Dangote Cement grows Nigeria exports 71.6% and posts N421 billion profit in Q1 2026

Dangote Cement grew cement and clinker exports from Nigeria by 71.6% in Q1 2026, completing 10 clinker shipments to neighbouring markets in the quarter.

Revenue rose 20.4% year-on-year to N1.198 trillion, while profit before tax jumped 35% to N421.1 billion compared to N311.9 billion in Q1 2025.

The company is targeting 80 million tonnes of production capacity by 2030, with expansion projects underway in Itori, Ethiopia, and a newly commissioned grinding plant in Côte d'Ivoire.

Dangote Cement's 71.6% export surge signals that Nigerian industrial manufacturers with continental distribution networks are finding real revenue upside in pan-African expansion, not just domestic pricing power.

For investors and analysts tracking the NGX, this result sets a high earnings benchmark for the rest of 2026 and suggests the company's margin improvement story is structural, not cyclical.

Construction material suppliers, logistics operators, and infrastructure investors across West and East Africa should watch Dangote Cement's Itori and Ethiopia expansions closely over the next 12 to 18 months. These projects will determine whether the company can sustain this growth rate as it pushes toward its 80MTA capacity target by 2030.

It is not yet clear whether regional demand will remain resilient enough to absorb that added capacity, but the signal to watch is how quickly the Côte d'Ivoire grinding plant ramps up sales volumes.