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Tag: Dangote

  • Alaghodaro Summit:Buhari, Obaseki, Dangote parley over new investment prospects in Edo

    Alaghodaro Summit:Buhari, Obaseki, Dangote parley over new investment prospects in Edo

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has said that the Federal Government would pursue more business reforms to accelerate progress recorded in its recent Ease of Doing Business ranking, to properly position Nigeria in her march to become a post-oil economy. Speaking at the two-day Edo State Alaghodaro Investment Summit, Friday, in Benin City, the President said that the reforms to ease the business climate has brought changes to registering businesses, issuance of visa on arrival and tax collection. President Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, said government alone cannot bring about the much-needed development in the country, as partnering with the private sector is also key in driving economic growth and progress. He maintained that Edo State is blessed with the required natural resources to drive economic growth and future progress.

    “I am impressed and delighted at the way the governor is going about his work. He is bringing his energy, network and intellect to bear,” President Buhari said. According to him: “One of the things that have impressed me about this summit, is the presence of the private sector. There is no way things can happen at the center without bringing it to the subnational level. He added that “there are noticeable improvements in paying taxes, registering businesses and many more.

    The Ease of doing business reforms are going to domesticated at the state level. Edo state is one of the states to lead that with the discussions at this summit.” Welcoming his guests to the event, the Governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki, said that Alaghodaro Investment Summit was conceived to consolidate on the journey that started nine years ago. He said, “We have done a lot in the last twelve months. We have recorded some institutional reforms, as the key to development is by repurposing institutions for optimal results. The bastion of reform is in the civil service and the bureaucracy in government. We have embarked on processes that are making the civil service more efficient and productive to ensure smooth service delivery.  “We are determined to rebuild the civil service and improve on the capacity of the entire government workforce. A fully computerized staff training school has been built at the Government House.

    “I am glad to inform you that one of the events in this summit is to sign a memorandum of understanding between the United Nations training institute and the Edo State Government. The other institutional reforms include revenue collection, where we have insisted that government revenues should be collected and accounted for.” Noting that the state’s reforms are yielding results, he said, “By deploying technology, including persuasion, education and enlightenment, and law-based sanc tions in revenue collection, we have increased local government revenues by 500 percent in the last six months.” In the area of infrastructure, he said the government’s interventions are very visible, noting, “We have resurfaced, reconstructed and are constructing over 500km of roads across the state.” On job creation, Obaseki said, “In order to fulfil our promise to create 200,000 jobs in the four years, we have created 12, 000 jobs and have commenced the reconstruction of our technical colleges, so that they can train quali fied artisans who can be selfemployed and provide services to others.

    Noting that the state is pursuing an aggressive industrialisation drive, he said, “Our goal is to utilise our endowments, particularly the available energy and logistical advantage so that we can become a major industrial hub. The ground-breaking ceremony of our multipurpose Benin Industrial Hub will be done by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.” In his keynote address, President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said that for too long, the Nigerian economy depended on crude oil.

    “The state’s strategic focus on institutional reform, economic revolution, infrastructural development, social welfare enhancement, environmental sustainability, as well as culture and tourism, are key to transforming the economy. This government is very ambitious and they need all the support,” he said. According to him, “achieving the pattern of economic growth where productivity, export competitiveness and employment is not just a matter of lofty ambition, it calls for active search for solutions to numerous problems impeding the flow of investment to drive this vision. Moreover, underlying each of these challenges is a deeper and more pressing question: how can we establish a sustainable relationship between the private sector and government.”

  • Dangote pledges commitment to building a stronger economy

    Dangote pledges commitment to building a stronger economy

    Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President, Dangote Group, has restated his commitment to adding value to the nation’s natural endowment, to build a virile economy for Nigeria and Africa.

    Dangote made the statement on Tuesday in Lagos during the Dangote Group’s Special Day at the ongoing Lagos International Trade Fair.

    Dangote was represented by Mr Mansur Ahmed, Executive Director, Stakeholders Management and Corporate Communications, Dangote Group.

    The fair is an annual event organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

    He said that the conglomerate was committed to a diversified economy of Nigeria by exploring opportunities in different sub sectors.

    Dangote said that what Nigeria and Africa needed was to add value to its natural resources toward improving its competitiveness in the global economy.

