing market confidence and liquidity. Going further -- I just lost my -- going further, against the backdrop of falling comedy prices is stronger naira. The CBN in the first meeting in February this year reduced the NPR by 50 basis points from 27% to 26.5%. Moving on to Page 6. Let me take a moment to discuss some of our key strategic and operational initiatives that are positioning Dangote Cement for long-term sustainable value creation. One of our top priorities is expanding capacity to drive growth. We have set an ambitious target to increase our total production capacity to 80 million tonnes per annum by 2030, supporting our long-term vision of making Africa self-sufficient in cement and clinker production. Turning on Page 9. We focus on our export strategy, which continues to play a vital role in our regional growth agenda. Dangote Cement has strengthened its export operations aligned with our vision to promote seasonal self-sufficiency in cement production. Over the past 5 years, exports from Nigeria has grown at a compound annual rate of 33%. In 2025, exports of our Nigerian operation increased by 19%, reaching 1.4 million tonnes, reflecting improved efficiency and stronger export infrastructure. In West Africa, we export clinker from Nigeria through our dedicated terminals to Cameroon, Benin and Ghana. While cement exports to Niger is currently post and Togo complement our footprint in the region. Looking ahead, our ambition is to achieve 10 million tonnes of combined cement and clinker exports by 2030. On Page 10, we outline our various cost efficiency initiatives, which are central to sustainable profitability and maintaining our competitive edge. We have made major strides in logistics cost optimization through our CNG adoption program, fuel cost management, import substitution, FX neutralization strategy and alternative fuel substitution. Dangote's Cement now operates over 3,000 full CNG trucks and more than 1,000 dual-fuel that is CNG plus AGO trucks. With plans to further transition to a CNG-powered fleet in Nigeria 2026. We also expect to deploy 1,900 additional Mono CNG trucks between now and the end of 2026 and spill over to quarter 1 of 2027. These initiatives deliver tangible benefits. CNG trucks reduced fuel cost by over 60%, while dual fuel trucks achieved saving of around 25%. By substituting high-cost fuels, such as AGO and LPFO with cheaper and clean alternatives, we continue to achieve substantial cost savings. Beyond cost reductions, these initiatives strengthen our position at the least cost producer, enhance operational flexibility and embed a culture of cost discipline and innovation across the business. I am proud to note that Dangote Cement is the first mover in large-scale fuel metrics innovation within our industry pioneering the deployment of CE technical technology to improve efficiency and reduce environmental impact. In parallel, our ForEx neutralization strategy, we have also transformed our foreign exchange position. Historically, we faced a monthly shortfall of around $20 million. Today, we have turned back into a surplus of over 1 million per month with further growth expected. We continue to expand our -- this footprint by deploying over 6,000 trade containers, empowering customers through our innovative customer truck empowerment scheme. Under this program, we have supported customers with more than 4,000 trucks providing them with the opportunity to ultimately own their vehicles, a pioneer win-win model that enhances customer loyalty, improves logistic efficiency and strengthens long-term partnership. Our customer base is broad and well diversified. Over 90% of our sales come from retail customers. and no single customer accounts for more than 5% of our total volume. This diversification significantly mitigates commercial risk and ensures resilience across changing market conditions. We are also harnessing the power of technology and digital transformation across our operations. Advanced tools such as distribution management system, electronic proof of delivery, ePOD, business computing and information management, BCIM, AI-driven analytics and other intelligent systems are enabling smarter decision-making, greater operational efficiency and enhanced customer experience across the value chain. Page 12, our unwavering commitment to delivering consistent value to shareholders remains at the core of our long-term strategy. Over the past 15 years, Dangote Cement has maintained a strong track record of growth and value creation, supported by disciplined execution and a resilient business model. During this period, dividends have achieved a compound annual growth of 21%, in line with revenue growth of 23%, while EBITDA expanded by 21%. And profit after tax grew by 17%. These results clearly demonstrate the resilience and sustainability of our business model as we continue to execute our strategy with focus, discipline and unwavering commitment to create enduring value for our shareholders. On Page 13, we provide an overview of our financial and operational performance for the year 2025, which has been one of our best year as far as the financial performance is concerned. From a financial perspective, the group delivered another period of robust growth. Revenue increased by 20%, NGN 4306.7 billion, driven largely by a strong performance in Nigeria, where revenue rose by 62%. Profitability also improved significantly. Group EBITDA up 43% will record NGN 1,981.1 billion, while EBITDA margin expanded to 46%. This strong performance reflects the success of our cost management initiatives, particularly in Nigeria, where EBITDA margin improved from 50% to 65%. And profit after tax grew by 102%, crossing