The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Dangote

  • Dangote, Tunde Ayeni pioneer new city

    Dangote, Tunde Ayeni pioneer new city

    Whoever says money cannot buy happiness surely does not know where to shop. A paradise-like city is set to emerge in the heart of Lagos to cater for the high taste of wealthy men and women. Eko Atlantic is a serene environment designed for the rich and powerful.

    Every apartment in the city within a city screams affluence. It is a beautifully designed living environment built on the Atlantic Ocean and situated in Victoria Island, Lagos. The city offers living quarters and tastefully built blocks of office buildings; with its tree-line boulevards, waterways, manicure gardens, elegant plazas, three marinas and a stunning ocean front promenade.

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    Tunde Ayeni

    Already, the new city has attracted the attention of many Nigerian billionaires. Business magnates such as the Chairman of Skye Bank, Tunde Ayeni; Africa’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote and other men and women of affluence are among the early bidders at the luxurious city.

    The project, which has been going on for years, is said to be owned and operated by the Chagoury family.

  • Path to economic integration in Africa, by Dangote

    Path to economic integration in Africa, by Dangote

    For economic integration to be a real-ity in Africa, barriers  among countries must be broken to allow for free flow of goods, services, and ensure political stability on the continent, Africa’s richest man and President, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has said.

    Speaking during the inauguration of the new 2.5 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) Dangote Cement plant in Mugher District in Ethiopia, A1lhaji Dangote said only 14 out of the 54 African countries, offer visa-free, or visa-on-arrival to citizens of all African countries.

    He listed the 14 countries to include Seychelles, Mali, Uganda, Cape Verde, Togo, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, and Mauritania. Others are Rwanda, Burundi, Comoros, Madagascar, Somalia and Senegal.

    Dangote noted that on the other hand, American citizens visiting most African countries, get visa at the point of entry. He described this development as unhealthy for business, arguing that Africa must therefore, relax its visa policies to achieve true economic integration.

    While pointing out that Senegal has started the issuance of visas on arrival to all nationalities, he called on all African countries to follow suit.

    Dangote also stressed the need to make deliberate efforts to encourage Africans, not just foreigners alone, to invest in the continent.

    “For instance, Dangote Cement is currently investing in 16 African countries, with plans to invest in many more over the next few years. There are a number of other successful pan-African brands today such as MTN, Shoprite and Ecobank. We need to encourage this trend to see more investments in Africa by Africans,” he said.

    Dangote further noted that above all, there is the need to encourage the private sector to collaborate with governments across Africa to address the issue of infrastructure deficit, which has plagued the continent for decades.

  • Lagos remains investor’s haven, says Dangote

    Lagos remains investor’s haven, says Dangote

    Africa’s richest man and President of Dangote Group of Companies Aliko Dangote yesterday  said Lagos remains an investor’s haven. He spoke when he visited  Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

    Dangote, who spoke at the Lagos House, Ikeja noted that when the various projects being done in Lagos are completed, the emergent African model mega city will be an attractive business hub that will command investor’s respect and attention across the globe.

    Governor Ambode while responding to Dangote’s statement said his administration is ready to support the Dangote Group where it is necessary towards ensuring that investors have a comfortable life.

    “I will just call on other investors that wherever it is that we can assist we are willing and ready to make sure that investors have comfortable life and business profile in Lagos State.”

    The governor, who described the visit as very significant, promised that his administration would open up the state for greater business just as it is also interested in attracting foreign investors through its creation of an Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment.

    “This visit is highly significant. We said it that we are going to open up Lagos State for greater business and we also said we are interested in bringing in foreign investors and also create an Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment.

    “This visit is symbolic in the sense that the bottom line is creating jobs for our youths and he has shown full commitment as a great Nigerian that he is interested in investing in any part of this country. But most significantly in Lagos and we are ready to support him and support all his businesses because he is adding value”.

    “I will just call on other investors that wherever  it is that we can assist, we are willing and ready to make sure that investors have comfortable life and business profile in Lagos and once again I want to thank you for being here”, he added.

    The Governor also thanked the Dangote Group President for donating N400 Million through the Dangote Foundation to 2,000 women in 20 local governments towards improving their businesses.

    After the meeting, the businessman said he and his team were at the Lagos House to congratulate the governor on his victory.

    The business mogul said the visit also afforded him the opportunity to assure the governor of his commitment to finish ongoing projects being embarked upon by his company as well as his continued support to initiatives geared towards securing lives and properties.

