The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Dangote

  • PPP key to tackling power deficit, says Dangote

    PPP key to tackling power deficit, says Dangote

    Foremost industrialist and President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote yesterday told the audience at the World Economic Forum (WEF) holding in Davos Switzerland that a joint effort between government and private sector to tackle the power deficit remained a key element in boosting the economy of Africa.

    Dangote, who also spoke about his efforts at contributing to lightening up Africa starting from Nigeria was one of the panelists at a discussion on closing the power gap in Africa organized by the CNBC, a renowned Satellite Business Television Channel.

    The businessman man also advised African governments to imbibe policy consistency and avoid summersault which he said often times scuttle the business plan of investors and discourages others from investing in the sector.

    Dangote who is investing heavily in power with his $12 billion refinery and petrochemical project said part of his project in Lagos is laying of sub-sea gas pipeline from Niger Delta to Lagos to provide 3 billion cubic feet of gas that can generate 12, 000 mw of electricity.

    Other panelists at the discussion include, Mr. AkinwunmiAdesina, President of African Development Bank, Deputy President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa and Special Representative of the United Nation, Rachel Kyte.

    Dangote said government must galvanized the private sector in the provision of stable power in Africa “and that at the end it would be a win-win situation because when power is available a lot of people will put to work and government revenue will also increase”

    According to him, his company signed a $5 billion collaborative agreement with Blackstone to generate power and that while the private sector is investing, the role of government would be to provide the operational framework and conducive environment for the investment to thrive.

    He stated that given the abundance of resources needed to generate power like gas and coal which he said the continent is blessed with.

  • Dangote eyes 3,000 jobs with truck assembly plant

    Dangote eyes 3,000 jobs with truck assembly plant

    Aliko Dangote, Nigerian entrepreneur, aims to create 3,000 jobs with the establishment of a truck assembly plant in Ikeja, Lagos.

    The plant is the result of a partnership between the Dangote group and Sinotruck, a Chinese heavy-duty truck company.

    “The decision to go into the truck assembly plant project was informed by the need to conserve forex in view of the current economic recession.

    “The deal, worth $100 million, expected to have an assembly plant that will produce 10,000 trucks per year, was signed in May 2014, in China.

    “According to the deal agreement, the plant is 60 per cent owned by Dangote Group, trading under Dangote Industries Limited, leaving Sinotruck with the remaining 40 per cent equity stake,” the statement by the firm explained.

    Anthony Chiejina, chief corporate communication officer of Dangote Group, confirmed the project had taken off and that when fully operational, the nation would be spared the forex expense of importing the heavy-duty vehicles.

    He explained there would be room for the expansion of the project in years to come, saying: “As it meets the national truck demand, it will explore exportation to neighbouring countries to generate foreign exchange for the nation.”

    Consequently, Dangote Agro Sacks Limited, which occupied the Oba-AkranOgba premises of the former Nigerian Textile Mills, until recently, has been relocated closer to the group’s major operational hubs, particularly the cement plants in Obajana, Kogi State and Ibeshe, Ogun State.

  • Dangote sets up truck plant

    Dangote sets up truck plant

    Dangote Group is establishing a multi-million dollar vehicle assembly plant project in Lagos.

    The firm is partnering a leading Chinese Company, National Heavy Duty Truck Group Company Limited, SINOTRUCK, to produce several thousands of trucks used mainly for haulage business from its newly promoted assembly plant at Ikeja, Lagos.

    The deal, worth $100 million and expected to have an assembly plant to produce 10,000 trucks per year, was signed in May 2014 in China, making it the eighth of Shandong, China (SINOTRUK), to be built abroad.

    According to the deal agreement, the plant is 60 per cent owned by Dangote Group, trading under Dangote Industries Limited, leaving SINOTRUK with the remaining 40 per cent equity stake.

    The plant is expected to generate jobs for 3,000 workersl.

    The Group’s Chief Corporate Communication Officer, Anthony Chiejina, said the project  when fully operational would spare the nation the huge amount of forex spent on importation.

  • Dangote, Adenuga remain among Africa’s richest

    Year in year out, the list of richest Africans feature virtually the same dozen or so names at the top spots. This year is not any different, going by the recently released Forbes Rich List.

    The boss of Dangote conglomerate, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is, for the sixth year in a row, the richest man in Africa with $12. 1 billion. Globacom boss and Otunba Apesin of Ijebuland, Dr. Mike Adenuga, is third on the list with $5.8 billion, while businesswoman Folorunso Alakija rounds off the Nigerians on the list with a personal fortune of $1.8 billion.

    Forte Oil boss Femi Otedola and sugar baron Abdulsamad Rabiu dropped off the list of dollar billionaires this year due to economic recession and a weakened naira. The dwindling fortunes of the two Nigerians paved the way for South Africans and Egyptians to dominate the most recent list. South Africa and Egypt are tied on six billionaires each, although the South Africans are cumulatively $7 billion richer than their Egyptian counterparts.

