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Nigerian billionaire and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is building a 200-billion CFA francs ($421.35 million) cement factory in Niger capable of producing 1 million tonnes per year, state radio in Niger announced on Thursday.

President Mahamadou Issoufou formally started building work on the factory on Wednesday at Keita, around 600 km (375 miles) northeast of the capital Niamey and it is expected to take 18 months. When finished the factory will employ 3,000 people.

Niger, with a fast-growing population of 17 million people, is one of the world’s poorest countries. It has some of the lowest government revenues per capita in Africa despite the start of oil production in 2011.
“This is an important event after the railway project started on April 7 last year. This cement factory will contribute a lot to the economic development of Niger,” Issoufou said at the ground-breaking ceremony. “Niger is for now a cement importer but when this project comes on stream it will become a cement exporter.”

Dangote Cement, owned by Africa’s richest man Dangote with a personal fortune of $25 billion, has cement plants spanning Africa, from Senegal to South Africa.

The company saw its 2013 profits increase by 40 percent to 190.76 billion naira ($1.16 billion), from 135.64 billion naira a year earlier.

Niger has just one cement factory currently. Built in 1964, it produces 540,000 tonnes a year and is a joint venture between the government and private partners.

Last April, Niger started building a railway from the capital to Parakou in Benin as part of a wider West African railways project.