The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has commenced a fresh investigation into Nigeria’s cement market following preliminary findings suggesting possible price manipulation despite substantial domestic production capacity and excess supply.
The commission said its three-month cross-border investigation provided sufficient grounds to examine whether prevailing cement prices were driven by legitimate production and market costs or by possible anti-competitive practices among major industry players.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by FCCPC Director of Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu.
The probe comes amid widespread concerns over the rising cost of cement across the country.
According to the commission, its Anticompetitive Practices Department (ACP) is conducting the investigation based on a 40-page industry-wide field report covering Nigeria and selected cement markets in Sub-Saharan and North Africa.
The investigation is focused particularly on the apparent disconnect between Nigeria’s installed cement production capacity and the prices consumers continue to pay.
FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Tunji Bello, said the commission was acting within its mandate to examine market conditions with significant implications for consumers and the broader economy.
Bello described cement as critical to housing, commercial development, public infrastructure and the cost of doing business, stressing that the commission had a duty to establish the facts behind persistent concerns over pricing.
“Cement occupies a strategic place in the Nigerian economy. Its price affects the cost of building a home, developing commercial property, delivering public infrastructure and, ultimately, the cost of doing business.
“When concerns persist about how such an important market is functioning, the Commission has a duty to look beyond assumptions and establish the facts.
“Businesses are entitled to make legitimate commercial decisions and earn returns on their investments. Competition law does not prevent that,” he said.
Bello stressed that the investigation was not intended to dictate the commercial decisions of cement manufacturers but to determine whether the market was operating competitively and whether consumers were benefiting from genuine competition.
According to FCCPC, Nigeria has an installed cement production capacity of about 65 million metric tonnes annually, compared with estimated domestic consumption of between 25 million and 30 million metric tonnes.
The country is also a net exporter of cement to neighbouring markets.
The commission, however, noted that the reported excess capacity had not translated into the downward price pressure that would ordinarily be expected in a competitive market.
It said market intelligence showed that the price of a 50kg bag of cement, which stood at between N9,300 and N9,700 in January 2026, had climbed to between N10,500 and N13,000 by mid-year, with prices reaching between N13,000 and N15,000 in some parts of the country by July.
FCCPC said the price trend had raised questions requiring further investigation, particularly in view of Nigeria’s abundant limestone deposits, domestic production base and substantial installed capacity.
The commission also compared Nigeria’s cement market with those of Kenya, Tanzania, Togo, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria, assessing factors including limestone availability, population, production capacity and domestic consumption.
It noted that in Kenya, with a population of 58.6 million, domestic cement demand stood at about 9.3 million metric tonnes in 2025, while a 50kg bag sold for approximately $5.40, equivalent to N7,344.
Tanzania, with a population of 66.3 million and similar cement demand of about 9.3 million metric tonnes in 2025, recorded a retail price of about $4.80, or N6,528.
In Togo, which has no limestone deposits, a bag of cement sold for about $6.75, equivalent to N9,180.
Industry participants have cited energy costs, the depreciation of the naira, higher costs of imported machinery and spare parts, as well as transportation and logistics expenses, as factors driving cement prices in Nigeria.
However, FCCPC said it was testing those explanations against verified data on production costs, capacity utilisation, pricing and prevailing market conditions.
The commission emphasised that its preliminary findings did not amount to a final determination of wrongdoing but provided sufficient grounds for the investigation to proceed.
The next phase will establish whether current cement prices are justified by legitimate costs and market conditions or whether there is evidence of coordinated conduct, abuse of market power, restrictions on domestic supply, anti-competitive distribution practices or other violations of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act.
FCCPC has consequently issued notices of commencement of investigation and summonses to key players in the cement industry, requiring them to submit records on pricing methodologies, production and capacity utilisation, exports and relevant commercial relationships.
The commission said all major cement manufacturers had cooperated with the investigation by providing requested records, except one.
Publicly available estimates indicate that three major companies control more than 90 per cent of Nigeria’s installed cement production capacity, a concentration that has further heightened FCCPC’s interest in determining how competition operates in the market.