the NGN 1 trillion and more than doubling our full year 2024 profit. On the back of this outstanding full year performance, the Board has approved a final dividend of NGN 45 per share. This represents a 15% year-on-year increase in dividend payment. On the operational front, Group volumes declined modestly by 1% to 27.5 million tonnes, reflecting softer demand weighing majority to pre- and post-election certainties in Cameroon, Senegal and South Africa. Despite these headwinds, we achieved notable progress in strengthening our export operations. Export volume increased by 19% supported by 34 shipments of clinker to Ghana, Cameroon and towards the end of the year during the period to Ivory Coast. We also made substantial progress on our sustainability agenda. During the period, we extended the use of alternative fuel, waste heat recovery capacity and advance towards medium-term decarbonization goal. A key achievement for the phased delivery of 1,600 additional CNG trucks, augmenting our existing fleet of 1,500 vehicles and supporting our transition to cleaner energy sources. Further, we implemented 11 alternative feed systems across our plant to optimize energy efficiency and increase the utilization of alternative fuels. Our sustainable progress has been recognized externally. Dangote Cement retain B rating from the CDP in both water and climate categories. Our validation of our commitment to environmental stewardship, operational excellence and sustainable growth. Page 15 provides a comprehensive review of our performance during the period. The group's income statement reflects strong results across both top and bottom lines. Earnings per share rose by 101%, reaching NGN 59.86, underscoring the group's solid profitability and efficient capital management. On Page 17, we present an analysis of our cash inflows and how we prudently allocated capital to deliver sustainable value to all our stakeholders. For the 2025, we generated NGN 1,870.3 billion in net cash flow from operation. Of this, NGN 497.4 billion was invested in capital expenditure CapEx to support our ongoing expansion and operational efficiency initiatives. Importantly, we made significant progress in deleveraging net debt by NGN 1,378 billion compared to FY 2024. This brings our total net debt to NGN 682.9 billion at the end of December '25. Page 18 provides further insight into our Nigerian operations, which remain the cornerstone of our business. Sales volume in Nigeria was relatively flat at 18 million tonnes per annum, while revenue increased by 35% to NGN 2,956.5 billion. EBITDA from Nigerian operation grew by 62% to NGN 1,763.5 billion, with margins exceeding to 60%, driven by a successful implementation of our cost optimization and efficiency initiatives. Page 19 provides further insight into the performance of our Pan-African operations. Sales volume declined by 2% to 11 million tonnes, primarily due to weaker demand in key markets, notably Cameroon, Senegal and South Africa, which were impacted by pre- and post-election uncertainties as well as liquidity challenges in Ethiopia. As a result of this, volume declined revenue -- volume decline, revenues dropped to NGN 1,456 billion and EBITDA decreased reaching NGN 294.1 billion. Looking ahead, from Page 20 to 22, you will find updates on our Pan-African operations, notably, Tanzania, Zambia and Congo, experienced volume growth while other markets saw softer demand. Turning to Page 23. We provide an overview of our debt and liquidity position, including a timeline of our key activities in the debt markets, particularly highlighting our bond and commercial paper instruments. At the end of April, we repaid our maiden 5-year NGN 100 billion bond, which was issued in 2020. In June, Moody's upgraded Dangote Cement's rating to B3 with a stable outlook, reflecting the strong fundamentals of our business and our ability to short-term funding obligations. A key highlight on Page 20 to 28 is the introduction of Dangote Cement decarbonation road map through which we have set an ambitious target of a 20% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2 emissions across our operations by 2030. Sustainability remains central to our corporate strategy. Our CDP rating was recently retained at B, underscoring our unwavering commitment towards environmental stewardship. Our group-wide alternative fuel subsidy rate now stands at 10% with exceptional performances in South Africa of 40% and Senegal 38%. In addition, we have deepened our social investment initiatives, spending NGN 13.2 billion on CSR activities in 2024 at NGN 20 billion in 2025. We firmly believe that our long-term success is inseparable from the prosperity and well-being of the communities in which we operate. Furthermore, we underscore our unwavering dedication to strong corporate governance. In July, our President and Chairman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, GCON stepped down from the Board in favor of an independent director. Before I conclude, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to everyone who joined us today on this call. To our investors, your continued trust and support are the driving force behind our pursuit to excellence. While '25 may have presented challenges, our strong financial and operational performance demonstrates the resilience, adaptability, enduring strength of our business. With our ongoing strategic investment focused on enhancing efficiency and sustainability, I am confident that Dangote Cement is well positioned to meet future demands and sustain its growth momentum in 2026 and beyond. Thank you very much. Thank you, and back to Michael. Is Michael offline? Dr. Gbenga, are you on the call?

