Lesieur Cristal Maroc invests 65 MDH in a new soap factory in Senegal

The Moroccan company Lesieur Cristal and its Senegalese subsidiary Oleosen presented, this Tuesday in Dakar, the new soap factory of Oleosen. An industrial unit, with a production capacity of more than 30,000 tons of soap per year and dedicated to the manufacture of personal hygiene products under the “La main” (Alkef) brand, which will enable the Senegalese subsidiary of Lesieur Cristal to diversify its production, which already has a refining and packaging plant for table oils in the Senegalese capital.

During a press conference, Brahim Laroui, general manager of Lesieur Cristal, explained that the challenge in 2021 for the Moroccan company, a subsidiary of the French group Avril, was its development on the continent. An effort that resulted in the “acquisition of majority stake” in two countries, namely Senegal and Tunisia. “Lesieur Cristal’s international development is one of the pillars of our strategic redeployment. Beyond the production of oils, which is our core business, we want to develop our other historical know-how,” he added. “It is a natural and indisputable development for Lesieur Cristal, thanks in particular to the excellent relations, particularly economic relations between Morocco and Senegal”, he insisted, assuring that the company is betting, for the three coming years, on West African and North African development.

For his part, Cheikh Amadou Fall, shareholder in Oleosen, assured that this partnership “illustrates the will and the commitment” of Lesieur Cristal to develop outside Morocco. Désiré Ouedraogo, CEO of Oleosen, recalled that the Senegalese company is a “confirmed player” on the local market. The company has also achieved remarkable growth, he noted, saying that belonging to Lesieur Cristal and the Avril Group are “assets” for the Senegalese company.

Stéphane Yrlès, General Secretary of Avril declared that “2012 marks a great story for Morocco and Africa”, describing an “important moment which materializes the development approach in Africa through the creation of local value”. “This large-scale deployment in Senegal is an example of successful cooperation. It is a further realization of our common ambitions in Africa,” he added.

An investment of 65 million dirhams

Returning to the new production unit, Brahim Laroui, General Manager of Lesieur Cristal, indicated that the opening of the new site in Dakar will enable Oleosen to “respond to the rapidly growing demand of the Senegalese market, but also benefit from the position region and the country’s logistical assets in order to be able to export to the new markets targeted by Lesieur Cristal, such as Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.

Indeed, the new soap factory covers an area of ​​2,500 m2. The new location has enabled the creation of 115 jobs, for the benefit of the populations of the Dakar region, while the recruitment of a hundred additional people is planned in the long term to meet the various needs of the site.

The civil works for the construction of the plant have been entrusted to local companies. The commissioning took place last February, while the whole represents an investment of more than 65 million dirhams (6 million euros).

During the press conference, Mustapha Hassini underlined that it is a “model factory whose standards exceed those on an international scale” and that it remains “the only factory without any liquid discharge” and “ the least energy-consuming”, with a consumption of -20% electricity, -60% water and -15% steam.

The new soap factory offers two ranges of soaps (toiletries and household), 4 hard soap packaging lines, a storage capacity of 600 tonnes of finished products and has a steam boiler with a capacity of 6 tonnes per hour.

It should be noted that Oleosen also has a refinery capable of processing 27,000 tonnes per year, three edible oil packaging lines and a mayonnaise production unit reaching 2,400 tonnes per year.