Dangote Cement Plc, a Nigerian company owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, and Sinoma International Engineering Company Limited of China entered into a contract on Wednesday to construct a 3-million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) cement plant in Nepal.

Apart from Nepal, the $4.34 billion contract between the two companies intends to set up cement factories in 10 other African nations too, according to media reports.

After the signing ceremony, Dangote said, “We are not only building cement plants in Africa, we have gone far away to Nepal to build a 3-million metric tonnes cement plant capacity and by the time all these new projects are completed in the next two years, Dangote Cement will have more than 70 million capacity.”

The Dangote’s company believes that Nepal is of strategic importance for Asian market and would add its quest of investment plans in India, which is a neighbouring country to Nepal.