The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Dangote

  • Trade Fair: Dangote offers consumers ‘pocket-friendly prices’

    TO reach more customers, the Dangote Group has promised them pocket friendly prices for its products holding at the Lagos International Trade Fair at the Tafawa Balewa  Square (TBS) Onikan.

    Companies in the group exhibiting at the fair include Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Flour Mill, Dangote Agrosacks, National Salt Company of Nigeria (NASCON), Dangote Pasta, Dangote Cement, Dangote Noodles and Dansa Foods Limited.

    Some of the products to be displayed include Danvita, Alkama (wheat meal), confectionary flour, noodles, sugar, salt, tomato paste, various ranges of fruit juice products and bottled water from Dansa Foods. Dangote Sugar will be offering customers its 500 gram granulated sugar at the fair.

    According to Head, Corporate Communications of Dangote Group, Mr Anthony Chiejina, visitors to the group’s pavilion at both fairs will have the opportunity of buying products of these companies at reduced prices.

    A unique offering from the Group is  the Dangote Combo pack. The pack contains products from the stable of  different companies within the Group and is offered to participants at  the fair at a much reduced price.

    The statement indicated that, the economy pack which will contain  household products, such as Dangote Noodles, spaghetti, macaroni, sugar  packets, and Dansa Fruit juice products range would be combined in a  pack at a giveaway price.

    The combo pack, it stated further will offer participants at the fair  an opportunity to purchase all consumable product range in Dangote  Group   in a single buy.

    There will also be free samples of the products for the visitors.  Dangote Noodles will be offering free samples of several varieties of  its noodles to visitors to the kitchen/restaurant which will be  attached to the Dangote stand to wet their appetite.

    Dangote Flour is also holding a free sampling of its popular Alkama  wheat meal and other wheat based meals while Dangote Pasta is ready to  thrill participants at the fair to pasta meals prepared in several  ways.

    Dangote Group is of the view that the trade fair is coming at an  appropriate time which affords dealers the opportunity to stock their  shops for the fast approaching Christmas season while end consumers  can also buy and stock for the season.

    Subsidiaries, such as Dansa and Dangote Noodles will be hosting students  on specific days. The student-visitors to the stand will get special  gifts, such as pens, pencils, erasers and notebooks.

    The Management of the Dangote Noodles said the company would be  giving its customers a good treat at the fair saying it has added to  the richness of the product and embarked on an expansion of its  distribution network to make the product more readily accessible to  consumers.

  • Forbes nominates Dangote, Elumelu, others for award

    Forbes nominates Dangote, Elumelu, others for award

    The President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu, have been nominated for the Forbes Africa Person of the Year Award.

    They are the two Nigerians who made the five-man list.

    Others on the list are Malawian President Joyce Banda, Managing Director of Kenya’s Equity Bank Limited, Dr. James Mwangi and co-founder of Aspen Pharmacare, Mr. Stephen Saad.

    A statement by the organisers said: “Aliko Dangote: founder and president of Dangote Group. Motivation: Last year’s runner-up to Forbes Africa Person of The Year, is still Africa’s richest man, worth more than $11.2 billion. Dangote continues to be one of the continent’s biggest employers. He promises to donate most of his fortune to charitable causes upon his retirement.

    “Dr James Mwangi won the Ernest and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award 2012 as well as Africa’s Innovation Leader of the Year Awards in 2012. Equity Bank is planning to extend its financial services to Ethiopia when the country opens its banking industry for foreign investors.

    “Banda, Malawi’s first female leader, has restored strained diplomatic ties with neighbours and the international community. Her administration has embraced investor-friendly economic policies: she cut her salary by 30%; sold the presidential jet and a fleet of luxury cars in an austerity drive.

    “Elumelu: founder and chairman of Heirs Holdings. Motivation: The multimillionaire grooms African business leaders and entrepreneurs through the Tony Elumelu Foundation. He is the leading advocate of Africapitalism, an economic philosophy that embodies the private sector’s commitment to Africa’s economic transformation through long-term investments.

    “Saad is the biggest shareholder of the largest publicly-traded drug manufacturer, Aspen. The company has a market capitalisation of $6 billion. Saad became a multimillionaire at 29. Now aged 47, he employs more than 6,000 people.”

    The winner of this award would have had an influence on the events of the year gone by on the African continent.

     

  • Dangote sets to invest in Sudan

    Dangote sets to invest in Sudan

    Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has indicated his readiness to explore business opportunities in Sudan.

    The business mogul disclosed this while playing host to the new Sudanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Tagelsir Mahgoub Ali, who paid him a courtesy call at his Lagos office.

    Dangote commended the historic relationship between Nigeria and Sudan, which has spanned several decades, adding that the Dangote Group as part of its long term business strategy will, in the very near future, register its presence in Sudan as it has done in countries which include Senegal and Zambia.

    At the request of the ambassador, Dangote accepted the invitation of the Sudanese government to visit the country very soon, while wishing Ali a fruitful tenure in Nigeria.

    Earlier, the new ambassador commended Dangote for his giant strides in business and also believing in the African continent by establishing multi-million dollar cement manufacturing companies in Africa.

    He revealed that his mission in Nigeria is to foster the historic relationship between Nigeria and Sudan in the areas of business investments, culture, sports, amongst others.

    Ali further disclosed as part of moves to enhance bilateral relationship between both countries, a biennial commission to be headed by the vice-presidents of both countries, would soon be established to formulate a framework, which will guide prospective investors in both countries.

    Describing his country as one of the biggest producers of cotton in the world, Ali also stated that opportunities also exist for investors in oil and gas and products derivable from sugar, as Sudan boasts one of the biggest sugar plantations not only in Africa but the whole world.

