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Tag: Dangote

  • Dangote among world’s 100 most powerful people -Forbes

    Dangote among world’s 100 most powerful people -Forbes

    Forbes, the influential American magazine has named President, of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, among the 100 most powerful people in the world.

    Aliko who  is  the only black person who made the list apart from  President  Barack Obama of the United States of America (USA) was listed at number 71 just a notch above the top Republican Party contender for the US presidency, Donald Trump.

    President of Egypt, Abdel el-Sisi, was the only other African listed apart from Dangote and he was placed at number 49, under the defiant North Korean leader Kin Jong-un who was placed at number 46, while Igor Sechin of Rosneft and Ma Huateng were placed at 47 and 48 respectively.

    Occupying the number one spot is the  Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, followed by the Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, and Obama in the third position.

    Also listed are Pope Francis at number four, Chinese Prime Minister  Xi Jinping (fifth),world’s richest men, Bill Gates (sixth) and Warren Buffet (13th) were placed and  Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (23rd).

    Last month, Dangote was named among the 50 world most influential personalities by Bloomberg, the renowned United States-based news media with bias for business and financial news reporting.

    The group of personalities chosen by the Bloomberg Market, consisted of CEOs, world leaders as well as religious leaders. As expected, Obama, Angela Merkel and Pope Francis made the list with Dangote at number 41.

    According to Bloomberg, those on the list “build companies and assemble fortunes.

    They run banks, or hope to disrupt them. They shape economies and spread ideas. They manage money and wield the clout that goes with the billions of dollars they invest.”

     

  • Dangote refinery begins operation in 2018

    Dangote refinery begins operation in 2018

    Dangote Refining and Petrochemical Plant will begin operation in 2018.

    The plant has a refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd), production of 750,000 metric tonnes of polypropylene per year and 2.8 million tonnes of fertilizer per annum, its management announced.

    Construction work on the plant located in Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos State with other companies is progressing rapidly.

    The Senior General Manager, Civil and Structural, Dangote Refinery, Madhar Kelkar, said the entire project is situated on 2600 hectares of land.

    According to him, work on land reclamation, piling and dredging is the most critical aspect of the entire project.

    He said: “This is the most critical aspect of the project, others including assembling and coupling together of equipment as well as installations to make up the plant, will just take a couple of months to complete.

    “I think we have made very good progress and we should be happy with what we have done so far.”

    Kelkar said the Belgian company – Jon De Nul, which has a footprint all over the world, is handling the dredging work.

    On what the nation stands to gain, he said: “I think every Nigerian would be very proud that Nigeria has the longest single train refinery in the world.

    “With this project, Nigeria will reach self-sufficiency in little or no time and the vision is not just to supply the domestic market but to export to neighbouring countries to be able to generate some foreign exchange (Forex) for the economy.

    “Besides, we will be generating and saving a significant amount of forex, so it is a massive investment for Nigeria,” he added.

    The General Manager, Fertiliser, Jaiswal Anureg, said the fertilizer section will have up to 2,500 workers as work progresses.

    He said: “We have about 2,500 workers include those on chemical, electrical and instrumentation sections.

    “Already 200 workers are here and subsequently as the job progresses it will increase to 2,500.

    “The fertilizer plant is the largest in the world and the capacity is 2.8 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of urea and ammonia.”

    He said the fertilizer company will have four power turbines of 40 megawatts (Mw) each, adding that the engineering work is 90 per cent completed while 80 per cent of procurement has been done.

  • Dangote, Oshiomhole, others for New Telegraph’s economic summit

    Three governors Mr. Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano) and Chief Dave Umahi (Ebonyi)  as well as President, Dangote Group Alhaji Aliko Dangote, are among dignitaries expected at the maiden edition of New Telegraph’s Economic Summit, holding in Lagos on October 27.

    The summit, with the theme: “Beyond monthly allocation: State of the Nigerian states”, will examine the financial crisis facing many states following the oil price rout that has cut revenue to the Federation Account by about 65 per cent and how states could survive by expanding their internally generated revenue base.

