Nigeria still investment destination despite challenges, says Dangote

President of Dangote Group and Chairman of Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko Dangote, has urged Nigerians to see the current economic challenges being faced by the country as a wake up call for all Nigerians to re-dedicate themselves to the task of building the nation through production activities
The business mogul said though the economic downturn is ravaging most countries of the world including Nigeria but that the situation is not unsumountable if properly addressed, adding that it could also served as stepping stone that will make the country to be more economically stronger in the future.
Dangote, who has always expressed his abiding faith in Nigeria as an economically-viable nation, told a delegation of cement distributors from across the country who paid him a visit in his office in Lagos that Nigeria remains the destination of choice for investments, despite the economic and security challenges.
He explained that with good support for the government of the day in the task of tackling the challenges and the transformation agenda of the Federal Government, the current challenges would soon be a thing of the past and Nigeria would come out stronger from it.
Said he: “I have always said it that Nigeria is a good place for investment. God has given us in Nigeria what many other countries don’t have and they keep searching for it. We have got fertile land for agriculture, we have the minerals resources and we have oil. All we need to do is to harness them for our our good.
“The present challenges we are facing should not deter us from growing our economy. It shouldn’t stop us from investing. It’s just a passing phase. Other countries which we refer to as developed started from somewhere. They all experienced some of these challenges in the past. So, I want us to see these challenges as obstacles towards attaining greatness.”
Dangote told the distributors that it was for these reasons that he had continued investing in Nigeria’s economy because “If Nigerians do not invest in their country, other people would not come. They will want to see our success story before they can come.”
He then promised the distributors that his companies would continue to live up to expectation to ensure that there interests are protected at all times, noting that as a matter of policy, his companies have put in place an arrangement to consider relations of his distributors for job opportunities once there is opportunity for that.
Dangote also informed the customers of the ongoing efforts to refine the service being provided for the customers so as to add more value to them, saying going forward, the customers would see a change and delivery of the product would be seamless and without hassles.
He took time to answer questions and observations raised by the distributors who also commended him for his doggedness in investment locally as opposed to others who chose to take money away from the country.
Also speaking, Dangote’s Honorary Adviser, Engineer Joseph Makoju, told the distributors that Dangote Cement is more than ready to meet and exceed their expectation, saying the production capacity expansion is intended to make cement more available and subsequently bring down the price.
According to him, the company has put in place certain processes to serve the distributors better than before. He referred to the payment for the bonus at half year instead of yearly as one of the new steps to better serve them.
Makoju, to the excitement of the distributors, announced the completion of new arrangement for customer service in which the distributors can reach the management 20 hours to lodge complaint and have their complaint attended to promptly.
“What we are trying to do is to ensure that you grow along with us. That is not a bad idea and I think we should commend him for that. Let us know what your problems are, we are ready to solve them immediately. With new production lines now on board in Ibese and Obajana, you can say bye bye to scarcity”, Makoju explained.
It would be recalled that Dangote Cement had just added two lines to the six million metric tonne capacity per annum at Ibese to shore up its capacity to 12 million while additional three million capacity line is being added to Obajana plant to bring total capacity to 13.25 million tonnes per annum.
Also, the Dangote Group signed an MoU with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, a deal that will see Dangote providing N165 billion for rice cultivation in five states as part of the Agric revolution of the transformation agenda of the federal government.
Earlier, Dangote noted his readiness to ensure timely completion of his petroleum refinery in Lagos thus making him the first Nigerian to obtain licence and commence actual construction of the refinery as many who had earlier obtained licence for same failed to commence physical preparation.