Sorry, sir. His line has dropped.

Okay. We can start taking the questions and let Dr. Gbenga, join us instead of keeping our investors waiting.

[Operator Instructions] All right. At this point, we have no questions on the telephone lines. I will now hand over the questions submitted via the webcast.

Has Michael and Gbenga joined the call?

Unfortunately, not yet, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, apologies for the delay. Please remain online and we will be rejoined by the speaker in a moment. Thank you.

Can you confirm you can hear us now, please?

Yes, we can hear you.

Yes we can, and Michael has rejoined. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Judith. Thank you all. So we'll proceed to questions on webcast. So the first question is from -- so the first question is from Moses Njuguna. He said, please provide project CapEx among for each country, you intend to build up capacity between now and 2030? Please provide project CapEx amounts for each country you intend to build up capacity between now and 2030?

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Moses. Basically, we intend to invest about $1 billion between now and 2030, expanding in countries across the group, including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Cameroon, all our major countries where we are operating.

Thank you very much, sir.

Can you still hear us please?

Yes, we can hear you. I think is right. What you said is -- okay with that. Go ahead, please.

So the second question is from Gideon Oshadumi, from Chapel Hill Denham, and it says, on the recently announced $1 billion agreement for the construction of 12 new cement plants and expansion of existing facilities across Africa, could you provide more clarity on how you intend to go about financing this project? That's the 1 aspect. The second aspect says also, could you quantify the percentage of total energy consumption currently sourced from alternative fuels and how do you think the recent crude volatility will impact on your cost of production?

Okay. Thank you for that. Let me take that. Basically, in terms of funding, we're going to fund from 3 different perspectives. One is our operating cash flow, which you can see that is very strong. Two, supplier credits. We are very happy on supply credits because they work with those as partners; and three, external credits that talks about the funding. In terms of volatility of crude oil price, we don't have any direct impact. Basically, we are moving away from crude oil products as an example. We're moving away from AGO to CNG for transport. And for production process, we're also moving away from AGO to coal to alternative fuel to gas. So the volatility will be there may be from a consumer disposable income perspective, but not from the core business. And you talked -- your last point was on AF. Basically, we're very heavy on AF, not just from a cost perspective, but from a footprint perspective, from a carbon footprint perspective. Group level, we're at about 9% to 11% on alternative for in terms of thermal substitution. But we are -- in some countries, we are at different stages of usage. In some countries like South Africa, in some countries like Senegal, we are almost at 39% to 40% in about 3 or 4 countries. So we are at different stages of ramping up and it's a focus of management led by the GMD and the Board to actually go more on AF, alternative fuel, which is in line with our strategy on 2030 carbon footprint reduction.

Thank you very much, sir. So the third question is from [indiscernible] from Power Pension, and it says good day and many thanks for the presentation, what a stellar performance. I wanted to get your expectation for this year. How is the year shaping up and what can you see about your earnings quality?

Can I take it?

Dr. Gbenga you want to take that or should I take it?

No, I'll take it up. No problem. See, we have been seeing various dramatic into our total life cycle of DCP. We have seen many uncertainties, many headwinds coming. And we have always rejigged timely and in anticipation some of our strategies, some of our initiatives -- that's why if you look at it, we have never looked back on our performance, which is there from the preceding year. And we are not here to break out that track record. And we feel that we should be improving on to our performance that we had in the year 2025. And year has begun reasonably well, but I feel there are more good to come. So you can expect a better figure than comparison to what we have in 2025.

Thank you very much, sir. Thank you very much. So the next question again is from Moses Njuguna, and it says, what's your current fuel mix in Nigeria? And do you have a target mix?

Okay. Thank you for that, Moses. I would answer the question in a different way. To summarize, we'll continue to use the cheapest source of fuel mix, which has always made us the lowest cost producer in Nigeria. So you have different sources. You have gas, you have alternative fuel, you have AGO, you have LPFS, your LPFO, you have so many of them. So the one that actually gives us the best return and continues to make us the cheapest producer of cement in Africa is what we'll continue to use. So it varies over time. At some point, it was gas, later, it became coal. At some point, it was LPFO. So we'll continue to use the cheapest. And as the GMD said, strategically, we've been able to position our equipment and plants to be able to operate with any of these sources of energy. So to summarize your question, would continue to use the cheapest source of energy to give the best return to our shareholders and all our stakeholders.

