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The Dangote Group, led by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has signed a $2 billion loan deal with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to finance two cement plants in Nigeria. The deal, signed on Tuesday, also includes the China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure).

The deal comes a few days after Dangote Group broke ground on a $1 billion cement plant in Okpella, Edo State. The Okpella cement plant has a production capacity of six million metric tonnes of cement per annum (mmtpa). Dangote Group is also constructing another 6 mmtpa-capacity cement plant in Itori, Ogun state.

“The interest rate is okay, quite favorable with me," Dangote said told Reuters. "It's for my two cement companies that we are establishing in Nigeria."

The Dangote Group is currently ramping up its cement production capacity in Nigeria, its largest market, and across Africa to take advantage of growing demand for housing and infrastructure. Last year, the company signed a $4.34 billion deal with Sinoma International Engineering, a Chinese construction giant, to build cement plants in 10 African countries as well as Nepal.

“By the time all these new projects are completed in the next few years, we will have a total capacity of 81 million metric tonnes per annum. This will make us one of the top six cement companies in the world,” Dangote told reporters on Sunday at the ground breaking ceremony in Edo State.

In 2015, Dangote Cement – the cement subsidiary of the Dangote Group – said its profit rose 14 percent year-on-year to N181.32 billion while revenues rose 26 percent year-on-year to N491.73 billion.