    According to him, the company operates in about 12 African countries, adding that it’s Congo operation will be commissioned next week.

    He said that within the next five to 10 years, Dangote would not just be the largest conglomerate in Africa but aspires to be among the top 20 in the world.

    Dangote said that it’s yearly participation at the fair had challenged them to do more, adding that the company and LCCI were partners in continous growth, industrialisation and diversification of the nation’s economy.

    Mrs Nike Akande, President, LCCI, said that Dangote’s activities has helped to improve the country’s industrialisation quest by spreading its footprint nationwide and beyond Africa.

    “The Group is a proudly Nigerian company operating in most states of Nigeria and having a formidable presence across the African continent.

    “With a workforce running into thousands, the Group remains a leading employer of labour in Nigeria and a well respected brand.

    “The Dangote Group is reputed to be one of the most socially responsible corporate citizens in Nigeria, with corporate social responsible projects impacting the society, infrastructure and the less privileged,” Akande said.

    She urged the Federal Government to address perennial issues of access to credit, poor power supply and foreign exchange challenges as they affected businesses in the country.

  • NSE market capitalisation rises by N29bn

    NSE market capitalisation rises by N29bn

    The market capitalisation of Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by N29 billion on Tuesday following rekindled investors’ confidence.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the market capitalisation rose by N29 billion or 0.23 per cent to close at N12.810 trillion from N12.781 trillion recorded on Monday.

    Also, the All-share index grew by 82.74 basis points to 37, 013.57 from 36, 930.83 achieved on monday.
    In all, Investors traded 305.171 million shares worth N2.905 billion in 4399 deals, against 466.522 million shares worth N2.90 billion exchanged in 4, 274 deals on Monday.
    Total Nigeria led on price gainers’ chart, appreciating by N5 to close at N229 per share, while Dangote Cement followed with a gain of N2 to close at N229 per share.
    UACN rose by 72k to close at N19.10 per share, while Guaranty Trust Bank appreciated by 28k to close at N42.03 per share.

    Dangote Sugar Refinery gained 15k to close at N15.50 per share.

    Mobil Oil topped the price losers’ chart, dropping N8.02 to close at N153.01, while International Breweries lost 4.20 kobo to close at N41.00 per share.

    Nigerian Breweries depreciated by 89k to close at N144.10 per share, while National Salt Company of Nigeria fell by 48 k to close at N15.52 per share.

    Eterna oil depreciated by 19k to close at N4.16 per share.

    On the activity chart, Diamond Bank was the most active, trading 83.12 million shares worth N98.16 million, while Fidelity Bank followed with 39.92 million shares valued at N66.27 million.

    Cadbury Nigeria sold 37.85 million shares worth at N391.72 million.

    FBNHoldings traded 34.31 million shares worth N241.13 million, while Meyer Paint exchanged 16.50 million shares worth N11.55 million.

  • Dangote donates N500m to Kano fire victims

    Dangote donates N500m to Kano fire victims

    •Fund raising committee makes N1.2b

    Business mogul and Chairman of the Appeal Fund Raising Committee for victims of fire incidents in Kano markets, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, yesterday presented a cheque of N500 million to the committee.

    Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, who received the cheque at the Government House, said the committee raised about N1.2 billion for the victims.

    He said the Judicial Commission of Enquiry raised to assess the cost of damages ascertained the number of traders affected, and the extent of damages.

    Ganduje assured the traders that disbursement will begin soon.

    He added that President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a delegation to conduct a survey on the installation of solar panels in Sabon Gari market, a project partnering the government.

    Besides redeeming its N500 million pledge, the governor said the government would provide infrastructure in markets, including access roads, fire service outstations, police stations, malls to accommodate road-side kiosks, and iron tables for petty traders, to curb fire incidents.

    About a year ago, successive fire incidents occurred in five major markets – Farm Centre (GSM) market, Kurmi market, Yan Katako market, Singer market, and Muhammad Abubakar Rimi Market, otherwise known as Sabon Gari market.

    Donors include the state government (N500 million); Aliko Dangote (N500 million); Access Bank (N100 million); Femi Otedola (25 million); Dahiru Mangal (N25 million); Fidelity Bank (N20 million); Senate President Bukola Saraki (N10 million).

