Cement Company of Northern Nigeria

Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc (CCNN), was founded by the Premier of the then Northern Region, Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto. It was incorporated in 1962 and commenced production in 1967 with an initial installed capacity of 100,000 tons per annum at the Kalambaina plant. The need to meet the increasing demand for cement necessitated an expansion of the plant with the commissioning of a second line with an installed capacity of 500,000 tons per annum in 1985, by the then Head of State, Major General Muhammadu Buhari. Thereafter, in 1986, the first line was shut down due to its uneconomic mode of operation, thus leaving the plant with a rated output of 500,000 tons per annum. Under the privatization and commercialization programme of the Babangida Administration in 1992, the Federal Government disinvested about 20% of its holding in the company and sold it to the Nigerian Public. Under the civilian administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc was earmarked as one of the companies to be fully privatized. In 2000 therefore, public bidding for the Company was concluded and Scancem International ANS of Norway, a member of Heidelberg Cement Group was appointed as core investor and technical partner of the Company. Following a strategic re-orientation, Heidelberg Cement Group divested its CCNN shares in 2008. The Nigerian company Damnaz Cement Company Limited became CCNN's new core investor. In 2010, BUA International Limited acquired Damnaz Cement Company Limited and became indirectly the majority shareholder in CCNN and its technical partner.