  • I ‘ll protect capital market, says Dangote

    I ‘ll protect capital market, says Dangote

    Alhaji Aliko Dangote has said he would use his tenure at the helms of affairs at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to protect the entire capital market.

    Addressing members at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Exchange at the weekend, Dangote, who is chairing his first general meeting after the Court of Appeals restored his election as president of the NSE, said the council of the Exchange under his leadership would devote its attention to promoting interests of the market.

    According to him, the new NSE provides a vehicle for long-term savings and borrowing, and hence, efficient use of financial resources.

    He noted that the market presents incredible opportunity for investors’ pointing out that as the reforms at the NSE continue, the market will be well on its way to recovering its vibrancy and regaining investor confidence by the end of the year.

    “The Exchange will intensify advocacy efforts around public policy formulation that affects investors, listed companies, the broker-dealer community, and other stakeholders in the capital market at large. Increased collaboration with relevant government agencies will facilitate alignment between the needs of the capital market and existing and future policy that can propel market growth, especially in terms of local institutional participation and prospective issuer incentives,” Dangote said.

    He outlined that the NSE would work to broaden local participation in the capital market to create a base for stable and steady market.

    According to him, as the pressure mounts for faster and deeper reforms, liquidity and local investor participation remain key areas of focus.

    He said: “With foreign investors carrying the market, volatility is a lingering concern. Despite the relatively low prices of shares, lack of local investor participation continues to impede market recovery.

    “The Exchange will embark on a massive investor education effort designed to increase financial literacy among retail investors and engage brokerage firms to pick up and improve the advisory services arms of their businesses, to align with international best practices.”

    He added that the NSE would support efforts to achieve full dematerialisation of share certificates as well as electronic allotment of new capital issues by engaging all relevant stakeholders in the realisation of these initiatives.

    Meanwhile, Dangote offered himself for re-election and was re-elected at the meeting. Seven other institutional members including Partnership Investment Company Limited, Reward Investments & Services Limited, WSTC Financial Services Limited, Apt Securities and Funds Limited, City-Code Trust & Investment Limited, ICON Stockbrokers Limited and Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers were also re-elected.

    Seven persons that were appointed to the council by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) exited the council. These included Mr. Emmanuel Ikazoboh; Mrs. Yemisi Ayeni; Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN; Mr. Bimbo Ogunbanjo; Mr. Bismarck Rewane; Mrs. Dorothy Ufot, SAN and Mr. Hassan Usman.

    Alhaji Bello Maccido and Katsina State Investment & Property Development Company Limited who were co-opted onto the Council in March 2009 had ceased to be members of council in April 2012. Mallam Ballama Manu, the interim head of council appointed by SEC, had also tendered his resignation on July 25, 2012, effective on that date. Mr. Nsa Harrison tendered his resignation on August 2, 2012 and it took effect at the general meeting. Dr. Oba Otudeko retired as an ex-officio member of the council and was not eligible for re-election.

    Audited report and accounts of the NSE for the year ended December 31, 2011 showed a deficit of N358.7 million in 2011 as against surplus of N357.95 million. Gross fees had dropped from N4.01 billion to N3.17 billion while gross income reduced from N4.80 billion to N3.99 billion. Total assets declined to N14.91 billion as against N15.71 billion.

  • Police arrest kidnappers of Dangote’s cousin

    Police arrest kidnappers of Dangote’s cousin

    A gang, which abducted a cousin of the Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and collected a ransom of N32million, has been arrested by the police.

    The victim Yahaya Aminu, was kidnapped on September 2, at the Falomo, Ikoyi branch of GTBank, Awolowo Road, Lagos.

    He has, however, been rescued. Two locally made pistols with 16 cartridges and a Kia Cerato, marked DN735APP, belonging to the victim, was recovered.

    It was gathered the gang  also kidnapped Mr Debasis Mitroroy, also of Dangote Group.

    The  gang had kidnapped an Indian, demanding 200,000 dollars as ransom, which was paid.

    The suspect, Pius Uba Livinus and two others; Kelechukwu Onyema and Ayebe Segun, were arrested by operatives attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos.

    Livinus’father, a former police Inspector, who was dismissed in 1995, is also being held for attempting to protect the suspect.

    The ex-Inspector was arrested after his son confessed that his father, who had earlier denied knowing his whereabouts when police invaded their home, has been protecting him from being arrested.

    The suspect’s father had told policemen that he had not seen Livinus for over two months. But the suspect later  confessed that he has been with his father since he kidnapped the Indian last year.

    It was gathered  that that the suspect was arrested in February for a failed kidnap operation and charged to court but he found his way out of prison after two months.

    The suspect, who said his father is also being detained in connection with the crime,  had participated in three  kidnap operations.

    Police spokesperson Ngozi Braide said Livinus (25) , Oneyema (27) and Segun (32) would be prosecuted .

  • Dangote Cement opens more depots

    Dangote Cement opens more depots

    The Management of Dangote Cement Plc has approved the opening of more depots across the country to further take the products nearer to the people.
    The company said it has thus liberalised its distribution channels by widening its sales network.

    Dangote Cement said it is adding more lines to its existing plants with the expectation that it would lead to the reduction of its price.
    This, it said, would also ensure price stability and guarantee availability at the most reasonable price.
    The Group Managing Director of Dangote Cement, Devakumar Edwin, said the company had acquired 5,000 trucks to boost its logistics and pave the way for easier distribution of the product.

    According to him, having solved the problem of logistics, the next phase is to ensure a wider distribution depot and register more dealers and bring the product closer to customers.

    He said: “With Obajana’s 10.25mtpa and its fourth line under construction, the company’s production capacity will be far above the nation’s demand.”