    This year, only two women cracked Forbes’ Africa billionaires list. They are the aforementioned Alakija and Angola’s Isabel Dos Santos. Isabel is the daughter of Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos and the chief of the country’s national oil corporation Somangol. She is Africa’s richest woman with a fortune of $3.2 billion.

  • High dairy import worries dangote

    High dairy import worries dangote

    About 98 per cent of dairy products consumed in Nigeria are imported, the Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has said.

    The industrialist warned that the nation was at risk of hunger in the next few years if food importation is not checked.

    Addressing some students of the executive Masters in Business Administration (MBA) class of the Lagos Business School who visited the Dangote Petrochemical Refinery in Lagos, Dangote said his company would develop dairy plants and develop homegrown milk production to reduce importation.

    “By 2020, it is estimated that the Nigerian population would have risen to between 207 million and 210 million. If we do not make efforts to grow and process our own foods, God forbid, we will go hungry,” Dangote said.

    He stated that his company has been in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on ways it could add value to local production, and that the company has marked massive dairy production for the next three years.

    “We cannot solve all Nigeria’s problems, but at least we can embrace and add value to areas where we have comparative advantage,” Dangote said.

    He added that Dangote Group was the most capitalised company on the stock exchange, with investments, which include six ongoing projects that would create not less than 250,000 jobs across the nation.

    He said that the refinery, which primarily majored in gas plants, petrochemicals and fertilizer production, could generate an annual foreign exchange savings and earnings of $15 billion.

    The industrialist also said it would generate up to 1500 direct jobs and 15,000 indirect jobs in support services and logistics, which would also include up to 22,000 housing facilities.

    Dangote also said that the East West Onshore Gas Gathering Section (EWOGGS) pipeline of the refinery was a $3b investment specifically dedicated to generate 12,000 mega watts of power for industries.

  • Dangote Cement pushes equities to N97b loss

    Dangote Cement pushes equities to N97b loss

    A significant depreciation in the share price of Nigeria’s most capitalised quoted company, Dangote Cement Plc, dampened the market situation at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday as the loss suffered by the cement company reversed hitherto positive market position to a net capital loss of N97 billion.

    With its first widespread rally this year and more advancers than decliners, the Nigerian stock market was on course for a modest gain but a 4.01 per cent decline in share price of Dangote Cement overwhelmed other gains and left the overall market position with its third consecutive decline.

    Dangote Cement accounts for nearly one-third of total market capitalisation at the Exchange. Dangote Cement recorded the highest loss, in value terms, of N6.97 to close at N167.02.

    The benchmark index at the NSE, the All Share Index (ASI), declined by 1.07 per cent from its opening index of 26,495.04 points to close at 26,212.09 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also dropped from N9.116 trillion to close at N9.019 trillion.

    With the third consecutive decline, the average year-to-date return at the stock market so far this year built up to -2.47 per cent.

    Other top losers yesterday included Guinness Nigeria, which dropped by N4.15 to close at N78.90; Forte Oil, which lost N2.85 to close at N80.75; Stanbic IBTC Holdings, which dropped by 63 kobo to N15; Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, which lost 30 kobo to close at N2.86 and Dangote Flour Mills, which declined by 21 kobo to close at N4.04 per share.

    Sectoral analysis also showed the negative influence of the highly capitalised stocks on their sectors. The NSE Industrial Goods Index, where Dangote Cement is listed, recorded above-average decline of 1.8 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index dropped by 0.29 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index slipped by 0.14 per cent. On the upside, the NSE Banking Index rose by 1.7 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index appreciated by 0.7 per cent.

    There were 17 gainers against 16 losers. Beta Glass and CAP led the gainers with a gain of N1 each to close at N30 and N33 respectively. Guaranty Trust Bank followed with a gain of 57 kobo to close at N23.47. Access Bank rose by 29 kobo to N6.14. Oando rallied 24 kobo to close at N4.54. Cadbury Nigeria rose by 22 kobo to N10 while UACN Property Development Company chalked up 21 kobo to close at N3.09 per share.

    Total turnover stood at 137.69 million shares valued at N898.71 million in 2,488 deals. Fidelity Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 25.06 million shares worth N20.98 million. Diamond Bank followed with 16.95 million shares worth N15.26 million while United Capital placed third with 11.04 million shares valued at N31.84 million.

  • Dangote to resume tomato production in February

    Dangote to resume tomato production in February

    The Dangote Tomato Processing Factory in Kadawa, Kura Local Government Area of Kano State is to resume production in February.

    The company, which began production in Feb. 2016, had to suspend operation due to lack of enough raw materials.

    The Managing Director of the company, Alh. Abdulkadir Kaita disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Kano.

    He added that preparation for production to resume was at an advanced stage.

    Kaita said that the company had to suspend production when most of the tomato farms in about five states were affected by a pest, which destroyed all the tomato species.

    “We expect that tomato farmers would have produced enough for the company to process, hence our decision to resume production in February,’’ he said.

    According to him, many tomato farmers at the Kadawa, Kura, Garun-Malam and Hadeja-Jama’are irrigation sites are expected to produce enough for the company to process.

    “We deliberately decided to resume production in February because we don’t want to create a scarcity of the commodity.

