Trade Fair: LCCI commends Dangote investment drive, economic development

 
Amid excitement at the news of imminent completion of the Dangote Fertilizer plant, management of the company has assured Farmers Cooperatives Associations of the company’s readiness to do business with them.
 
In the same vein, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has commended the unparalleled contributions of Dangote Industries to the growth and development of the Nigerian economy.
These were the highlights at the Dangote Day at the on-going Lagos International Trade Fair in Lagos yesterday where top management members of the pan-African Conglomerate, Dangote Group reeled out efforts being made to get the much touted Dangote Refinery and Dangote Fertilizer completed in record time.
 
President of the LCCI, Mr. Babatunde Paul Ruwase, said the Dangote Group has added a lot of value to the growth of the Nigerian economy pointing out that if Nigeria would have fared better if the country could have two Dangote group.
 
He specifically commended the company’s investment in Refinery, Fertilizer, Cement, Flour and every sector and still expanding and going strong.
 
He described the Dangote brand as a critical enabler to provide locally made goods for Nigerians and the African Continent. “The Dangote Group is a Nigerian company managed by Aliko Dangote. We are very proud of this company, which is people oriented.”
 
Ruwase said that the activities of the Dangote Group show high degree of vision, creative thinking, research, innovation, hard work and industry, which he added, have culminated into what one can describe as the Dangote business and industrial empire today.
 
Giving his remarks at the event, the Group Managing Director, Olakunle Alake, who spoke through the company’s Director, Supply Chain, Dangote Cement, Knut Ulvmoen, said that the group would continue to invest in Nigeria’s economy.
 
Alake said that the company’s investment drive is being made manifest by the construction of the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote refinery, a fertilizer plant, rice, and cement noting that the refinery would be Africa’s biggest and the world’s biggest single-train facility, upon completion.
 
He said the refinery has been designed to process a variety of light and medium grades of crude to produce Euro-V quality clean fuels including gasoline and diesel as well as jet fuel and polypropylene.
 
Alake described the Dangote fertilizer project as the largest granulated Urea fertilizer complex to emerge in the entire fertilizer industry history in the world, with its three million tons per annum capacity. On the Group’s cement business, he puts the total capacity of cement production from the company’s plant across Africa at about 46 million tonnes per annum. 
 
He noted that the group is determined to move Nigeria from an import dependent country to export dependent country adding that the company is seriously investing in rice industry. “We acquired farmlands in Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Niger, Sokoto, and Zamfara states totaling 150,000 hectares.
 
He stated: “We acquired farmlands in Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Niger, Sokoto, and Zamfara states totaling 150,000 hectares. We will establish large-scale rice mills each with a capacity to mill 120,000 metric tonnes of rice paddy, bringing total capacity to 240,000 metric tonnes.
 
“As an integrated operation, the Dangote farms and the mills are expected to significantly boost smallholder rice production in the regions through a nucleus and out-grower farming model. The plan is to grow seeds and distribute to farmers too to benefit from the high quality rice yields.  We have a scheme for the youths, Dangote Youth Rice Farm project. This is designed to provide employment for the teeming youth population across the country.”
 
In her brief remark, Group Executive Director, Halima Aliko Dangote, said the Dangote Group recognizes the partnership with LCCI, which he said, has been growing over the years. “The bond is even more significant as one of own, Mr. Knut Ulvmoen is one of the Deputy Presidents of the Chamber. He has been a very active member of the Chamber.”
 
While receiving guests on a visit to the Dangote Pavilion at the Fair, the Deputy General Manager, Dangote Fertilizer Limited, Mr. Kelechi Orji, disclosed that Dangote Fertilizer will soon hit the market and that the company had gone to the field already to assess the marker and map out the plant to the market supply chain.
 
In this regard, he said the farmers’ associations and their cooperative societies would find in Dangote fertilizer a good ally in the quest to meet the request and demand of their members.
According to him, Dangote Fertilizer would help in breaking the bottlenecks currently associated with procurement of fertilizer in the country as the product would flock the market both within the country and for export.
 
Many participants and visitors to the Dangote pavilion at the fair expressed eagerness to see Dangote fertilizer roll out from the plant deriving excitement from the fact the any product from the Dangote stable are of high quality.