The Chairman of BUA Cement, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has disclosed that the high cost of cement is due to the exploitation of consumers by middlemen within the supply chain.
At the 8th Annual General Meeting of the company recently in Abuja, Rabiu noted that while BUA Cement sold over a million tonnes of cement to dealers at N3,500 per bag, intending that the benefits would be passed on to end-users, the dealers sold the cement to consumers at prices as high as N7,000 to N8,000 per bag.
The government in a bid to ensure housing affordability in Nigeria and address the country’s housing deficit has implemented several measures, including stakeholder engagement which seem to be out of reach for the average citizen, with the high unit cost of houses often blamed on the rising cost of inputs.
Rabiu went on to explain that BUA Cement had to discontinue its low-price policy as it was not intended to subsidise dealers but noted the company could not control the prices in the open market, where dealers were making substantial profits from the high margins.
He further added that the devaluation of the naira last year and the removal of the fuel subsidy also contributed to the unsustainability of the policy.