    Dangote will be the guest speaker, where  the three governors will also share their experience in weathering the economic storm that has buffeted many states and impaired their ability to meet their obligations to workers and contractors.

    The summit, conceived by New Telegraph to expand the conversation on the state of the nation’s economic, is aimed at generating ideas to bring more dividends of democracy to the people.

  • Dangote Foundation to campaign against childhood diseases

    Dangote Foundation to campaign against childhood diseases

    The Dangote Foundation has promised to step up its advocacy campaign against preventable diseases in the country.

    This followed report that an estimated 124,000 children under the age of four years are dying annually due to poor sanitation,

    The foundation’s Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Zuoera Youssoufou, gave this promise in a message she sent to the Community Staff School, venue of the demonstration of the United Nation’s Global Hand Washing Day observed in Abuja in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and other organisations like the United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF) and Water Aids.

    She lamented that Nigeria was still contributing so much to the number of children deaths recorded globally, owing to poor sanitation and described the situation as unacceptable.

    Mrs. Youssoufou stated that the foundation had already planned to scale up it advocacy and intervention in the preventable deaths, owing to equally preventable diseases such as poor sanitation, hunger and malnutrition, diarrhoea, cholera and dysentery.

    The Foundation boss explained that it was in realisation of the factor of hygiene and good sanitation in the prevention of these avoidable deaths that made the United Nation to set aside a day to mark the Hand Washing Day to demonstrate and encourage the children on the need to always wash their hands and maintain good sanitation so as to stay healthy.

    She said a situation where the nation is losing her children to preventable deaths would not augur well for the development of the country in future because the rank of the children on whose shoulders the task of the development lie would have been depleted.

    Said she: “Children are change agents and that is why we have to target them to ensure they stay healthy for the betterment of our society. Our partnership with the Federal Ministry of Water resources on this demonstration of globally accepted hand washing methods was in furtherance of our believe in focusing more on the health of our children.”

    The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr. Musa Istifanus, said the hand washing campaign was introduced to reduce childhood mortality rates relating to respiratory, diarrhoea and other related diseases by introducing simple behavioural change of hand wash with soap.

    The UNICEF Country Representative, Kannan Nadar, pointed out that a survey carried out recently indicated that in six states, 53 per cent of the children don’t wash hands after defecation, which, he said, was “a great disincentive to the campaign for proper sanitation among the children”.

  • Dangote eyes new investments in Tanzania

    After weekend’s successful inauguration of its new 3.0 million metric tonnes cement plant in Mtwara, United Republic of Tanzania, Dangote Industries Limited plans to explore further investment opportunities in key sectors of the Tanzanian economy.

    President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said the Group plans to invest in agriculture and other sectors that will further have multiplier effects on the Tanzanian economy in the near future.

    Agriculture is the second highest revenue earner for Tanzania, after Tourism. Tanzania, with a population of 47.7 million, has a Gross Domestic Products (GDP) average yearly growth rate of 7.0 per cent.

    Dangote Group at the weekend commissioned its $600 million three million metric tonnes per annum cement plant in Mtwara District, setting several records as the largest cement plant in East and Central Africa and the largest single investment in Tanzania.

    Dangote said the commissioning of the Mtwara cement plant marked the beginning of an enduring business relationship with Tanzania noting that the cooperation received from the Tanzanian government and the host community have created positive impression that should lead to further investments.

    Dangote pointed out that a key factor which drives investments in an economy is the presence of an investor-friendly business environment and Tanzania has proven to be one of the most attractive investment destinations in Africa.

    He outlined that the economic reforms in Tanzania, especially in tax, public sector, financial sector, innovations in rural finance, telecommunications and infrastructure as well as revamped legislative frameworks, have produced an enabling environment that has further provided a platform for future growth.

    He said the group would also construct a 25-hectare jetty at Mgao village, located within Mtwara for export of cement to other countries and transportation to Tanzanian capital, Dar Es Salam.

    “The Tanzanian economy has been growing rapidly over the last few years. GDP growth rates have averaged 7 per cent per annum. The World Bank predicts that Tanzania can maintain this impressive growth over the next five years if the government continues to spearhead these laudable reforms. This attests to the success of Ujamaa (African Socialism) that Tanzania has vigorously championed,” Dangote noted.