    “I have assured him that we really love doing business here, it’s a friendly state for doing business and also to assure him of all the projects that we are doing that we are on course; that is building the largest ever single refinery of 650,000 barrels per day, which is by far more than the consumption of Nigeria and that would satisfy our consumption at least for the next seven to ten years by the time we finish.

  • Dangote urges African leaders on job creation, poverty reduction

    African leaders have been advised on job creation and poverty. Achieving real economic integration in Africa would require that Africans work together to ensure economic and political stability on the continent, Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote said at the weekend.

    He said efforts must be made to break the barriers and borders between countries to allow free flow of goods, services and people.

    Alhaji Dangote spoke shortly before the Prime Minister of Ethiopia,Hailemariam Dessalegn inaugurated his (Dangote’s) 2.5 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) cement plant in Mugher, Ethiopia. The firm has a prospect of about 7,000 jobs.

    He urged African leaders to make the environment conducive for the growth of the real sector as a sure way of creating jobs to reduce poverty in the continent.

    He stressed the need for a genuine collaboration between the private sector and governments at all levels for the much needed real sector growth, noting that there must be deliberate efforts to encourage Africans, not just foreigners alone, to invest in Africa.

    “Take, for example, my company, Dangote Cement, is currently investing in 16 African countries, with plans to invest in many more over the next few years. There are a number of other successful pan-African brands today such as MTN, Shoprite and Ecobank. We need to encourage this trend to see more investments in Africa by Africans.

    “Above all, there is the need to encourage the private sector to collaborate with governments across Africa, to address the issue of infrastructure deficit, which has plagued the continent for decades,” he said.

    Dangote pointed out that manufacturing, and not trading, is the best way to grow an economy.

    “This event, which we are witnessing today, attests to the fact that we took the right decision when we decided to transit from trading in our home country, Nigeria, into manufacturing,

  • Dangote commissions $500 million cement plant in Ethiopia

    Dangote commissions $500 million cement plant in Ethiopia

    A $500 million cement plant owned by Dangote Cement has been commissioned in Mugher,about 80 kilometres from Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

    The plant which has an installed capacity of 2.5 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) was inaugurated on Thursday with the president of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote saying more cement plants were being built by his company across Africa to actualize its ambition of reaching an annual production of 62 million tonnes by 2017.

    The company currently produces more than 40 million tonnes annually.

    Ethiopia is currently enjoying a construction boom and requires a minimum of 2.5 million metric tonnes of cement per annum to keep in shape.

    Dangote said the new plant planned to increase its production to 42.5 cement in the near future and create about 7,000 jobs.

    Apart from its plants in Nigeria, Dangote Cement has factories in South Africa, Senegal, Zambia and Tanzania.

    It is currently building a $400 million factory in Kenya.

    Aliko Dangote is Africa’s richest man with a fortune estimated at $17.8 billion according to FORBES.

     

  • Dangote Foundation commits N906m to Ebola fight

    Dangote Foundation commits N906m to Ebola fight

    THE Dangote Foundation has again offered to settle the cost of quarantining Nigeria’s returnee health volunteers from the Ebola ravaged West African countries.

    The health workers arrived in the country after spending six months to tackle the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

    The foundation’s new initiative came after it spent over N900 million to fight the EVD in the continent.

    The foundation, which has been playing a leading role in partnership with relevant authorities in the fight against the dreaded disease in Nigeria and the rest of Africa, is expending about N60 million on the accommodation of the 200 returning volunteers.

    The Federal Government has acknowledged the enormous infrastructural and financial assistance rendered by the body in tackling the scourge of Ebola in Nigeria.

    Director of Port Health Services, Ministry of Health Dr. Nasiru Sani Gwarzo lauded Dangote Foundation for its patriotic assistance, saying: “The intervention of the Dangote Foundation in the containment of the Ebola Virus is unprecedented in the history of intervention efforts in Nigeria by a single business entity”.

    The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Prof. Abdulsalam Nasidi, said “the role of the Dangote in the containment of the Ebola disease is immeasurable.”

    “We ran an emergency centre with virtually little or nothing. It was the Dangote Foundation that empowered our centre. I don’t have words to use. The foundation provided funds for procurement of facilities to run case management, infection, prevention, control and communication, which are the major response of disease control centre,” he said.

    The Health Workers Team Leader, Dr. Joshua Olusegun Obasanya, said the Dangote Foundation has been supporting the volunteers financially and technically, adding that the foundation has been facilitating their integration back to the Nigerian society since their arrived the country on Sunday.

    The foundation said the latest gesture was part of its commitment to continue to partner governments at all levels to ensure African countries are rid of preventable diseases.