Thank you very much, sir. So we have other questions here. And the next is from Femi Asu from the Africa report, and it says with a target of 10 million tonnes of export by 2030. What are the key strategic milestones the company plans to achieve in 2026 and 2027, which new markets potentially beyond existing operations have been prioritized for export expansion and what are the strategies to overcome potential trade barriers.

Okay. Let me take Gbenga this.

I think you should take that first before I read other ones.

I'll add this. See, what we do is we roll out our initiatives to begin with in Nigeria. And on successfully, when we perfect that model, we roll it out across our Pan-African region. So this export strategy, which we have initiated very ambitiously is not only limited to Nigeria. It is across all our operations. And fortunately, we are present in most of the countries which have got limestone in great quantity and good quality. And many of them, by the virtue of adjoining large borders has got accessibility to the adjoining levers. Given that, the Nigeria will continue to be our major export hub out of all the countries. And we feel that we are well positioned to be a very responsible and a majority exporter of cement and clinker in the SSA region. So what today we are doing is we are trying to export cement across -- and we have already established our supply chains, whether it is north towards major or, let's say, towards East towards Chad or towards West is Benin, Togo, Ghana. And through sea route, we go to -- already we have started going to 4 countries, and we are on and will of also getting into contract with some of the third parties. So while we are doing this, we have created our own experienced network of export team. We have also created an infrastructure which we are uniquely placed. And in this 1 billion expansion program, there is also some projects related to further increasing our dispatch capacity through sea by making more investment on the infrastructure. Just on to answer your question.

Thank you. Thank you very much, sir. So the next question is also from Femi Asu, and says, why is Dangote Cement exploring the Caribbean? And when does it expect to start exporting to that market?

Let me take, Gbenga, this question. As I said, we have an ambition of being a very big in export. And we -- that's why we kept initially a target of 10 million tonnes. But the things are going, maybe we could do better than that. So having already explored and done exceedingly well in Africa and the adjoining countries, and we see the -- our systems and processes have rolled out but we also see potential in going to some of the countries, which is beyond Africa. And one such market is Caribbean. Nothing is finalized there. It is still exploratory and it's not limited to Caribbean. This is also -- we are exploring the other regions in the world, we can be a next phase of growth of exports. So we feel that in Nigeria, we can produce a very good quality, competitive clinker, which can be export worthy. Thank you.

Thank you very much, sir, for that question -- for that response. The top question from -- also from Femi Asu, says, how has the entry of Chinese firm Huaxin into the Nigerian cement market through Lafarge Africa affected Dangote Cement's operation and strategy?

It has not been quite a while when our colleagues have entered the country. But we are not new to each other. We have been working in the same markets in Zambia. We have been working in Tanzania. We are working in South Africa. We feel that there would be a responsible operation contributing to the well-being of the country and the customers of Nigeria. And in that endeavor, we welcome them to Nigeria. And so far, we have not seen any impact of their entry into the country.

Thank you very much, sir, for that response. And I'll take the next question, same from Femi Asu, and its reads -- it says Pan African volumes and EBITDA saw a decline in 2025 due to political uncertainties, e.g., Senegal and South Africa and liquidity constraint, e.g. Ethiopia. What specific risk mitigation and growth strategies are in place to address this persistent challenges and improve the performance of the Pan African segment in 2026?

Firstly, let me explain the whole Pan African strategy or anything that we are doing export or dimension is not to put all the eggs in one basket. This itself is a major mitigation risk strategy. And if some of you who have been on the call with us in the earlier quarters, you would have seen that for the last 2 years, it is a Pan Africa, which was -- had a very significant improvement in performance, and that performance was led by these 3 countries: Cameroon, Senegal, mainly Cameroon and Senegal. Unfortunately, there are always a cycle in the part of the country's market. And this year was not so conducive. But the inherent strength of these markets remain. These economies continues to be economy where we would like to be present. So we don't take a decision on a very short-term basis. And as we said, we always work on like anticipatory and we see some of these things coming fortunately. Our team and the local management has been very proactive. And we have seen drastic improvement in our performance in Senegal, in Ethiopia. South Africa is still to kick in. But otherwise, those continues, we are seeing an improvement. Thank you.

Thank you very much, sir. So the next question is from [indiscernible] of Stanbic IBTC and its reads, what are the plans to restore volumes in Nigeria?