    Others are Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara (N5 million); 24 lawmakers from Kano (N12 million); Senator Barau Jubrin (N3 million); Senator Kabiru Gaya (N3 million); Tahir Fadallah (N5 million), Ishyaku Rabiu (N5 million); House of Assembly members (N5 million), among others.

  • Dangote Foundation pledges $100m to fight malnutrition

    Dangote Foundation pledges $100m to fight malnutrition

    The Aliko Dangote Foundation has pledged US$100 million donation over five years to tackle malnutrition in the worst-affected parts of Nigeria.

    The Aliko Dangote Foundation is the philanthropic organisation of Aliko Dangote, founder and Executive Chairman of the Dangote Group, Africa’s largest homegrown conglomerate.

    The Global Nutrition Summit 207 held in Milan, Italy, made commitments to expand their nutrition programmes and the summit succeeded in galvanising US3.4 billion in pledges

    Malnutrition affects every country in the world in various forms. Africa, however, is hard hit and Nigeria is home to the highest number of malnourished children.

    Almost half of the one million children, who die before the age of five every year in Nigeria die of malnutrition as the underlying cause.

    Without the proper nutrients during the first 1,000 days of life starting from conception up to their second birthday, children are less likely to survive childhood diseases such as malaria and pneumonia, and are less likely to escape poverty as adults.

    They become physically and cognitively stunted, a fate that has befallen 11 million of Nigeria’s children under five.

    The Aliko Dangote Foundation’s Managing Director and CEO Zouera Youssoufou said: “Nigeria’s high malnutrition rate is undermining progress towards improving child health and survival and putting the brakes on economic development.  By investing in nutrition, we aim to directly improve the lives of Nigerian families and to empower our citizens to reach their full potential.”

    The Global Nutrition Report 2017, launched at the summit, showed that, in spite of progress, 155 million children globally are still stunted and the world is off track on meeting internationally agreed nutrition targets. Financing to tackle malnutrition has been alarmingly low. Donors spend about 0.5 percent of overseas aid on nutrition, and countries allocate between one and two percent of their health budgets to the issue.

    “The global malnutrition crisis endangers the physical and mental wellbeing of present and future generations” said Kofi Annan, speaking at the summit in his capacity as chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation.

    “Progress in tackling both undernutrition and obesity is possible with targeted commitments, like those made here today. We need further urgent investments so that people, communities and nations can reach their full potential.”

    Through his foundation, since 1993, Aliko Dangote has made significant social investments in health, education, economic empowerment and disaster relief. He is now becoming the strongest voice for nutritional leadership nationally and on the continent of Africa.

  • ‘Dangote Refinery ‘ll be sector’s game-changer’

    ‘Dangote Refinery ‘ll be sector’s game-changer’

    Ghana’s Deputy Minister for Energy (Petroleum),  Mohammed Adam, has said the 650,000 barrels per day (bpd), refinery being built by Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company, will be a game-changer for Nigeria’s oil industry.

    The refinery, estimated to cost over $14 billion, according to Adam, will attract global attention and market. He added that the initiative has raised hope for other African countries on the viability of investing in a huge refinery.

    Adam spoke at the just-concluded 2017 African Downstream Oil Trading and Logistics (OTL) Expo in Lagos. The Expo’s theme was: “Downstream-Renewed Opportunities”.

    He said the refinery would  open a sub-regional market with a West African price index for countries in the sub-region.

    He said when the refinery becomes operational, Nigeria’s import of products would stop or reduce drastically, and the cost of products imports from Europe and Asia by smaller consuming countries around Nigeria would be expected to increase.

    This is because Nigeria’s large petroleum imports, which are hugely subsidised and taken across the borders, would no longer be there for sub-regional neighbours.

    Adam said: “The development in Nigeria reinforces my conviction that there is strong basis for shared infrastructure in our sub-regions, as this could integrate our industries, lower cost of business and reduce the prices of petroleum products.

    “Transportation of fuels across the continent is largely by bulk road vehicles. It increases substantially, the cost of petroleum products for our people. It is possible working with the private transportation companies in our markets to build enduring Private-Public partnerships to build the railways and the pipelines that will cost-effectively deliver petroleum products across the regions while building substantial economic value for the states, the business and the people across this continent.”