    After the outbreak of Ebola last year in Nigeria,  the Dangote foundation contributed N153 million for the establishment of the National Ebola Emergency Operations Centre (EEOC) in Yaba, Lagos and paid salaries of select staff and volunteers for six months.

    Justifying the decision then, chairman of the foundation, Aliko Dangote, said: “The national response to the unfortunate outbreak of Ebola in our country has been impressive. We have, therefore, decided to lend our support to the effort. The Ebola EOC is an important innovation that will strengthen our health system, even long after this particular health crisis has abated.”

    Also, in the heat of the spread of the virus in Liberia and Sierra-Leone, the foundation donated $3 million to the Africa Against Ebola Solidarity Trust (AAEST). It was established by the African Union Commission headed by the AU chairperson, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, to mobilise resources from the African private sector to fight the scourge of the Ebola Virus Disease in the three most affected West African countries – Liberia, Guinea and Sierra-Leone.

    The Dangote Foundation is in partnership with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to eradicate Polio in Nigeria, a partnership that has succeeded in ensuring Polio cases in some Northern states have been reduced drastically.

  • Dangote foundation Kano projects hit N4bn

    Dangote Foundation projects  in Kano State have reached N4 billion, the Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mrs Zouera Youssoufou has said.

    She said this during a working visit to Kano to inspect some on-going projects in the state.

    Mrs Youssoufou said she was in Kano with her team as part of efforts to complete some of the projects the company started, adding that some of them are being redesigned.

    According to Mrs Youssoufou, the Foundation’s Micro Grant  Programme for women empowerment in Kano, has disbursed N880 million, benefiting 88,000 women, and its Animal Traction Programme executed through a Revolving Loan to farmers, cost the Foundation N160million.

    In the areas of provision of water, the CEO explained that the Foundation has contracted the construction of borehole facilities for 220 communities across the 44 Local Government Areas of the state at the cost of N110million and the first tranche of 66 boreholes across six LGAs is being executed.

    The Foundation’s CEO, who extolled the developmental strides of the Kano State government said Dangote Foundation’s partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on routine immunisation and polio eradication has been fruitful.  To implement the programme, the Foundation has contributed over N600million for the execution of the on strengthening Routine Immunisation and Primary Health Care (0ver the last three years).

    Additionally, over N72million contract has been  awarded  for the construction of 11 units of Primary Health Care Centers across 11 Local Government Areas of the state.

    She said the Foundation had expended N55million in the construction of hostels at the Kano University of Technology Wudil. (Also an on-going project).

    According to her, the cost of the ongoing project on the construction of state-of-the-art operating Theatre and Diagnostic Centre at the Murtala Muhammad Kano is estimated atN440million.

  • Ethiopian PM to inaugurate Dangote’s $480m cement plant  

    Ethiopian PM to inaugurate Dangote’s $480m cement plant  

    Leading Cement manufacturing firm Dangote Cement Plc will next week Thursday commission its 2.5million mtpa cement plant in Ethiopia as the company inches towards the mark of 40 million mtpa total production capacity globally before the end of 2015.

    The Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Haile Mariam Desalegne, is expected to perform the opening ceremony at an event that will be graced by top members of Nigerian business community.

    A statement from the Dangote Group indicated that the government and the people of Ethiopia are excited about the timely completion of the project and the economic prospects of having such a huge company in the country.

    Nigerian guests would be flown to Ethiopia next week Wednesday, June 3 to witness the event on Thursday, June 5 and would be brought back to Nigeria on Friday, June 6.

    The Dangote Cement plant said to be the single largest Investment by an African will be the fifth in the series of the offshore plants of the company that have rolled out cement within the last one year in African continent, coming after Senegal, Cameroon, South Africa and Zambia.

  • Dangote optimistic on local sugar production

    •Pays shareholders N4.8b dividend

    Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) Plc plans to grow its capacity to be able to produce about 1.5 million tonnes of locally refined from locally-grown sugarcane within the next 10 years.

    Chairman, Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) Plc, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, told shareholders at the annual general meeting of the company in Lagos that the company’s backward integration project would create immense opportunities for all stakeholders, including the Nigerian economy and the shareholders.

    According to him, the target of the company over the next 10 years is to produce 1.5 million tonnes of refined sugar from locally grown sugarcane that is processed at its own onsite facilities in locations close to key Nigerian markets.

    He said the company will maximise opportunities from the extended value chain in sugar production, including fuel ethanol and the generation of electricity from the factories.

    “We believe that our expansion project will generate more than 100,000 job opportunities in the coming decades,” Dangote said.