Okay. See, what we have been focusing as we have been seeing, the slight change in strategy. We have been focusing not just blindly the sales volume. We are looking at the value sales. The sales will bring the value to the organization. And in that organization plus some of the developments that took place during the years, we were flat. But then this year, we see a healthy improvement into the volumes that we expect to churn out, including from Nigeria. So there are a whole lot of multiple activities, I think I explained in details, the retailer network, the containers, the IT technology, the logistic improvement, et cetera, et cetera, which will aid us in improving the numbers, and we are very hopeful towards it. Thank you.

Thank you very much, GMD. So the next question is from Samuel Ojerinde of Cordros Security and it reads, dear team, congratulations on your results. My first question is in 2025, revenue growth was largely price-led, particularly in Nigeria. Looking into 2026, what do you expect to be the key growth driver pricing, volumes or a combination of both.

Anyway, when you create a value for the organization, there are always some key contributors. As I was explaining a while ago, there was a time when Pan Africa was a star performer. And sometimes they do the cost reduction of CNG. So we always have something with looking into circumstances, which aids our performance and we improve on a year-to-year basis. So I would like to keep some of the cards to my chest for the year of 2026. But we are very confident that overall, we'll deliver equally better -- equally as '25 or better than what we did in 2025.

Thank you very much, GMD. And his second question reads, building on the first. He said what specific initiatives are underway to support volume growth across Nigeria and Pan Africa and how much additional pricing headroom do you believe remains in Nigeria particularly in the context of a stronger naira?

See, I think in my earlier calls, I've always clarified the price is not related to cost directly. It's basically a market driven. And since it is market-driven, I'm not the one who would like to forecast on that. It is the market opportunity, the market downfall, which some of the countries I explained, we were not able to sustain our prices. We had to go in for a price cut. So it's all market driven. Cost, we always keep on having initiatives. This is a perpetual and our unique strength of the group that we are purposely looking and we have been able to innovate ways in which we reduce our cost and which makes us one of the least cost producer in the country and Africa. So we have some plans during this year. And hopefully, it all depends upon how well we execute, which we have been very successful so far. And we are definite that we will press all the levers, whether it's improvement in Pan-Africa, the volumes in Nigeria.

[indiscernible] investors think about the funding strategy for this program. And what does it imply for leverage and debt levels over the medium term?

Okay. I will take that...

Gbenga, you'd like to take on this? Yes.

Yes, I'll take this. Thank you very much for the question. Debt reduction is deliberate attempt by management to create value for our shareholders, especially due to the high interest rates we experienced last year, which went up to about 31%, 32% before it came down. So it was a deliberate attempt to do that. In terms of the funding strategy, how we're thinking about it in terms of our expansion, we're looking at it from 3 different perspectives. One is using our very strong operating cash flow to do it. The second is using our supplier credit to support with this with minimal interest cost. And the balance is from external parties, third parties, commercial papers, bonds, borrowing from banks, whatever is the cheapest would augment the balance. In terms of leverage, we're currently at about 27% in terms of leverage ratio, net debt to equity ratio. We have legroom for that where needed. But watching the interest rate environment, that would actually drive the eventual conclusion. But we are watching the micro and macroeconomic side of things to decide on the actual way forward.

Thank you very much, sir. So our next question is from Habeeb Elahi [indiscernible] from CardinalStone Securities. it reads, good afternoon, it says, we saw CapEx reached NGN 861.9 billion and over NGN 400 billion in Q4 alone. What is the reason for this? And what is the expectation going forward? Do we still expect this high amount of CapEx in the near future?

Okay. Let me take that. So the CapEx you are seeing that has gone up is largely driven by -- we acquired CNG trucks as the GMD has said. We got delivery of the first 1,500 CNG trucks. We got delivery of the second batch of 1,600 trucks and about 2,000 trucks are expected to come in and payments have been made staggered payments. So it's largely CNG and other cost reduction initiatives like alternative fuel and waste recovery that is driving this alone, and we intend to do more of this. In terms of expectation going forward, we intend to spend about $1 billion over the next couple of years up to 2030.

Thank you very much, sir. So another question from Habeeb Elahi, it reads, a large amount of your debt was paid down in 2025. What is your view of the capital structure to be maintained in the medium term.

Okay. I will take this question from 2 perspectives. One is DCP debt that were paid and one is the past 2 debt that was paid. So you're right, the 2 debt were paid significantly. DCP paid a lot of its debt down to reduce leverage. And in the medium term, I think we can -- we're currently at about 27%. I think we can still work around that between 27% and 30% maximum on the upper end.

