Lafarge Wapco
Created in 1833 as a limestone mining company, Lafarge transformed itself and now is the world leader in building materials, with top-ranking positions in all of its businesses: No 1 worldwide in Cement, No 2 worldwide in Aggregates & Concrete, and No 3 worldwide in Gypsum.
Lafarge’s long-term presence in business, its high degree of vertical integration and advance in product research and innovation gives the company a competitive advantage in terms of product quality and consistency, product differentiation as well as allowing stronger operational efficiencies.
Lafarge extracts resources from the heart of the earth to make materials to bring to the heart of life and is driven by the needs of its customers, shareholders, local communities and architects. Lafarge is has prescence in 79 countries, with 84,000 employees, 2,187 production sites with headquarters in Paris, France. .
In 2009 and for the fifth year in a row, Lafarge was listed in the ‘Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World’. With the world’s leading building materials research facility, Lafarge places innovation at the heart of its priorities, working for sustainable construction and architectural creativity. The business model focuses on achieving excellence in local management while capitalizing on best practices development throughout the world.
The Lafarge Cement Division has significant presence throughout 10 countries in Africa (Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Cameroon, Benin, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania), with 16 cement plants and grinding stations which are strategically located with facilities for exports to other African countries.
Lafarge has been a major player in the Nigerian manufacturing sector since entering the market in Nigeria in 1972, when it embarked on the construction of a cement plant known today as Benue Cement Company, with an annual production capacity of 900,000 tonnes.
1999 saw the expansion of Larfarge’s activities through a joint venture with former Blue Circle Industries Plc leading to the acquisition of West African Portland Cement Plc (WAPCO) having taken over Blue Circle Industries Plc, U.K. on July 1 2001 then AshakaCem Plc (Ashaka) as well as the incorporation of Atlas Cement Company Ltd, a floating barge with a bagging plant on board, which commenced operations in March 2001. It also has a stake in Unicem Plant at Calabar.
Today, Lafarge holds a leadership position in the Nigerian cement industry with investments in companies that have a total production capacity of 4million metric tones per annum which will increase to 6.5million tonnes by the end of 2011.
The company deals on building materials such as Cement, Aggregates, Concrete, Gypsum with known brands like West African Portland Cement (WAPCO), AshakaCem (Ashaka),etc.
The head office is at Elephant Cement House Ikeja Central Business District Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.
