TheCable

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and president of Dangote Group, has challenged private investors in Nigeria to rise to the economic challenges of the country by initiating fresh investments in manufacturing and agriculture. He said that despite the challenges, Nigeria still remains the destination of choice for investments.

Addressing business executives in Lagos on the new initiatives of his pan African conglomerate, Dangote stated that it had become apparent that Nigeria needed to move away from a monolithic economy that thrives only on trading of oil and gas.

“I have always said it that Nigeria is a good place to invest. God has given us in Nigeria what many other countries don’t have and they keep searching for it. We have got fertile land for agriculture, we have the minerals resources and we have oil. All we need to do is to harness them for our our good,” he said.

“Our present challenges should not deter us from growing our economy. They shouldn’t stop us from investing. It’s just a passing phase. Other countries who referred to as developed started from somewhere. They all experienced some of these challenges in the past. So I want us to see these challenges as obstacles towards attaining greatness.”

Dangote revealed that his group was involved in fertilizer plant construction to help in the agricultural sector and is also investing heavily in rice cultivation apart from building a refinery and a petrochemical company.

He explained that all these ventures are capital-intensive but with prospects for massive job opportunities which Nigeria needs at this time as the nation’s economy comes under pressure due to the paucity of funds occasioned by the fall in the price of crude oil in the international market.

Dangote told the business executives that it was for these reasons that he had continued investing in Nigeria’s economy.

“If Nigerians do not invest in their country, other people would not come. They will want to see our success story before they can come,” he said,expressing his “abiding faith in Nigeria as an economically-viable nation and the destination of choice for investments despite the challenges”.