    He enthused that the Dangote Cement investment, as has been the case in Ethiopia, Cameroon and Zambia, will certainly contribute to Tanzania’s on-going story of infrastructure development, job creation, and broad economic development.

    “We are here to create wealth and provide jobs for Tanzanians. In fact, one of our key strengths lies in our ability to understand the peculiar needs of Africans and how to do business successfully on the continent. That is why we have made Africa the centerpiece of our multi-billion dollar investments. We believe that it is only Africans who can develop Africa. We are also motivated to create an African success story because we believe that entrepreneurship holds the key to the future economic growth of the continent,” Dangote said.

    According to him, investment in the real sector of the economy is the only way that Africa can achieve accelerated growth and development that it has yearned for in order to liberate its people from the shackles of poverty.

    Dangote lauded the government and people of Tanzania and assured that while the company is primarily engaged in business of wealth creation, it is committed to reciprocating the enormous goodwill of the people by engaging in impactful corporate social responsibility projects.

  • Dangote gets kudos for ‘stimulating’ African economy

    Dangote gets kudos for ‘stimulating’ African economy

    •Firm inaugurates $600m cement plant in Tanzania

    President Muhammadu Buhari and his Tanzanian counterpart, Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, have hailed businessman Aliko Dangote for stimulating African economy through his investments.

    Dangote’s investments, the two leaders said, were sustaining the continent’s economic stability and standard of living.

    They spoke at the inauguration of Dangote Cement’s $600 million plant in Mtwara, Tanzania as well as the groundbreaking of a 26-hectare jetty.

    The cement plant was described as the largest in East and Central Africa and the largest single investment in Tanzania.

    The event attracted notable personalities from Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo.Kikwete said the investment opened the door for job creation and opportunity for people to express their creative abilities.

    He described the three million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) cement plant as the largest in the eastern and Central Africa.

    The Tanzanian president noted that the investment would have a huge impact as well as bilateral relation between his country and Nigeria.

    “It will go a long way in transforming our happily existing diplomatic and political relations into investment and trade arena,” he noted.

    Kikwete added that the timing of the cement plant’s establishment was “very auspicious”, coming at a time when the demand for cement was on the upsurge locally and regionally.

    His words: “It is logical that there is a sound relationship between economic growth and booming of the construction sector, whereby cement is a critical input. Tanzania is one of the countries where such relationship can easily be traced.”

    Kikwete, who said Tanzania was attracting more investment, added that it has registered an average growth of seven per cent.

    He said the country was one of the top 10 fastest growing economies in Africa.

    Buhari, who was represented by Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, said Dangote was a key role player in the Africa’s economic development.

    The president added that the businessman’s investment model was in tandem with his government’s economic policy.

    He said Dangote taught the continent the need to adopt an economic integration policy to encourage Africans to invest on their continent “rather than waiting for the elusive foreigners to come and help invest and develop Africa”.

    Buhari added that Dangote had proved a point that though there could be challenges, “there are huge returns for African investment in Africa”.

    “Others should emulate him and partner with the government on the onerous task of job creation. As our son, we are proud of Dangote. Nigeria is very proud of him,” the president said.

    The Federal Government, he said, was placing an emphasis on job creation.

    Buhari noted that it would work assiduously to achieve the plan to create a million jobs.

    He hailed the government and people of Tanzania for “providing the enabling environment that makes business to thrive, even to non-indigenes”.

    Dangote said the “key factor that drives investments in an economy is the presence of an investor-friendly business climate”.

    He noted that Tanzania was one of the most attractive investment destinations in Africa.

    The businessman added that was attested to by the substantial amount of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) that flows into the country yearly.

    The cement plant, he said, was part of the company’s African expansion drive.

    The Tanzanian plant is the fourth plant to be commissioned after Ethiopia, Zambia and the Cameroon plants.

    The Dangote Group now has cement operations in 18 African countries and it plans to commission its cement plants in Senegal and South Africa before the end of this year.

