Dangote Group CEO and chair Aliko Dangote believes narrow interests by political elites in Africa are short-sighted and present a threat to the continent's already underdeveloped economies.
“I think for African development, we from the private sector and the political leaders have to get together and make them understand that developing our continent is much better than everybody holding on to a small area,” Dangote told TimesLIVE Premium.
“It is better for you to be the president of a prosperous country than to be a president of a poor country. So I think we need to get together, because these days [elsewhere in the world] nobody is fighting anybody. But in Africa, this one is fighting that one. We should get out of it. We should try to pool ourselves and our resources together and make our continent great.”
Dangote, the richest man in Africa, spoke to TimesLIVE Premium on the sidelines of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) annual meeting in the Bahamas, after a discussion about his challenging journey to developing a $19bn refinery in his home country, Nigeria.
He said the world of business was difficult enough without stumbling blocks being presented by governments and regulators, as these could undermine business initiatives that have the potential to make the lives of African people better.
Among the challenges Dangote experienced during his attempts to develop the 650,000 barrel-per-day refinery were regulatory hurdles, environmental lobby group challenges and access to capital from established international funding institutions.
“We really went through tough times ... We really didn’t have a clue of how big this refinery was going to turn out, and I believe that is the reason we went into building the refinery. If we knew what we were really getting into, we wouldn’t have done it at all,” he said.
He said the group experienced “one pothole after the other” from when the idea started gaining traction in 2013. He said after a challenge with a governor in one region, it took him three-and-a-half years to find another site only for the refinery development plan to be met with community resistance.
From that point, he had to spend billions to develop the site he eventually settled on — 34-million square metres of land. He said the Dangote Group had to build a special port to handle the equipment, develop a road and run pipes through the sea to discharge 2-million barrels of oil a day, essentially becoming the engineering, procurement and construction company of their own refinery.
“We took up the challenge and we set up a team of 340 engineers from India and we actually became the engineering, procurement and construction of the refinery. Every single bolt and nut, we bought. So we did everything, A to Z, and it has never happened in this world.”
He said the development of the refinery was beneficial to the continent because only two of Africa’s 54 countries — Algeria and Libya — do not depend on imported petroleum products. He said he was happy to supply markets including Africa and the Caribbean with refined oil at a competitive price.
Dangote thanked Afreximbank and its president Benedict Oramah for the steadfast support in developing the refinery. Last year, Afreximbank emerged as the largest financier of the refinery, signing a seven-year $650m loan agreement with the Dangote Group.
Dangote repeated his long-held frustrations with the cumbersome visa regimes of African nations, saying that he needs about 35 visas to travel around the continent when people from Western countries travel through Africa more easily than Africans can.
“I need about 35 [visas to travel across the continent]. We are doing something in the private sector and I think we are going to challenge some of our leaders to make sure that we move on this thing about borders, about free movement of people, free movement of goods,” he said.
International Trade Centre executive director Pamela Coke-Hamilton told the Afreximbank meeting ties between Africa and the Caribbean must carry both regions through some of the biggest threats facing today’s polycrisis world.
She cited supply chain disruptions, food insecurity, environmental degradation and the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic as challenges which could undo years of economic progress.
“But if we’re going to tackle these challenges head-on, we need more trade and investment between Africa and the Caribbean. That’s what can make economic transformation possible, and in a way that benefits both regions by drawing on our shared ties, hopes and potential.”
Central Bank of the Bahamas governor John Rolle said increased trade and investment between Africa and the Caribbean was a key outcome of the 2024 Afreximbank annual meeting as this will allow regions to use international resources to kick-start interregional trade.
— The reporter was invited to the annual meeting as a guest of Afreximbank.
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