    He explained that the reduction in dividend payout for the 2014 business year was due to the significant investments required for the company’s backward integration projects.

    According to him, the company needs additional funding and the board took the prudent decision to reduce dividend payment for the year from 60 kobo per share to 40 kobo.

    “This is a transitional situation, requiring our short-term sacrifices in order to build for the future, and is necessary for us to maintain prudent capital and liquidity levels to sustain our operations, in tandem with our backward integration projects,” Dangote said.

    He pointed out that the company remains committed to its dividend policy of making returns to shareholders at the end of each business year but the actual dividend will depend on the company’s financial performance, investment decisions, liquidity levels and banks balances.

    The shareholders approved the distribution of N4.8 billion as dividends for the year ended December 31, 2014. This represented dividend per share of 40 kobo.

    Key extracts of the audited report for the year ended December 31, 2014 showed a turnover of N95 billion. Profit before tax and profit after tax stood at N15.3 billion and N11.6 billion in 2014 compared with N16.3 billion and N10.8 billion respectively in 2013.

    Dangote blamed the decline in performance partly on the heightened insecurity in the north eastern Nigeria as access to key markets was hampered while the company, like others, also had to grapple with reduced consumer purchasing power and periodic menace of low-priced unlicensed imported sugar.

    Group managing director, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Mr. Graham Clark, said the company has continued to implement efficiency and increased output as part of its operational focus.

    He said the company is in the process of upgrading  its quality systems towards achieving the Food Safety System Certificate(FSSC 2200), a Global Food Initiative (GFSI) recognised scheme, before the end of 2015.

    “This certification will further boost our food safety standards and position our product as the preferred brand to companies in the pharmaceutical and food and beverage industries in Nigeria,” Clark said.

     

  • Dangote inaugurates projects for communities

    Dangote inaugurates projects for communities

    Indigenes of communities hosting Dangote Cement Plc, in Ibese, Yewa and Ewekoro in Ogun State are in for better times, as the cement company announced the inauguration of 19 various Corporate Social Service (CSR) projects for them.

    In what is regarded as a major boost to its CSR profile, projects by the cement company would cover various social sectors, including water, education, electricity, roads, IT etc.

    It would be recalled that the company had some years ago instituted scholarships for indigenes of any of its host communities in any higher institution and secondary schools. Over 90 of them have since benefited from the scholarships.

    The management said it was poised to making life more meaningful to all members of the over 16 communities bordering the cement plant and that it would ensure that all projects meet the specific needs of each community.

    Executive Director, Stakeholder Management and Corporate Communication, Mr. Mansur Ahmed, an engineer, explained that the projects were agreed upon after a careful deliberation and discussion with the Obas, Chiefs and the youth leaders of the communities so that the project could be relevant to their needs.

    He thanked the traditional rulers and other community leaders for their cooperation with the Dangote Cement management, noting that it was as a result of the collaboration that made possible the peace and tranquillity enjoyed in the host communities.

    Ahmed promised the community leaders that Dangote Cement would continue to be alive to its responsibilities and urged them to come forward to offer useful ideas and advice that could propel the company to do more for the development of the communities.

    He highlighted some of the projects to include: three domestic boreholes for Elere, Babalawo and Kajola Communities; 10 domestic boreholes for Afami, Ajibawo, Aga-Akinronbi, Aga-Owoyele, Aga-Ashade, Abule Oke, Abule Maria, Ijako-Orile, Wasimi-Imasayi and Balogun; four industrial boreholes for Ibese (2) and Imasayi (2); Construction of 10 classrooms for Ibese and construction of another five classrooms for Balogun communities.

    He listed others as the award of scholarship to 77 indigenes between 2013 and 2014 sessions for secondary pupils, Polytechnic and University students, who are native of the host communities.

    The company is also providing Community Information Technology Training at Ibese, Aga-Olowo, and Ijako-Orile, where two batches have already finished training, while the construction of Ibese/Ilaro road, and that of Ibese/Itori road for all the communities are on-going.

    He said these were aside the fact that the grading of community internal road network along Wasimi-Imasayi is under construction and the drain work at Olu of Ilaro/Paramount Ruler’s road, Ilaro, is nearing completion.

    The Dangote Group boss also informed that the electrification and transformer replacement at Afami and Ibese has been awarded while the construction of 10 bathrooms and toilets with overhead tanks is ongoing for Balogun community.

    He explained that the drilling of boreholes and the overhead tanks is completed, while standby 7.5 KV generators to complement the infrastructure are awaiting installation.