    “We want to make sure that there is enough to process so that its price will not go up,” Kaita said.

    He said that the company which had the capacity to process 40 trucks or 1,200 tonnes of fresh tomatoes per day, would soon begin recruitment of additional staff.

    “All our trained staff are still with us and we are paying them salary but if there is the need to recruit additional staff, we will do so to ensure effective service delivery,’’ he said.

    NAN recalls that a pest popularly known as “Tuta Absoluta’’ destroyed tomato farms in Kano, Jigawa, Plateau, Katsina and Kaduna states.

  •  Ajomale, Dangote, others honour Ambassador Oluwole Coker at late mother’s burial

     Ajomale, Dangote, others honour Ambassador Oluwole Coker at late mother’s burial

    High profile dignitaries including  the Chairman of All Progressives’ Congress (APC),Lagos State chapter, Chief Henry Ajomale and business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, yesterday graced the final burial ceremony of Ambassador Oluwole Coker’s late mother, Mother in Israel Christiana Modupe Coker, whose body was finally laid to rest yesterday in Lagos.

    Friends, well-wishers an chidren of the deceased filed out to bid the departed a well- deserved final farewell, and to celebrate a life well lived by their late matricarch.

    Mother in Israel Christiana Modupe Coker nee Majiyagbe died at a ripe age of 92. She was born on the 15th of November 1924 in Abeokuta to Mrs Olatilewa Mjiyagbe of Oke Ona, Abeokuta and died on the 30th of November 2016.

    With early education at Gibson White Primary School and then secondary education at Methodist Girls School, Yaba, Christiana Modupe Coker showed early signs of industry. She worked at the then popular Kingsway Stores, Idumota, before being swept off her feet in marriage to Nathaniel Ekundayo Coker (MBE) in 1945.

    The couple later moved to Kaduna where Christiana’s husband was operating from as the Baba Aladura, the Spiritual Leader of Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church Nigeria and Overseas. There in Kaduna, Christiana lived for 60 years before returning to Lagos in year 2012.

    Guests were hosted to a lavish reception at Bishop Adelakun Howells Memorial Hall, Surulere, while the children of the deceased to relive fond memories shared with the deceased.

    Other dignitaries at the event included General Ike Nwachukwu (rtd), Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, Colonel Leo Aborisha(rtd); Archbishop (Prof) Adebayo Akinde, former Archbishop of Lagos West Diocese of the Anglican Communion.

  • Dangote makes world’s most powerful persons list

    Dangote makes world’s most powerful persons list

    In spite of the biting economic recession, it is not all gloom for the country. One of world’s most respected magazines, Forbes, recently ranked Alhaji Aliko Dangote as one of the most powerful individuals in the world. In this, he is ranked among global political figures like the newly elected President of United States Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    The President of Dangote Group, Nigeria’s biggest business conglomerate, first featured on the exclusive list of world’s powerful people in 2013 when he was ranked the 71st most powerful person in the world and the only African to crack the list. This year’s ranking sees him move up to 68th in the world and second in Africa behind Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who is placed 44th on the list.

    Expectedly, the top places on the list are dominated by very visible global figures who have been making waves for right or wrong reasons. Vladimir Putin, the aggressive Russian president, sits atop the list as the most powerful person in the world, followed by Donald W Trump. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is third while Chinese premier Xi Jinping is fourth. Social media champion and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is number 10 on the list released by the magazine.

  • Dangote sacks 109 workers , 115 others know fate soon

    The Dangote Group has dismissed 109 workers at Obajana Cement Company in Kogi State, after being found guilty of various offences, Mr Abdulahi Magaji has said.

    Magaji , the Coordinator of the company’s Patrol Team, announced this to newsmen on Tuesday at the Obajana premises of the company.

    Magaji said that the dismissed workers were among the 244 suspects arrested between May and November.

    According to him, they include erring drivers, owners of illegal haulage, and those stealing the company’s properties among others.

    He said that other 115 workers were being remanded in prison custody pending the determination of their cases.

    “I am happy to inform you that we have arrested and recovered five stolen trucks; but unfortunately, the products have been stolen.

    “It is interesting to note that one of the kingpins, Samaila Yakubu, who specialised in stealing our trucks in collaboration with some drivers and buyers, has also been arrested.

    “It is this group that has been terrorising our trucks in the South East and South South axis,’’ Magaji, a former Commissioner of Police said.

    The coordinator said that the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, had directed that misconducts by drivers should be reduced to the barest minimum.

    “We have pasted warnings clearly on the cab of all our trucks prohibiting carrying of goods and passengers apart from company’s products.

    “We are calling on the law enforcement agencies to support the efforts of the Dangote Group in arresting those who break the laws of the company,’’ he said

    He explained that the efforts of the patrol team had helped to reduce accidents in the fleet, adding that more measures would be put in place to reduce accidents.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the major duties of the National Patrol Unit of Dangote Group are to stop illegal haulage and reckless driving by Dangote drivers.

    The patrol unit also prevent diversion of products, driving of Dangote Trucks by unauthorised drivers and enlightenment of drivers on traffic rules among others. (NAN)