Okay. Thank you very much, sir. The top question reads, what are the plans to produce and sell more volumes and capture market share across key markets?

So this has been explained, we can go to the next question.

Okay. The next question reads, said, the huge spike in payables, what was the cost? And is it expected to moderate in the current year? I take it again. You said the huge spike in payables. What was the cost? And is it expected to moderate in the current year?

Okay. Yes. In terms of the payables, one of the biggest one is Itori. Itori is a 6 million tonne capacity plant that we have. We -- it is yet to be capitalized because it's not operational. So a lot of the investments that have gone there have been done between AUC in fixed assets and payables because some of them are yet to be paid. That's one. And the second one is about the increase in provision for the year -- for taxation for the year. So those are the 2 main drivers aside from other ones like restoration, provisions and other small ones. But those are the 2 biggest drivers for that for us.

Thank you very much, sir. His next question reads, what is the current exact price for Dangote Cement? And are we expected to see stable or even falling ex-factory price following the stabilizing macroeconomic conditions in the country.

I believe the GMD has answered that. Let's go on to the next question.

Yes, we answered that. Market dynamics determined.

The next question reads, we saw a rebound in performance for Q3 and Q4 for the Pan Africa segment. Do we expect a continued improvement and better contribution to overall profitability in the new year?

See, as I was -- thank you for the good question, I think so. Maybe I forgot to clarify that Pan Africa is not one country, -- it constitutes of multiple countries. So -- as it happens, and that is our strategy to mitigate the risk. In 1 year, some countries will do well, some of the country may not do so well. So what happened during the last year, the 3 of our main countries were there, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Senegal, they started the year with a slight sluggishness for the reasons that you discussed. But while we move ahead through the years, they improved. And while they improved on one hand, the second part was the other pack of Pan-African, almost all of them had a very significant improvement compared to what they were in the previous years. So 2 together, we saw a slightly significant jump in the Pan-African performance in Q3, Q4 as compared to Q1, Q2.

Thank you very much, sir. And the next question is from Segun Adams, Afri Invest Research and Consulting Limited. And it reads, says, could you elaborate on the key initiatives on our way to drive volume expansion in full year 2026 across both Nigeria and Pan-African markets? Secondly, how are you thinking about the outlook for Nigeria as we approach the pre-election period. Should we expect demand momentum to remain resilient or are you factoring or forecasting any way to slowdown in business and government CapEx activities relating to the political cycle?

We don't, in our working or analysis. We don't bring in the politics dynamics. As I said, it's purely a market dynamics which governs our decisions. We are seeing a strong growth, and we are seeing some more macro parameters of Nigeria showing a positive, whether it's interest, whether it's foreign exchange, whether it is exchange rate, et cetera, et cetera. And with this, we are very positive that in the going months and we see no headwinds which can slow down some of these parameters. We always remain optimistic and hopeful about the markets of Africa in general and especially in Nigeria.

Thank you very much, Segun. Next question for Segun Adams is, given your capacity, given your current capacity utilization below 50% for Nigerian operations, should we view this primarily as a cyclical demand gap? Or does it reflect a more thematic long-term trend in the market? Otherwise, what initiatives are in place to improve utilization capacity?

Okay. Thank you. Let me take that. Okay. Basically, I will take it from 4 different perspectives in terms of capacity utilization in Nigeria. I'll be a little bit technical, but I make it very simple. So when you talk about capacity, you have what you call the nameplate capacity and have what you call the effective capacity. So the effective capacity of a plant is about 85% of what you see as nameplate capacity. Just like having a Ferrari that can do 300 miles per hour is not expected to go at 300 miles per hour 24 hours of the day, 7 days a week. There will be a discount of probably about 280, 270 thereabouts. So basically, the nameplate capacity is different from the effective capacity. The next thing, which GMD spoke about is our export operations. And you can see that he spoke about targeting a 10 million tonnes per annum capacity how to -- out in the outside world. We are very heavy on exports. In the last 3 to 4 years, we've increased exports by about 200%, and we intend to do more on that. So that's supposed to take a big chunk of this what you consider excess capacity away. Then looking at it broadly, it varies from country to country as an example. So in some countries like Senegal, we're operating at above full capacity. But in a country like Ethiopia, we're operating at full capacity. In a country like Cameroon, we are operating at about 95%, 96% capacity. So it varies plant on plant. And we have plants that's like Tanzania that it's above 92%, 93% capacity. So it varies based on plant to plant. But what you must -- what I must emphasize on is we have an export import strategy that targets about 10 million tonnes in Pan Africa, and we are utilizing that. We are currently exporting from Nigeria from this capacity to Cameroon. We're exporting to Ghana. We're exporting to Togo. We're exporting to Benin. We're exporting to -- we started exporting to Sierra Leone. And we've got in a lot of third-party or new clients as well to export to further utilize these capacities.

