Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote’s cement business to pay $221 million in corporate tax in H1 2022

Dangote Cement Plc, the flagship cement business of Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, is expected to pay a total of N92.8 billion ($221.3 million) in taxation to the nation’s treasury from its operations in the first half of 2022, as it continues to maintain its position as a leading taxpayer in Nigeria and one of the leading contributors to the country’s economy.

Dangote Cement is 86-percent owned by Dangote and ranks as Africa’s largest cement producer, with a 51.55-million-tonne-per-annum production capacity spread across 10 countries.

According to figures in its recently released financial results, its corporate income tax expense for the six-month period ending June 30 was N92.8 billion ($221.3 million). This is 3.57-percent more than the tax charge of N89.6 billion ($213.6 million) paid into the national treasury in the first half of 2021.

In addition, the leading cement manufacturer presently pays over N240 million ($573,000) in VAT to the national treasury on a daily basis, making it one of the country’s largest private-sector taxpayers.

The $221.3-million income tax charge represents more than 35 percent of its pre-tax earnings of N264.9 billion ($631.6 million) in the first half of the year, and about 54 percent of its total tax charge in 2021.

This means that the cement company may pay more in corporate taxes this year than it did last year, even if its earnings fall.

Dangote Cement’s profit after tax fell 10 percent in the first half of 2022, from N191.63 billion ($460.8 million) in the first half of 2021 to N172.1 billion ($413.8 million) in the first half of 2022.

The group’s earnings were hit by an increase in selling and distribution expenses as well as a jump in direct production costs driven by energy costs, in addition to an unrealized foreign currency loss of N40.66 billion ($97.8 million).

In 2021, when it paid a total of N173.9 billion ($414.6 million) in corporate taxes to the government, it was granted a $54-million tax credit for the construction of the Apapa-Oworonshoki-Ojota Road in Lagos and the Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba Road, connecting Kogi and Kwara states in the country’s north central region.

The tax credit is consistent with the government’s aim to boost infrastructure development in the country.