Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) has purchased a $300mn stake in Nigeria s largest cement manufacturer, Dangote Cement plc, from majority shareholder Dangote Industries Limited.

Dangote Cement, owned by Africa s richest man Aliko Dangote, is expanding and plans to roll out cement plants across Africa to reach an annual 62mn tonnes capacity by 2017, up from a projected 42mn tonnes this year.

It reported pretax profit of 107.1bn naira ($659.4mn) in the first half, down 0.57% from a year ago, on revenues of 208.9bn naira.

Commenting on the deal, HE Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, executive director and CEO of ICD, said: "We believe Sub-Saharan Africa, and particularly Nigeria, provides fantastic long term investment opportunities. In this case, Dangote Cement provides some excellent investment credentials, being a highly profitable, well capitalised and efficiently run organisation, with a market leading position in the largest African economy and very well positioned to access and act on growth opportunities across the continent."

Shares in Dangote cement, which make up a third of Nigeria s stock market and hit a record high of 250 naira in July, traded flat at 223 naira on Monday, valuing Nigeria s biggest company at about 3.97tr naira ($24.5bn).

Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Cement PLC, said: "Our products may be simple bags of cement but millions of Africans will use them to build a continent that is rich in opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors, like ICD, who support them."