    According to him, developing an African market no doubt imposes greater demand for skills, adding that there is the need to readjust the educational curriculum and open new centres of excellence to provide relevant skills to the youth and prepare them for a very demanding industry.

    Adam also said there was the need to harmonise policies and opportunities to allow the African downstream to deliver the infrastructure and services required by African economies.

    To him, the drive to move from “dirty fuels” to “cleaner fuels” has resulted in most countries opting to tighten the specifications for gasoline and gasoil. He noted that the transition to low-sulphur fuel is the most topical issue that must be discussed at all levels on the African downstream industry.

    Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and other African countries had specified sulphur levels for diesel imported, Adam said, supporting the call for African countries to move to cleaner fuels as it presents an opportunity for investments in domestic refineries to meet national specifications, allowing the downstream to be supportive of the development goals of African economies.

    According to him, following the sustained lower oil price environment of the last three years, there has emerged what is called “petro-democracy” in which citizens’ demand for greater accountability from their governments and players in the petroleum industry have improved. The demand for domestic prices to follow a symmetrical trend with international prices led to downward adjustments in prices in some countries.

    According to Adam, one of the greatest challenges confronting the downstream petroleum industry was the inability to match the upstream industry in the area of safety and security. He noted that operating at the very end of the petroleum value chain, proximity to human populations, their health and safety, and consequently, their property, the requirements for improved safety standards placed on Nigerian and other African countries the duty to be more responsible.

  • Dangote Cement drives volume across Africa

    Dangote Cement drives volume across Africa

    Dangote Cement has maintained its strong hold in the   market, accounting for 65 per cent of market volume, while other African plants’ volumes went up by 7.5 per cent to 7.0 metric tonne per annum (mta).

    The cement giant has in the past months expanded its operations across Africa with the coming on stream of the 1.5 mta integrated cement plant in Mfila, Republic of Congo, even as an acting chief executive officer has been appointed for the company.

    According to the unaudited results for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the plant, which began operations last month has almost doubled the size of the cement sector in the country. The Congo plant brings to 10 Dangote Cement plants across Africa.

    Analysis of the results, accessed by The Nation, indicated that the company recorded strong volumes in Senegal, Ethiopia and Cameroon.

    In the nine months under review, the 1.5 mta clinker grinding facility in Douala, Cameroon sold approximately 938 kilotonnes of cement, indicating an increase of 16.4 per cent on the 806 kt sold during the same period in 2016.

    The company attributed the increase in sales to a number of factors ranging from strong brand recognition, increased point of sales branding, improvements in sales and marketing strategies to higher visibility through trade shows.

    Dangote Cement Ethiopia increased sales by 16.8 per cent to nearly 1.7 mta in the first nine months of 2017, representing capacity utilisation of approximately 88 per cent.

    The cement plant in Pout, Senegal, sold 1.0 mta of cement in the period under review, up by 21.7 per cent on the comparable period of 2016. This represents almost 89 pe rcent capacity utilisation at the factory.

    Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Cement, Onne van der Weijde, said: “Our Pan-African operations are performing strongly with excellent sales growth in Cameroon, Ethiopia and Senegal.

    “We are consolidating our success across Africa and have just inaugurated our 1.5mta factory in Congo, the 10th country in which we have established operations.”

    He added that the company’s key operations in Nigeria have significantly improved its fuel mix and this has helped increase margins across the Group.

    “It is especially good for Nigeria because most of the coal we are using is mined in our own country,” van der Weijde said.

  • Osinbajo, Dangote for Edo summit

    The Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, is to lead industry titans, including Africa’s richest man and President of Dangote Group Aliko Dangote to the maiden Alaghodaro Investment Summit.

    It will be hosted by Edo State government in Benin City, from November 10.

    The three-day summit, with the theme: “Envisioning the Future,” will explore opportunities for local and foreign direct investments in the state by highlighting its competitive advantage across sectors.

    Also expected at the summit are local and international business leaders and investors, bankers, financiers, industry experts, policy makers, diplomatic community and academia.

    The summit will showcase the reform the Governor Godwin Obaseki administration has carried out in critical sectors, such as the Private Property Protection Law, which sanitised land acquisition and use, the planned development of 58 tourist sites to unlock its tourism potential, and incentives for investment in the agricultural sector through public private partnership, among others.

