Africa’s largest cement producer Dangote Cement is expected to supply Tanzania’s 1 million ton cement deficit from its expansion into the new market, a new report by the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) has disclosed.

Dangote Cement which is owned by Africa’s second-richest man Dangote, is currently constructing a new cement plant with a 2 million tons production capacity in Tanzania.

The acting executive director of TIC, Raymond Mbilinyi, remarked that when production begins at the Mtara-based plant in a couple of years, the country’s deficit and growing demand for cement would be sufficiently met.

Mbilinyi added that “apart from creating employment, the factory will stimulate trade and create a multiplier rippling effect to the entire economy.”

The TIC report states the new plant which would be in operation in a year and a half, is expected to create 400 new jobs.

Dangote posted  a 23 percent jump valued at 71.3 billion naira ($443 million) in first half pre-tax profit ending July 2012 while its profit after tax within the same period jumped to 142 billion naira ($897.6 million) from 112.7 billion naira ($712 million) the previous year.

Dangote Cement is a cement manufacturing/importation, packaging and distribution company with operations in Nigeria, Benin and Ghana. The company operates the Obajana Cement Plant (OCP), the largest cement plant in sub-Saharan Africa and leads in Africa with total existing production and import capacity of 14 million tonnes per annum and new production projects in development with 11.1 million tonnes per annum additional capacity.