Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has said his conglomerate plans to invest over $10bn in the power sector to address the electricity crisis in Nigeria and drive industrialisation.

Dangote stated this during an interview with Al Jazeera, where he identified inconsistent government policies and inadequate electricity supply as major challenges discouraging Africans from investing in the continent.

He disclosed that the group is considering redirecting funds from certain businesses, including steel, towards electricity generation and other power-related investments.

“And I’m telling you in the next three to four years, there will be a major transformation in Africa, and that’s why we’re looking at power. We are going to invest in power. There are one or two businesses that we might cancel, like steel, and we will put the money in power. We want to invest over $10bn alone in power.”

He expressed concern that more than 600 million Africans continued to live without electricity, describing the situation as one that the continent must address, saying, “We Africans should not really allow over 600 million of our people to remain in darkness.”

The industrialist linked electricity supply to economic development and argued that governments that successfully deliver power to their citizens may not need to go for campaigns again during elections.

“You know, if some politicians work hard and have a plan, when you deliver power, you don’t need to go for a campaign when you’re going for an election. Power is key; we will never create growth without power. That’s why they say power is growth. When I say power, I mean electricity is growth.”

He said Africa would be unable to create jobs and achieve sustainable economic growth without industrialisation, stressing that the continent must reduce its dependence on imported goods.

On what some are saying about not investing in Africa, he said, “The problem really is, it takes two to tango. I think in the past, there’s been a lot of flip-flops in government policies. Government policies were changing every day, and then, the lack of electricity is also there.

“So, these two issues haven’t gone away. They are still there. But for some of us that really mean business, we are here, and we know that yes, without our intervention, Africa will never be able to create jobs. If there’s no industrialisation, how do you create jobs? You can’t,” he said.

Dangote warned that Africa could eventually lack the financial resources to continue importing the goods it consumes, making industrial development and local production necessary for the continent’s future.

“One day we will not have money to import what we are consuming. So how can we remain an import continent? It has to change. But that change can only happen when Africans believe in Africa, and they invest in Africa,” he stated.

According to the businessman, a growing number of investors are showing interest in supporting African businesses because of the opportunities available on the continent. He added that his investment approach was focused on spreading wealth, expanding participation in businesses and strengthening corporate governance.

“We want to make sure it’s about spreading the wealth. It’s about getting more people in the business. It’s also about corporate governance. So that’s the direction.”

Responding to accusations that his business activities were creating a monopoly, Dangote said he would remain focused on his objectives rather than be distracted by his critics.

He used football star Lionel Messi as an example, explaining that a player must concentrate on the ball rather than the audience while playing.

“Well, you know, if I’m going to listen to that, have you ever seen a footballer looking at the audience? He has to continue looking at the ball. If I’m Messi, for example, I’m kicking the ball, and I’m looking at the audience, do you think I won’t miss the ball? I will miss the ball,” he stated.

Dangote argued that people would not always be satisfied with the activities of businesses, adding that accusations of monopoly would not stop him from pursuing his investment plans.

“If I’m going to make my continent great and people want to call me a monopoly for no reason, so be it. I mean, it’s not going to reduce the colour of my face or whatever. You can call me whatever you want to call me; I didn’t stop anybody; it is an opportunity given to everybody, every one of us has that opportunity whether Africans, foreigners or whoever,” he stressed.

He said the government had not granted his businesses exclusive rights to operate in any sector, maintaining that opportunities were available to investors who were willing to participate.

“There’s nothing that the government gave us and say, ‘this is only for Dangote ’. The government will create a policy around a sector, and they will blow a whistle and say, ‘ Yes, this is it,” he noted.

Using a 100-metre race as an illustration, Dangote said investors who had chosen not to participate should not blame those who entered and won.

“If there’s a 100-metre race, some people were on the bench while I’m on the track, and I agreed to run that race, and I won that race alone, are you going to blame me or are you going to blame people who just sat on the bench?” he asked.

The businessman added that businesses and individuals needed to believe in Africa and invest in its development if they want to benefit from the continent’s economic opportunities.

“They’re not ready, they’re not prepared, they don’t even believe in Africa itself. If you don’t invest, you are not going to get fruit of that labour,” he replied to those accusing him of monopoly.

Addressing his critics, Dangote said opposition and distractions would continue but maintained that his businesses would remain committed to their objectives.

He said he considered the industrial development of Africa a responsibility that required determination, adding that he was willing to make personal sacrifices towards achieving the goal.

“The distraction will continue. But we have what you call a very thick skin. No matter what you do, even if you take bullets, you are hitting our body with it; we’re not going to stop. We have a target, and we’re getting to our target.

“And if we don’t do it, believe me honestly, Africa will be in trouble. And I would rather save my continent at the expense of even my life. This continent must get to the promised land,” he declared.

Dangote further called for increased processing of Africa’s raw materials within the continent, arguing that local value addition would help retain economic benefits and promote industrial development.

He added that African governments could eventually adopt measures to encourage local processing once the continent demonstrated the benefits of transforming raw materials before exporting them.

“Eventually they (foreigners) will stop taking our raw materials. They must produce on our own continent.

“You see, once we show people how to do all these, even the governments themselves will start saying, no, you can’t take our cocoa, process it here and add value, then you take it out,” he stated.

Source: punchng.com

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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent touted a “very successful” meeting on trade and artificial intelligence with Chinese officials Sunday, adding that both sides discussed greater communication on AI threats.

