Ethiopia’s cement industry is booming*

1 Distribution of Ethiopia‘s gross national product [1]

2 Building activity in Addis (photo Harder)

3 Rural area 150 km west of Addis (photo Harder)

4 Raw material quarrying at Mugher Cement (photo Harder)

5 Development of the cement industry (source OneStone)

6 Development of the per capita cement consumption (source One
Stone)

7 Mugher Cement‘s kiln lines (photo Harder)

8 New 3000 t/d clinker production line under construction at Mugher (photo Harder)

9 2000 t/d kiln line owned by Messebo Cement (photo Harder)

10 Construction of Messebo‘s new kiln line (photo Harder)

11 Cement factory owned by National Cement (photo Harder)

12 National Cement kiln line (photo Harder)

13 Construction site of the new cement factory (photo Harder)

14 Shaft kiln plant owned by Abyssinia Cement (photo Harder)

15 Shaft kiln plant owned by Debresina (photo Harder)

16 Construction site of Derba Midroc‘s 7000 t/d kiln line (photo Harder)

17 Development of cement production capacities (source OneStone)

18 Forecast cement consumption (source OneStone)

19 Forecast per capita cement consumption (source OneStone)

20 Forecast capacity utilization (source OneStone)

Cement plant of Messebo Cement (photo Harder)

Summary: Although Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, it is currently experiencing a two-digit economic growth. An essential factor in this economic upswing is the construction sector, a fact that also greatly benefits the country’s cement industry. In Ethiopia the available capacities are far too small to meet the increasing demand for cement. More than 1/3 of the present cement consumption is therefore imported, which has driven cement prices up to very high levels. Against this background, a gigantic expansion of cement production capacity is currently taking place. The question is: how much cement will the country actually need in the coming years?

1 Introduction

With its 82 million inhabitants, Ethiopia has the second largest population in Africa after Nigeria. In recent years, the country has achieved an astonishing two-digit annual economic growth. In spite of the worldwide economic crisis, it still experienced a growth of 9.9 % in 2009, after 11.2 % and 11.8 % in the preceding years. This places Ethiopia at the forefront of economic growth in Africa and also gives it a leading ranking in an international context. However, it must not be forgotten that its per-capita income of about US$ 350 makes Ethiopia one of the poorest...