Thank you very much, sir. So the next question is from Moses Njuguna and says, what's your 2026 guidance for volume outlook in Nigeria and an update on the competitive landscape in the country.

Thank you. I will take the question. We normally don't give guidance into our calls on the forecast. But as I've said, that we are very optimistic, and we see a very favorable tailwinds supporting our optimism that we should see a very significant difference in the performance of this year.

So the next question is from [ Xhana Shehu ], Laurium Capital. It says, good afternoon and well done on a strong result. The expansion plan you shared on Slide 8 suggests that you plan to add 25 million tonnes of capacity by 2030. Can you please provide or give an indication of the CapEx in USD budget for this?

Okay. I think we've answered this before. We expect to invest about $1 billion between now and 2030. And also to the next question asked by Mr. [indiscernible]. Do you expect volume recovery in 2026? Yes, we do because the challenges we had, particularly in Pan Africa in 2025, they are considered to be one-off. Some of them election year in 2 countries, and we don't expect those to happen again in those countries. We don't need deep dive case study on them, and we have a strategy to deal with each of them.

Okay. Thank you very much, sir. The next question is from [ Adedoyin Animashaun ] of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited. He said, I would like to get more details of the $1 billion MOU recently signed? And when should we expect the completion of the capacity expansions?

Completion of the capacity expansions have been already said. We are -- this is a plan to become 8 million tonnes by 2030. And as and when we have signed an MOU and maybe in this quarter, it will not be possible for us to give the entire details. If somebody interested, he can always write to us.

Thank you very much, sir. The next question is from Temitope Wilson, and it says, I would like to ask about the current status of Dangote Cement operation in Sierra Leone.

We have -- thank you, I'll take Gbenga this question. We have reassessed our model, and we feel that now across the operations, we are progressively trying to move to a situation, which is in the interest of the host country that we do some value addition in the country. And in this direction, we saw us investing in Ghana, where we just had a bulk terminal. Now Sierra Leone also, we are working on the similar lines. And this is a part of the MOU for $1 billion that we have signed that we will be putting in some sort of grinding unit so that we add some value in that country.

Thank you very much, sir. The next question is from Natalya Zabrodina from EMIM and it reads, could you kindly provide an update on the current competitive landscape in Ethiopia as you commission the cement plant investment? Who are the key players currently operating in the market? How fragmented is the Ethiopian cement market? And what is the estimated market share of top players. Where do you expect to position yourself in terms of pricing and product quality relative to competitors?

Not only Ethiopia, everywhere where we operate, we have our internal benchmarks on the quality and the services. And because of that, we are always having a brand equity in whichever market we work. I cannot recall any country in which we are, let's say, inferior in price compared to anybody because we enjoy a greater brand equity. And so Ethiopia is no exception to that. We enjoy the highest brand equity there. Though there are a lot of capacities, but due to some of the adverse security situation, many of those plants and because of some of the foreign exchange restrictions, they are unable to operate. And -- but we are an exception to that. And we have been producing sold out that is 100% of our capacity. And the government is very appreciative of our efforts in helping them in building the nation because the cement from Ethiopia has flown out in large number to enable -- and some of you have traveled to Ethiopia, you will see the changing face of the country. And we have been playing a very key role in that. And that's why we are going into an expansion, and we hope that with our brand equity, with our customer base, with the goodwill that we have created and with our social policy with our society, we will be able to continue the work and increase -- enhance our further market share. Thank you.

Thank you very much, sir. The next question is from Mustapha Umaru of CSL Stockbrokers Limited, and it reads, congratulations on your results. I would like a bit of color around your order income line item. I noticed that other income was down as at full year 2025 compared to what was reported at 9 months 2025.

Okay. Thank you. I will take that. As at 9 months 2025, we had significantly higher gains from disposal of assets. And we had more insurance claim that we had in Q4. So those are the main drivers for that. When we look at it year-on-year, the gap is not as material, but those are the 2 key drivers for that.

Thank you very much, sir. The next question is from Brian Mugabe of CHANGE Global Investment. While it would vary by market, are you able to provide an indicative range as to what your average cost advantage is versus your African peers?