  • Dangote Industries strengthens relationship with CNN International

    Dangote Industries strengthens relationship with CNN International

    Amajor Africa’s largest business conglomerates, Dangote Industries Limited, is deepening its relationship with CNN International by renewing on-air and digital sponsorship of the prestigious ‘Facetime’ segment within CNN Marketplace Africa.

    CNN Marketplace Africa is a weekly show on CNN International which offers a unique window into African business. The new edition of the show is hosted by British-Nigerian CNN anchor Zain Asher, who breaks down the economic trends affecting Africa, interviewing business leaders making and shaping the continent.

    The ‘Facetime’ element within the programme is a high-profile segment in which a major player from the global business community is interviewed about Africa business matters. On-air content is complemented by distinctive online editorial at a ‘CNN Marketplace Africa’ microsite, where popular and innovative content is shared across a range of social channels.

    Since taking over as full-time host in May this year, Zain Asher has interviewed esteemed ‘Facetime’ guests including: Patrice Motsepe, founder and Executive Chairman, African Rainbow Minerals; Russell Stokes, CEO, GE Transportation; Kofi Anan, former UN Secretary General; Taleb Rifai, Secretary General, UNWTO and Maria Ramos, CEO, Barclays Africa.

    In addition, Dangote Industries Limited is sponsoring a new segment, ‘Africa Now’, to air within ‘The Business View’.

    Dangote Industries Limited’s sponsorship of ‘Africa Now’ is aimed at raising the profile of the business across the continent and outside of Africa among CNN’s unrivalled affluent audience. The campaign spans TV sponsorship, spot advertising and digital components.

    Africa Now examining how business in Africa has an impact beyond the continent, will air as part of CNN’s dedicated month focusing on Africa, a series of special features and programmes about Africa throughout October.

    It started early this month and airing each subsequent Monday throughout the month, Africa Now will cover topics such as: innovation, workforce trends, education and economics, with a particular emphasis on empowering Africa; growth and development on the continent.

    Speaking on the development, Antonio Canto, Vice President, Advertising Sales, EMEA, CNN International said: “This is an ideal time for Dangote Industries to consolidate its presence on CNN through the renewal of Facetime on CNN Marketplace Africa and the launch of   Africa Now. At a time when there is a thirst for content on Africa, the sponsorships reflect Dangote’s role in promoting pan African business and its corporate social responsibility activity through the Dangote Foundation.”

  • No plan to seek political office, says Aliko Dangote

    No plan to seek political office, says Aliko Dangote

    Millionaire Aliko Dangote has said he won’t participate in politics, saying business and politics should never be mixed.

    The chairman of Dangote Group spoke yesterday when he visited the Awolowos to condole with the family on the death of their mother, Mrs Hannah Idowu Dideolu (HID) Awolowo in Ikenne-Remo, Ogun State.

    The business mogul said the set of skills required to become successful in business differed from those of politics.

    “I can’t be in politics because they say when you want to clap you need two hands.

    “If all of us in business go into politics then who is going to create the jobs?

    “We are in the private sector so we should be creating jobs. Government should be creating good policies and ensuring that we are not taking advantage of the poor.

    “They are doing what they know how to do best and we are also doing what we know how to do best. Each is a master in its own terrain,” Dangote said.

    He advised that Nigerians should not worry about falling oil prices, saying that the economy would soon become stable through the austerity measures adopted by the Federal Government.

    “During the oil boom, when a barrel of oil sold above $100, there were too many leakages which the Federal Government is now trying to resolve by plugging them.

    “When this is effectively achieved, I believe the economy will begin to regain its stability.

    “However, we must begin to explore other avenues to wealth aside from crude oil, especially agriculture, which we were formerly used to. We really should not be complaining,” he said.

    Dangote, however, called on the Federal Government to implement policies to attract investors and enable the  manufacturing sector to thrive and fast-track economic growth.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Femi Otedola, another business man, was on Dangote’s entourage.

    Both men described the late HID Awolowo as a great woman, whose name would forever remain immortalised in the nation’s history.

