What govt can learn from Dangote Group

Aliko Dangote

Today, the Dangote Group is ubiquitous through its various products and rescue efforts. The group has endeared itself to all households in Nigeria.

Not many structures stand without Dangote Cement and in a couple of years, many cars in Nigeria will need Dangote fuel, as the Dangote refinery in Lekki, Lagos, is set to produce 650,000 barrels per day from its $9 million project, the biggest in Africa.

The Dangote Cement Company is the sixth largest cement producer in the world, and while the average growth in the industry is 15.5 per cent, it has a production capacity of 13.5 tonnes, and a target of 16 tonnes in the next few years.

But the reverse is the case for the Nigerian government. Top officials keep squandering the earnings from oil.

Foreign portfolio investors and their local partners, with the active connivance of politicians, took over vital and lucrative assets that didn’t require much investment to yield dividends.

This didn’t help the economy and the dream of revitalising moribund state assets.

There are still big questions about both Nigeria government and Dangote Group. Should both parties work hand-in-hand to save this country?

The participation of the group in transforming the Nigerian economy from a command structure to a modern, private sector-driven one, helped to put Nigeria in the league of investor nations

It is competing fairly in the global business sphere, with high ethical and operational standards in line with the best international practices. It is not deterred by the difficult operating climate in Nigeria.

It, therefore, important for the Nigerian government to apply its preeminent leadership position in Africa to support the Dangote Group in this direction.

To me, Dangote is a metaphor for the Nigerian business community and hope for the continent in coming years.

Africa’s richest man has not just ‘conquered’ Nigeria and the continent at large, he has demonstrated in many facets that businesses can thrive here, and diversification is a business mode

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