Nigeria’s Cement Prices Near Double Africa’s Average Despite Local Production Glut

Nigeria’s Cement Prices Near Double Africa’s Average Despite Local Production Glut Nigeria’s cement market is facing a striking contradiction: despite having more than 60 million metric tonnes of annual cement production capacity, consumers continue to pay among the highest prices for the building material in Africa.

A bag of cement now sells for around N15,000 in parts of Nigeria, with the price nearly twice the continental average, raising concerns about the impact on construction, housing affordability and infrastructure development. The situation is particularly puzzling because Nigeria has one of Africa’s largest cement-production capacities. Major domestic producers have invested heavily in plants and expanded output over the years, creating what industry observers describe as significant excess capacity. Industry stakeholders point to several factors behind the persistent high prices, including energy costs, transportation expenses, foreign exchange pressures, taxation, distribution costs and other operational challenges. The country’s dependence on road transportation also adds substantially to the final cost of cement. Poor road infrastructure and long distances between production plants and construction sites can increase logistics expenses before the product reaches consumers. Manufacturers have also faced rising costs for energy and other inputs, with fluctuations in the naira further affecting production and distribution costs. The high price of cement is placing additional pressure on Nigeria’s already severe housing deficit. For individual home builders, contractors and developers, cement represents a major component of construction costs. Persistent price increases therefore translate into higher costs for homes and other infrastructure projects. The situation has also intensified calls for stronger competition and greater transparency within the cement industry, particularly given the gap between Nigeria’s substantial production capacity and the prices paid by consumers. The central question for policymakers is why a country capable of producing over 60 million tonnes of cement annually still struggles to provide the product at competitive prices. Industry analysts argue that increasing production alone will not necessarily deliver cheaper cement unless the structural costs surrounding energy, transportation, regulation, taxation and distribution are addressed. With construction costs already high and demand for affordable housing continuing to grow, stakeholders say reducing the price of cement is critical to making housing and infrastructure more accessible to Nigerians.