     

  • Dangote ranked among 50 most influential global persons

    Dangote ranked among 50 most influential global persons

    President of the pan-African conglomerate, the Dangote group, Aliko Dangote has been named among the 50 world most influential personalities by  Bloomberg, the renowned United States based news media with bias for business and financial news reporting.

    The group of personalities chosen by the Bloomberg Market, consisted of CEOs, world leaders as well as religious leaders. As expected, Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and Pope Francis made the list with Dangote on No. 41.

    According to Bloomberg, those on the list “build companies and assemble fortunes. They run banks, or hope to disrupt them. They shape economies and spread ideas. They manage money and wield the clout that goes with the billions of dollars they invest”

    The Bloomberg said of him; “Aliko Dangote, founder, Dangote Group. Africa’s most successful businessman built his fortune in sugar, textiles, and cement in his native Nigeria, where today he’s a political as well as a financial power broker. He’s expanding in other countries and may list his cement company in London.”

    A piece written by Paul Wallace, a reporter with the media outfit, said “Dangote is feted like royalty. He has businesses ranging from cement to sugar to energy in a dozen sub-Saharan countries. He’s a fixture at elite gatherings, such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. No African has ridden the continent’s halting march out of poverty toward potential prosperity as spectacularly as its richest person, the Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote.

    “Dangote’s clout extends beyond the boardroom and the high-flier dinner circuit. In March, as votes were tallied in Nigeria’s presidential election, Dangote, 58, served as an intermediary between the camps of the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, and the ultimate winner of the election, Muhammadu Buhari.”

    “There’s no question that he is quite an exceptional person—not only in Africa but globally,” says Mark Mobius, chairman of the emerging-markets group at Franklin Templeton Investments.

    Speaking at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London, Dangote expressed confidence that Nigeria would weather the oil shock that decimated government revenues if it stepped up a fight against corruption.

    He was reported to have been emphatic that Africa’s most populous country would grow. “Nigeria’s GDP won’t stagnate,” said Mr. Dangote, adding; “We will have a short term shock but people should remember the Nigerian economy is resilient and huge.”

    Dangote said if the government of President Buhari continued its crackdown on corruption the near 50 per cent oil price collapse in the past year would be mitigated.

    He was speaking on stage to Financial Times editor, Lionel Barber, at the opening session of the FT Africa Summit 2015.

    “The government organisations has also suffered a lot of leakages so when oil was $100 a barrel we weren’t seeing all that revenue collected,” Mr. Dangote said.

    “If the government collects all its taxes and duties I think we will be okay. We will not have as much as we had before but it will be okay.” Mr. Dangote said.

  • Dangote to develop Kano varsity’s agric master plan, says VC

    Dangote to develop Kano varsity’s agric master plan, says VC

    African richest man Alhaji Aliko Dangote is partnering Kano University of Science and Technology (KUST), Wudil, Kano, to develop its agricultural master plan.

    Its Vice Chancellor, Prof Shehu Alhaji Musa, made this known at a briefing on the 15th Anniversary of the university.

    He said Dangote, who is Pro-Chancellor of the university, is keen in seeing to the development of the university’s faculty.

    “The plan is in the pipeline and we have already started clearing way for the new project. When the master plan is achieved, it can cater for one million farmers. That will bring succour to our agriculture. We can also have reliable food security with its attending benefits,” Musa said.

    Dangote, who is president of Dangote Group of Companies, the VC added, pledged to also construct industrial borehole that could cater for 30,000 people.

    “Apart from these contributions, he pledged to give a support of N100million to the university to inject in other projects,” the VC said.

    “For your information, Alhaji  Dangote has promised to employ 15 professors for the university and promised to pay for their salary for four years. This will bring tremendous development for the state. Academically, this assistance will improve our institution and the state in general,’’ the VC added.

    Other contributions made to the  varsity by Dangote are the building of two 500-bedroom hostels for males and females, he said.

    The VC added that Dangote completed 12 new projects, handling 36 ongoing ones and four others four at tender stages.

    “Thirty one academic staff are sent for PhD programme – 22  abroad and nine within Nigeria. So far, we have nine Professors and 14 Readers as academic staff. We also have 49 Visiting Professors, “ he added.