“We just had a very successful engagement with the Chinese,” Bessent told reporters after the all-day meeting with Vice Premier He Lifeng.

The discussions, which also included top US trade official Jamieson Greer, lasted around eight hours and set the stage for possible agreements on trade, AI and other issues before a summit of the countries’ top leaders.

US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are due to meet Thursday in Washington.

Bessent said the US proposed a notification mechanism between the two countries for incidents like security threats.

“What we discussed was setting up a mechanism. So it’s going to be called the US-China AI dialogue,” he said. “We’ve agreed to meet again.”

Bessent and Lifeng also spoke one-on-one during the gathering that took place at JPMorgan Chase’s headquarters in New York.

Chinese official Li Chenggang, who was elevated to a top-level international trade representative post shortly before the meetings, was present too.

Greer added that it is “imperative that we are able to work together.”

Both sides are looking to ease tensions on trade, technology and other strategic concerns.

These include the possible extension of a trade truce and guardrails for AI development.

US officials are also looking to ensure the continued flow of rare earth magnets and critical minerals that are vital for US manufacturers.

Working-level meetings could continue into Monday, a source familiar with discussions earlier told AFP.

Previous negotiations saw China pledge purchases of US agricultural goods, and their fulfilment of the terms could also be an issue under scrutiny.

AFP

Source: punchng.com

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Dangote Industries Limited has acquired an additional 4,000 pieces of construction equipment for the expansion of its Lekki refinery to 1.4 million barrels per day, bringing its fleet to 6,500 machines.

The Group Vice President, Oil and Gas and Fertiliser, Devakumar Edwin, disclosed this Friday while briefing editors during a tour of the refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.

Edwin said the company initially acquired 2,563 pieces of equipment after Julius Berger and other contractors indicated that they lacked the capacity to construct the main factory buildings of the refinery.

“We ended up buying 2,563 pieces of equipment. We became the second largest company in the world in terms of construction equipment. Today, we are the largest because of the expansion. We have bought 4,000 more pieces of equipment; we have 6,500 pieces of construction equipment. We bought 330 cranes,” he said.

He explained that the decision to acquire the equipment rather than engage foreign engineering, procurement and construction contractors was taken by the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, after the company found that hiring overseas contractors would significantly increase the project cost.

“If I bring in a foreign contractor, I’ll have to ship in all his equipment, and I’ll have to ship back all his equipment, and those guys will also try to depreciate their equipment by adding it to our cost. By the end of the day, we end up paying a lot of money. So my president said, very well, let’s go and buy all the construction equipment,” he said.

Edwin recalled that Julius Berger, after reviewing the refinery’s drawings, declined to undertake the construction of the main process buildings. “They said, sorry, we cannot do any of your factory buildings. We don’t have the capacity,” he said.

He said the construction firm subsequently handled 43 of about 127 auxiliary buildings, including canteens, transformer rooms, control rooms and fire-fighting houses.

According to Edwin, the decision to build the company’s own construction equipment fleet was also driven by Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit. He recalled that when Dangote built the Apapa sugar refinery in 1998, there were only two large cranes in Nigeria, each with a 150-tonne capacity.

For the Lekki refinery project, the company hired one of only two 5,000-tonne cranes in the world, while also purchasing 330 cranes of its own. “When we are operating in a country with an infrastructure deficit, it takes a lot of time to plan, a lot of money to invest in all these things that industries do not require,” he stated.

Edwin said much of the infrastructure developed for the first phase of the refinery would also be deployed for the expansion, reducing the cost and time required for the project.

He listed the existing infrastructure to include a granite quarry with a 10 million-tonne capacity, 82 concrete batching plants, 203 transit mixers, a private port, an oxygen and welding-gas plant and accommodation facilities for 50,000 workers.

He said the refinery, originally designed to process 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, is already operating above its nameplate capacity. “We have designed the refinery for 650,000, but we are now operating at 700,000. That is over 50,000 barrels per day above the design capacity. So the production volumes are even higher,” Edwin said.

On the decision to execute the expansion using Dangote’s own project company, Edwin said international contractors had quoted fees of about 12.5 per cent of an estimated $19.5bn capital cost.

He said the proposed fees would have amounted to about $2.5bn, prompting Dangote to reject the arrangement. “I said, it’s madness to go and give two and a half billion dollars to a contractor as just a fee for designing and supervising,” Edwin said.

He quoted Dangote as replying, “Edwin, have you forgotten the plaque on my table?” According to Edwin, the plaque carries the inscription, ‘Nothing is impossible’.

“That is how we took up the challenge, and a Nigerian company, Dangote Projects Limited, designed the detailed engineering, went for the tenders, bought every single item, even the nuts and bolts, we bought directly, and engaged contractors, and we constructed the refinery,” he said.

Edwin added that the refinery remains the world’s largest single-train petroleum refinery, noting that the largest facility before it had a capacity of 430,000 barrels per day.

He said the original refinery design was based on both import substitution and exports, with 44 per cent of production sufficient to meet Nigeria’s requirement and 56 per cent earmarked for export.

“95 per cent of our production is high value, either petrol or diesel or jet fuel. Only five per cent is lower, and even that five per cent is actually an industrial product, carbon black feedstock,” he explained.

He added that the refinery was designed to produce Euro 5 and Euro 6-grade products and process a wide range of African crude grades as well as United States West Texas Intermediate crude.

According to Edwin, Dangote will boast 2.1 mbpd refining capacity after the expansion and the construction of its 700,000 bpd refinery in Kenya.

Source: punchng.com

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