President and Chief Executive of Ɗangote Industries Limited, Aliko Ɗangote, has announced plans to invest $100 billion in expanding his businesses as part of efforts to support President Bola Tinubu’s ambition of building a $1 trillion Nigerian economy by 2030.
Ɗangote disclosed this on Thursday while addressing creative industry stakeholders from Northern Nigeria, including journalists, bloggers, content creators, entertainers and Kannywood stars, during a visit to the Ɗangote Refinery complex in Lagos.
He said the proposed investment represents 10 percent of the Federal Government’s $1 trillion economic target, adding that all businesses under his conglomerate had been tasked with contributing towards achieving the goal.
He said: “When Mr. President announced that Nigeria would become a $1 trillion economy, I said we would contribute to 10 percent of it; that is $100 billion. I said let’s see, what can we do, what is our own share of contribution? Our own contribution is to do $100 billion, which is 10 percent. Which is a lot. 10 percent out of the Nigeria’s economy is huge. And so, I see our vision the way that it is”.
According to him, the contributions would cut across the refinery, cement, sugar and other business operations, including investments being rolled out in other countries.
Ɗangote said the company was reviewing its expansion plans to determine how much more it could invest, noting that the initiative would boost industrial capacity, expand business operations and create thousands of jobs for Nigerians.
He disclosed that the refinery alone was expected to engage about 90,000 workers, although some 20,000 foreign workers might be involved in the project, with the aim of transferring skills and training more Nigerians.
According to him, “Every business of ours has a contribution to make. The refineries have a contribution to make; the one in Kenya has its own contributions to make. The other ones we are rolling out, each business that we have must contribute towards that $100 billion investment.
“Every company has his own target. If you are in sugar, you have your target of what to do to meet up with that amount of money. So, that’s what you have actually done. So, that’s why we are now reviewing, to say that we can even do more because every business has been challenged as to contribute”.
“So, it will create a lot of jobs. It will also create a lot of capacity. Like what itold you, the 90, 000 people are going to work here. Maybe 20, 000 maximum, you know, what you call the 20 000 foreigners, you know, that will also train more Nigerians. The last time we did. We had over 67,000,” he said.
The billionaire businessman also said his conglomerate had transformed several of its operations, citing Ɗangote Cement as an example of a business that no longer depends on the foreign exchange market to source dollars for its operations.
He recalled that the company previously spent between $30 million and $35 million monthly on foreign exchange purchases, but had eliminated that dependence through changes in its operations.
Ɗangote said the expansion drive was part of a broader strategy to strengthen local production, deepen industrialisation and position Nigerian businesses to contribute significantly to the country’s economic growth.
