ROI — Africa's cement boom signals next great shift in global energy use: Maguire

(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) By Gavin Maguire LITTLETON, Colorado, Sept 24 (Reuters) — Africa currently consumes under 5% of global energy supplies, and so is vastly overshadowed by other regions in assessments of current energy and pollution trends. But the region's aggressive cement plant construction plans may be about to change that. African nations dominate the global pipeline for cement capacity under construction, accounting for 42% of all cement production capacity currently being built, data from Global Energy Monitor (GEM) shows. That construction share compares to an 8% share of currently operational cement capacity, signifying aggressive growth in planned cement production across the continent. But investments in cement capacity are about much more than construction raw materials. They are bets on urbanization, industrialization and broader regional economic development. Before countries consume larger volumes of steel, chemicals and manufactured goods, they generally consume vast quantities of concrete to build housing, roads, ports, factories and power infrastructure. In that sense, the cement pipeline acts as a leadi