Nigeria, April 30 -- Dangote Cement Plc Friday said its after-tax profit from January through March rose by almost half to N89.7 billion, compared to the same period of last year.

Sales surged by more than one-third from N249.182 billion to N332.7 billion, with Nigeria - its home market - delivering N239.7 billion of that sum while the rest of its operations across Africa contributed N93 billion or 28 per cent, the company's unaudited earnings report for the first quarter showed.

Africa's biggest cement-maker is facing soaring demand in Nigeria and has lined up strategies to expand by over one third of its current capacity as the country's cement consumption spikes by 40 per cent.

"We are expanding capacity from about 50,000 tons a day...