Tag: Dangote

Chairman of the Dangote Group Aliko Dangote has advised the Federal Government to adopt an international mass housing model to reduce Nigeria’s 17 million housing deficits.

He spoke during a meeting with the Board of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) alongside Chief Executive of the BUA Group, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu in Abuja.

He supported the proposed N500 Billion recapitalisation of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), saying it will help boost the bank’s efforts at improved service delivery.

In a statement by the Head of Corporate Communications, Ahmed Kawoji, yesterday in Abuja, Dangote said keying into such models would not be out of place as such had worked in other countries.

His words: “Count me as a friend of FMBN. We are open to collaborating and supporting the good work that your bank is doing towards ensuring the provision of affordable housing to medium and low-income earners in Nigeria”.

Dangote expressed readiness to collaborate with FMBN towards lowering the housing deficit by increasing the tempo and scale of social housing provision across the country.

Chairman, BUA Group of Companies, Rabiu reiterated his commitment towards a close partnership with FMBN.

“I am committed to forging a partnership that will add value to FMBN’s work and I look forward to furthering engagements in this regard”.

FMBN Board Chairman, Dr Adewale Adeeyo, assured the businessmen that FMBN will work closely with them to realise the partnerships.

Leading businessman and Chairman of Aliko Dangote Foundation Alhaji Aliko Dangote has urged the government to provide basic infrastructure to make the nation’s environment conducive for business.

He pledged his foundation would continue to prioritise education to raise entrepreneurs who would change the economy to lead growth and development.

Dangote spoke at the third Eminent Persons Business lecture and inauguration of Aliko Dangote Complex, a N300 million ultra-modern building he donated to the University of Ibadan (UI) School of Business at the Ajibode University extension in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

The foremost industrialist told his audience, who comprised academia, students, royal fathers and businessmen, Nigeria had the potential to be among the most industrialised countries in the world but required the right policies to propel investors into taking the lead in the nation’s industrialisation drive.

Delivering his paper, titled: Industrialisation – Backward Integration as a Strategy for National Development: The Story of the Dangote Group, Dangote, whose lecture was delivered by the Group Executive Director of the Dangote Industries Limited, Ahmed Mansur, noted that for the nation to have industrial breakthrough, its leadership and people must have the political will, the courage and perseverance to succeed.

The foremost industrialist noted that backward integration is one of the fine policies of the government, which has helped Nigeria’s economy and in which he, as a private sector operator, had led the nation.

He said the policy could be replicated in other sectors of the economy.

Going by his experience as a leading cement producer using backward integration, the industrialist said there would be cost control as costs would be better managed all along the production process.

Citing instances of countries that have used backward integration to climb the industrial ladder’s key sectors, Dangote said: “Several countries have involved backward integration in some of their industries. Examples include Brazil, Ghana, Malaysia, Norway and Russia. China and the United States of America (U.S.A) probably have the most vertically integrated firms, given their size and industrialisation focus.

“This typically starts with local content requirements for extractive industries and then includes consolidation across product value chains.

“Norway successfully managed the transition from a country with no direct capabilities in the oil and gas sector. On the discovery of oil in the late 1960s, it became a competitive producer of a variety of oil field services and equipment. Today, more than half of the capital inputs used in the sector are sourced locally, along with 80 per cent of the sector’s operational and maintenance inputs.

“Similarly, oil and gas firms operating in Brazil were awarded more points when tendering for contracts, if they demonstrated commitment to purchasing higher shares of goods and services from local Brazilian suppliers. Specific local content targets were set for onshore projects (70 per cent) and offshore projects in shallow (51 per cent) or deep (37 per cent) water.”

UI’s Vice-Chancellor Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka thanked Dangote for donating the building.

The vice chancellor noted that by the donation, Dangote had become the first largest individual donor to the university.

The guest of honour and Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi urged youths to learn a from Dangote’s humble beginning to the industrial giant he had become.

The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner of Education, Prof. Joseph Adeniyi Olowofela, regretted that most youths did not cherish hard work but wanted to get rich quick.

He said: “We need a paradigm shift from the get-rich quickly at all cost to hard work that leads to wealth.”

The Director of UI School of Business, Prof. Nike Osofisan, said the institution owed Dangote a huge debt because the complex was more than a building.

She said: “The fully air-conditioned complex has nine lecture theatres, 10 lecturers’ offices, four executive directors’ offices, one canteen, 250 KVA dedicated transformer and male and female conveniences.”

Loyal customers of Dangote Cement at the weekend got cash awards in addition to a promise of distributorship license of Dangote’s refinery project.

President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, made the pledge during the distributors awards ceremony in Lagos.

He said it will be a form of motivation for their patronage and loyalty to the brand.

Dangote said: “This event today is significant in two reasons; first, it is in furtherance of our culture and practice to reward excellent performance by our customers. Secondly, it is also meant to build stronger and abiding value relationships.  It is a night to say thank you for all your efforts in making Dangote Cement a household name in Nigeria and the number one preferred cement.”