In whichever market we are, I think without exception, I think we have the cost leadership. And some of the reasons are -- many of our plants have been coming in last 1 decade or slightly more than that, except for some of our initial plants in Nigeria. So they adopt the best technology and the vision of our group by our erstwhile owner, Mr. Alhaji Aliko Dangote, we have built in all sorts of opportunistic facilities. For example, I think Dr. Gbenga explained in one of his responses that we have a plant which can work at any type of fuel. And depending upon the macroeconomics in the world, suppose you find the oil-related fuel is the cheapest, we can always switch over to that. If we find gas is the one which makes sense, then we switch to gas. We have coal to back it up, we go to imported coal, local coal, pet coke, you name a fuel, and we can process it into our plant. So some of the similar initiatives offer us and make us very competitive in the market as far as the cost structure is concerned.

Thank you very much, sir. The next question is from Moses Njuguna, and it reads, could you touch on your pricing strategy for 2026 in Nigeria, specifically as volumes were flat with significant uplift in revenue in 2025 is the current $116 per ton in Nigeria, the new normal.

Okay. Let me take that. Basically, if you look at the pricing, our pricing is determined by a couple of factors. One is our cost of production. Two is the economic realities in the market, which is driven by interest rates, inflation, exchange rates and the likes. Third one is disposable income of our dear consumers and also activities of pricing of our competition. So basically, pricing is not really something within our hands the we can play around with. It's driven by a lot of internal and external factors that I mentioned.

Thank you very much, sir. The next question is from Samuel Ojerinde of Cordros Security. Congratulations on your -- I think we've taken this question, let me move to in terms of -- okay. For Moses Njuguna. He said in terms of the $1 billion CapEx, what is the split among the 3 sources you mentioned, own funds, supplier credit and external credit?

For now, I think we'd like to keep this to our chest. But basically, what is driving it largely from a finance and management perspective of the cost of funding, which is -- we would like to keep to ourselves for now, but I'm not giving you interest to the sources, but it's going to be the cost of funding basically.

Okay. Thank you very much, sir. The next question is from Habeeb Oladehinde of WSTC Financial Services and it reads, what is the plan on Itori plant?

Itori plant is going well, and we have a plan to commission it maybe most of the work should be over by this year-end or early part of the next year.

Thank you very much, sir. The next question is from Ms. [indiscernible] of AD Lead Commodities, and it reads, given flat group volumes, both significant EBITDA expansion, is it fair to say the earnings growth is primarily margin led rather than volume led and how should we think about the balance between those drivers in 2026?

Okay. Let me take...

I think we answered this question multiple times. I think we have said we have worked on not one lever, all the levers to see that our margins are healthy. We do value sales. We don't just look at the quantity of sales. We look at the value of the sale, where to sell. We have cut down our logistic cost very significantly in terms of CNG, et cetera. Our cost of manufacturing are progressively going down. So all cumulative together will add together. There's no silver bullet, which has improved our margin and which feel is a cumulative effect of all.

Okay. So the next question is also from [indiscernible] of AD Lead Commodities, it said, given flat volumes, strong pricing-driven revenue growth margin expansion of 43% and significant deleverage in full year 2025. How should investors think about the sustainability of earnings growth in 2026, particularly in relation to demand recovery, FX stability and capacity expansion.

I think all of these, we have answered in [indiscernible] expansion strategy, we have already mentioned about it. ForEx stability, everything we've answered, what has been asked in this question. Can we move on to the next question, please?

Okay. The next question is from Temitope Wilson of Power Pension. He said your recent performance indicates a contraction in Nigeria market share relative to your competitors. What is the strategic road map for regaining this lost ground?

I don't think -- maybe let me answer it. There is a drop in the market share. If at all, it is there because the total loss a very small percentage. There is one player who might have got a volume, one has lost the volume, we are almost flat. So if you look at all sum together, we are flat in the market share. So your information may need to be rechecked.

Thank you very much, sir. At this point, there's no other question on the webcast. I will now hand over to Irene, if there are further questions on HD phone.

Thank you, sir. At this point, there are no further questions on the telephone lines. Ladies and gentlemen, with no further questions in the question queue, it brings us to the end of the question-and-answer session. I will now hand back for closing remarks.

Thank you very much. I think there were very interesting questions, and I am very thankful to all the investors. And the quality of questions indicate the interest that you are taking in our organization and which is, I think, purely into assisting management and try to give some directions and feedback from the market point of view. We have noted all the questions that you noted and what could be the reasons behind your concerns and which works as a stimulus for us to improve going forward. Thank you very much. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's event. Thank you for attending, and you may now disconnect your lines.