    Chairman of Alaghodaro 2017 Organising Committee,  Asue Ighodalo, said: “The world over, governments are looking beyond oil to alternative revenue sources, in order to ensure sustainable development. We must also get creative and take action today for our future and the future of our children.”

    He said the key areas of focus at the event would include law and order, civil service reform, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, forest regeneration and conservation, education, health care as well as arts and culture.

    Ighodalo said the summit was part of the response of the government, under the leadership of Obaseki, to the imminent threat of an oil-dependent economy.

  • Dangote partners Kogi on rice farming

    Dangote Rice Limited has launched a youth farming initiative in Kogi State.

    The Dangote Youth Rice Farm project, mainly an out-grower scheme for youths was flagged off at the Lower Niger River Basin Authority, Kampe, Ejiba in Yagba West Local Government Area of the state where youth have embarked on rice cultivation on over 100 hectares of land.

    The rice farm project, which was preceded by a special training for the youth farmers on the dynamics of the rice farming, will see the youths cultivating the rice paddy on a 100 hectares of land, which will then be bought over by the company for processing.

    Under the scheme, the Dangote Rice company provides the seedling, anti-pest-chemicals, and fertilizers while the Basing Authority provided the land for the young farmers.

    The management of Dangote Rice led by the Group Executive Director, Mr. Devakumar Edwin flagged off the project while taking delivery of some rice paddy bags produced from the pilot project.

  • Amaechi, Dangote, Soyinka, others for transportation roundtable

    Amaechi, Dangote, Soyinka, others for transportation roundtable

    The Federal Ministry of Transportation plans to hold a roundtable aimed at bridging the infrastructural gap in the transport sector.

    The meeting will hold on November 9, in Lagos. It is expected to have as key participants, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, business mogul Aliko Dangote, and Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka.

    Others expected at the meeting are stakeholders in the transportation sector, captains of industry, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), AFRICEXIM Bank, and top government functionaries.

    The organisers of the roundtable, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), said the meeting that meering would enable relevant stakeholders brainstorm on ways to address the infrastructure deficit in the transport sector and, decongesting the seaports by ensuring the smooth take off of the Inland Container Depots (ICDs).

    The roundtable is also aimed at fine tuning arrangements for the establishment of Truck Transit Parks (TTP) to provide short-term resting place for truck drivers on long distance travels and reduce loss to life and cargo caused by accidents arising from fatigue.

    A statement by the Council’s Head of Special Duties, Ignatius Nweke, said the Minister of Transportation would be the Chief Host at the event and would lead discussions on funding for the Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and the Truck Transit Parks (TTP).

    “The roundtable will parade key transport industry stakeholders, Captains of Industry, notable among them, World’s richest black man and President of the Dangote Group and Abdulsamad Rabiu of the BUA Group.

    “It is primarily intended to engage leading investments and development companies and banks like the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), AFRICEXIM Bank and many other investors to bring in their resources and invest in these viable projects that would bring good returns within a short period of time,” Nweke said.

    He said Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka; Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema and Director General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Engr. Chidi Izuwah will be keynote speakers at the event.

    Nweke explained that while Inland Container Depots (ICDs) otherwise referred to as Dry Ports operate as centres for transshipment of sea cargo to inland destinations, Truck Transit Parks (TTPs) are places for short-term breaks and also long-term parking services where truck drivers can get fuel, food, restrooms, shower and basic supplies like oil and spare parts as well as servicing and repairs of haulage vehicles.

    He said the roundtable will among other things, deliberate on how to consolidate on the success recorded with the (ICDs), upon the completion of the Kaduna Dry Port.

    According to him, the roundtable will equally discuss the market analysis that has already been conducted as well as how the business and operating model can address the supply gap for a modern TTPs.

    “Feasibility studies has been conducted for the establishment of the Truck Transit Parks in Lokoja ( Kogi State); Obollo-Afor (Enugu State); Jebba (Kwara State); Ore (Ondo State) ; Ogere (Ogun State); Porto Novo Creek (Lagos state); Onitsha (Anambra State) and Mararaban Jos (Kaduna State),” he said.

    The statement said the Truck Transit Parks will have; gas station, hotel and motel, restaurants, mechanic workshop, fire station, police post, and automated cargo tracking system.