He added: “As soon as our new projects come on stream, the opportunity for priority distributorship will be available to you as reward for your loyalty. Thank you for your dedication and for being our support system”

The Distributors’ award ceremony was in recognition of the Cement Distributors’ long standing commitment, devotion, loyalty and valuable contribution to the distribution and sale of Dangote Cement in 2017.

Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of Dangote Cement Joseph Makoju said the company will forever be thankful to the distributors and all its customers for their loyalty and for making the public see the uniqueness of the Dangote cement brand.

Makoju said the distributors must have seen that they have not made a mistake for deciding to do business with the company. He promised that the cement Company would continue to show appreciation to them and urged them to strive to sell more Dangote cement this year, with a promise that they would also be rewarded more saying; one good turn deserves another.

He said: “Our success story would not have been possible without you, our distributors, who work tirelessly to ensure that the product gets to our customers in every nooks and crannies of the country. We can never thank you enough! You have been an integral and vital part of our business over the years.”

He further said: “We are here to explore ways of further cementing our existing cordial relationship in order to create more value for all stakeholders. In fact, our ultimate desire is to create a win-win situation for our stakeholders at all levels down the value chain. This is in line with the triple bottom line principle: people, planet and profits, which we have embraced here at the Dangote Group.”

According to him, any organisation that aspires to be ahead of the competition these days, must explore ways of not only knowing the expectations of its customers, but also how to exceed them.

The overall best customer for the reviewed period, Mr Ifenchor Lawrence of Lafenax company lauded the management of Dangote Cement for giving back significantly to their loyal customer. He said the gesture of Dangote Management is unprecedented in the industry and that, God willing, he will do all within him to sell more of the brand’s cement in order to maintain his first position.

While describing the distributors and customers as partners in creating value, Dangote said: “We are in business because of you and we will always strive to ensure that you get the best from us. We commend you, our valuable distributors, for standing by us over the years. We call on you to do more in the second half of the year…Thank you for your dedication and for being our support system”

SHAREHOLDERS of Dangote Cement yesterday at the company’s 9th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos hailed the company after approving the dividend payout of N10.50 per 50k share.

It represents 90 per cent of the firm’s net profit and an increase of 23.5 per cent on the N8.5 per share paid last year.

The shareholders described Dangote Cement as a reliable company that has consistently demonstrated its love for the shareholders.

They unanimously urged the regulators to give special award to Dangote Cement and its management for keeping faith with the shareholders.

Progressives Shareholders Association of Nigeria President Boniface Okezie said the shareholders were pleased with Aliko Dangote and his team.

He said for the company to still pay a robust dividend despite the recession in the economy, which also affected their operations, shows management’s doggedness and fighting entrepreneurial spirit.

He said: “We are very happy and pleased with this result. 2017 was very tough with the recession and fluctuation in the foreign exchange market, which the chairman also said affected their operations. But despite all these challenges, the company was still able to pay us a very good dividend, better than last year, and even gave us hope of better returns on our investments in the years to come. This is very commendable and it is only a company like Dangote Cement that can achieve this laudable feat.”

Dr. Umar Farouk, another shareholders’ association leader, urged the regulators to adequately compensate the management of the Dangote Cement with an award as it has consistently kept faith with its shareholders.

He expressed optimism on the pan-African plants, especially now that the plants are contributing significantly to the turnover of the company.

“It is a statement of fact that we are lucky to be shareholders of this great company. If you see what our subsidiaries across Africa are contributing to the turnover, then you will understand what I am talking about. I am very happy and our members are upbeat for the future, knowing fully well that it will only get better.”

Chairman of Dangote Cement, Aliko Dangote, however, attributed the 31 per cent increase in the company’s revenue of N805.6 billion to its pan African operations growth, which also recorded a significant increase in revenue from N195 billion to N258.4 billion in 2017.

He said: “Pan African operations increased volumes by 8.4 per cent, with Ethiopia, Senegal, Cameroon and South Africa all performing strongly and close to their operating capacity”

Noting that the company experienced some challenges in operating in sub-Saharan Africa, Dangote said the Management responded in robust fashion and benefited from “…the diversity we have created across our business and because of our local knowledge and attitudes towards doing business in neighboring countries in Africa.”

Explaining the rationale behind the success recorded by the Dangote Cement’s revenue, the firm’s acting Group Chief executive, Joe Makoju, said: “The increase was helped by our decision to increase our use of local coal in Nigeria and that also helped to improve our fuel security, maintain production uptime and it reduced our need for foreign currency. We source coal from our parent company, Dangote Industries and from another Nigerian supplier, and we are very happy with the way this has worked out for us because it has enabled us to phase out the use of expensive low pour fuel oil in our kilns and also to reduce our use of imported coal”

On the future growth plans for the Group, Makoju said: “As it stands, I think we will focus on building new grinding plants along the coast of West Africa, and ensure we have clinker export facilities in Nigeria. We are looking at the possibility of two new lines in Nigeria, perhaps by the end of 2020 and it’s likely these will be in Edo State and Obajana, with a combined capacity of 6Mta.”