The Federal Government has issued a fresh call for cement manufacturers to slash prices, citing improved economic conditions that should translate to lower costs for consumers.
Minister of Works, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi, expressed dissatisfaction with the current retail price of approximately N9,500 per 50kg bag, arguing that manufacturers had raised prices when the dollar was nearly N2,000 but have failed to adjust them downward despite significant currency stabilisation .
Improved Economic Conditions Warrant Price Cut
Umahi noted that the naira has stabilised at about N1,400 per dollar, and petrol prices have dropped, creating a conducive environment for reduced cement costs. He questioned why cement prices remain high despite these improvements .
"Today, a dollar is about N1,400. And let me use the opportunity to express dissatisfaction with the cost of cement. At the time the dollar was almost N2,000, they increased cement from N7,500. Why should today when the President has brought the dollar to stability to about N1,400, and is still going down, why should cement be selling for N9,500?" Umahi asked .
The Minister stressed that affordable cement is vital for constructing Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavements and completing key infrastructure projects .
Manufacturers' Record Profits Raise Questions
The call for price reduction comes amid revelations that the three leading cement manufacturers – Dangote Cement Plc, BUA Cement Plc, and Lafarge Africa Plc – achieved a combined post-tax profit of N1.64 trillion in 2025, representing a staggering 144.6 percent increase from N672.28 billion in 2024 .
Their combined revenue rose by 27.18 percent to N6.55 trillion in 2025. Notably, this remarkable performance coincided with a 47.89 percent decrease in the cost of funds, suggesting that the companies made their huge profits largely from aggressive price increases rather than increased production costs .
Dangote Cement posted a profit after tax of N1 trillion in 2025 against N503.2 billion in 2024, representing a 101.6 percent increase. BUA Cement recorded a 381.7 percent surge in post-tax profit, while Lafarge Africa saw a 172.2 percent rise .
Housing Sector Under Pressure
The rising cost of cement has had devastating effects on Nigeria's housing sector. A 50kg bag of cement now sells for between N11,000 and N13,500 nationwide, making homeownership increasingly unattainable for low and middle-income Nigerians .
A report by PropComms Africa revealed that cement prices have risen by 367 percent in seven years, from between N2,500 and N3,000 in 2019 to between N11,500 and N15,000 as of March 2026 . The report warned that "projects are being abandoned, budgets renegotiated, and housing supply is contracting precisely when Nigeria's reported 28-million-unit deficit demands the opposite" .
Stakeholders in the real estate sector have called for government intervention, noting that the high cost of building materials has driven urban rents up by over 400 percent in major cities like Lagos and Abuja .
Previous Agreement to Reduce Prices
This is not the first time the government has engaged cement manufacturers on pricing. In February 2024, the Federal Government met with Dangote, BUA, and Lafarge, where it was agreed that retail prices should not exceed between N7,000 and N8,000 per 50kg bag depending on location .
The meeting identified several challenges facing manufacturers, including cost of gas, high import duties on spare parts, bad road networks, high foreign exchange rates, and smuggling of cement to neighbouring nations . The government promised to seek remedies from President Bola Tinubu on gas costs and import duties, while the Ministry of Works pledged to fix roads around manufacturing locations .
Lack of Competition Blamed for High Prices
Experts have attributed the persistently high cement prices to market concentration, with three manufacturers – Dangote, BUA, and Lafarge – collectively controlling over 95 percent of domestic supply . Nigeria's cement production capacity stands at about 65 million metric tonnes compared to annual consumption of approximately 32 million tonnes, suggesting that supply constraints may not fully explain the pricing gap .
A quantity surveyor and construction cost expert, Goodman Etiowo, argued that inadequate competition among cement manufacturers continues to keep prices high despite increasing demand. "If there were more manufacturers producing cement and related products, the cost of construction would reduce," he said .
Government Warns of Further Action
Umahi warned that if prices were not reduced within a week, he would escalate the matter to President Bola Tinubu . Meanwhile, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has commenced an investigation into cement prices across the country following a report submitted to the agency .
As the housing crisis deepens and construction costs continue to rise, the pressure on cement manufacturers to honour their commitments and pass on the benefits of improved economic conditions to consumers has never been greater.
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