For Africa to attract the required investment into its key sectors and achieve economic integration, President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has declared that the continent leaders must review their respective visa procedures and tariff regimes.
The review, according to him, will remove unnecessary barriers to intra-African trade and guarantee real growth and foreign direct investment to the respective countries.
Discussing with some international business leaders and Nigerian business owners from the Lagos Business School (LBS) at his multi-billion dollars’ refinery site in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, Dangote said African leaders must make a conscious effort to break down the barriers and borders between countries so as to allow free flow of goods, services and people.
Describing the refinery as the largest single-train petrochemical facility in the world, Dangote said the crude oil processing factory is designed to refine 650,000 barrels per day.
He said the facility is completely designed for Nigerian crude oil, with flexibility to process products from other countries. He added that he is building Africa’s largest urea plant to produce three million tons of fertilizers yearly.
He said: “Everything we are doing here is basically to transform the Nigerian economy. And it is not only to transform, but to also diversify our economy from single commodity market. We are taking a bold step through this petrochemical project to create values that would help us to achieve this aim.”
Noting that his business had grown from a commodity trading company to a diversified global conglomerate in the last two decades, Dangote said he was pumping huge resources into energy production and agriculture across West Africa to close the deficit in food production and export.
Revealing his greatest challenge so far despite his huge investment across Africa, he said, the high scourge of unemployed youth is a source of concern to him.
He stated that unemployment gives him sleepless nights, and he urged both the government and entrepreneurs to create jobs for the teeming Nigerian youths as a way of solving the restiveness and agitations that the nation is experiencing from different geo-political zones.
According to him, population growth is not abating as population and poverty go together especially in the northern part of the country where limitless procreation is recorded.
Dangote also harped on diversification as the major solution to the unemployment challenges the nation is facing, submitting sadly though, that successive governments had always paid lip service to job creation and diversification.
He said: “Since 1978, when I came to Lagos, government has been talking about diversification of the economy which has not happened up till now. It is also sad that nobody is challenging anybody about how many jobs he or she has created.
“In reality though, it is not solely government duty to provide jobs. It is also the duty of entrepreneurs, but government at all levels must provide the enabling environment. When there are no jobs, people get frustrated, and I can tell you that the Boko Haram insurgency is a product of frustration. The way to go is diversification. Nigeria should diversify its economy, and take crude oil as icing on the cake.”
Dangote appealed to young entrepreneurs, especially from the Lagos Business School (LBS) who were part of his audience, to brace up for the challenge and do something differently.
He described Nigeria as a scratched card that has not been touched, and would be useless after loading it.
“Nigeria is like a recharge card. Anywhere you touch is money. You should also have visions and be focused,” he added.
On the quit notice order given to Igbo people in the North by a coalition of northern youths, Dangote said it is a topic not worth discussing, and urged the people to stop talking about it.
According to him, “Unknown people are talking about Igbo leaving the North, and we are joining them to talk about it. Why are we talking about it? It shouldn’t be discussed at all. Those saying it are just seeking relevance.”
