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Tag: Dangote

  • Why Northern Nigeria will continue to remain poor – Dangote

    African richest and Chairman of Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has said Northern Nigeria will continue to remain poor except states governments move to close the development gap between the north and the south.

    Dangote, who spoke at the 4th edition of the Kaduna Investment Summit (KadInvest 4.0) in Kaduna on Wednesday, berated Northern governors for doing little to end poverty in the region.

    According to him: “Nigeria is ranked at 157th out of 189 countries on the human development index. While the overall socio-economic condition in the country is a cause for concern, the regional disparities are in fact very alarming.

    “In the North Western and North Eastern parts of Nigeria, more than 60 per cent of the population lives in extreme poverty.

    “It is instructive to know that the 19 Northern states which accounts for over 54 per cent of Nigeria’s population and 70 per cent of its landmass, collectively generate, only 21 per cent of the total subnational IGR in the year 2017.

    “Northern Nigeria will continue to fall behind if the respective states governments do not move to close the development gap.

    “And that is why we are always saying the biggest challenge that we have and what we have been praying for is to have 10 governors like Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to move the northern Nigeria forward.

    “Closing the gap requires multi years investment and goverment will not be able to raise the require capital funding, only the private sector can raise the capital to fund the level of investment that this country needs.”

    He went on: “Therefore, government must create the conducive environment that will trigger a huge inflow of private capital into attractive sectors of the economy.

    “Private investment will create jobs and will ameliorate the twin problem of poverty and unemployment.

    “As more people are gainfully employed, you will witness a very sharp decline in some of the disturbing social vices prevalent in our society, especially among the youths.”

    While urging other northern states to emulate Kaduna State Government in the investment drive, Dangote said aside the over $500 million investment El-Rufai’s goverment has attracted, Dangote Group is patnering Peugeot of France and Kaduna State government to establish multi-billion naira automobile assembly in Kaduna State.

    He also disclosed Dangote Group will be considering investing in dairy production in Kaduna state, saying the trend of importing 98 per cent of milk consumed in Nigeria at the rate of $1.3 billion is unhealthy coupled with the fact that the imported milk is unhealthy.

  • Any artiste that cannot ‘copy’ won’t be successful-Tekno

    Afro-pop singer, Tekno has shared his success formula, stating that no artiste can attain success in the music industry without imitating others.
    The ‘Diana’ singer shared his opinion in a recent video while hanging out with Paul “Rudeboy” Okoye, Kcee and J-Martins.

     

    “Any artiste wey say he no dey copy, cannot be successful,” he said.

     

    In the video, Kcee can be seen showing his support for Tekno while Rude Boy stated that he is much more interested in making money.
    “Nothing concern me oh, I dey make my money,” Rudeboy said.
    TheNewsGuru, TNG recalls that Tekno came under extreme criticism last year after he released a single titled, ‘Jogodo’. The criticism emanated from claims that the song was not the brainchild of the singer.
    Danfo Driver, Nigerian dancehall singers, had vowed to deal with Tekno after they accused him of sampling their song without their consent.
    “Tekno dey owe us money o… Tekno dey make us vex and if I catch am e no go like me… you just come dey carry pessin song dey go dey sing… God save am because we no dey Lagos, now set we don enter Lagos, na because of Tekno we don come here… if I catch am,” Mountain Black of Danfo Driver had said.

  • Dangote’s Tomato Plant Resumes Production

    A tomato-paste factory owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, resumed production in Nigeria’s northern state of Kano after staying idle for more than two years over a supply disruption partly caused by a price dispute with farmers.

    The factory, with a capacity for 1,200 metric tons of tomato paste daily and targeted at meeting domestic demand, restarted production last week processing about 100 tons a day. It will ramp up output as tomato supply improves, according to Abdulkareem Kaita, the managing director of Dangote Farms Ltd, which owns the factory.

    “Our major challenge is the scarcity of the tomato,” Kaita said in an interview at the factory in Kadawa, outside the northern city of Kano. “The local tomato growers could not meet our production demand, we also could not agree with the farmers on the price of tomato per basket.”

    Under a new deal with the farmers, the factory will buy tomatoes at prices pegged to what local markets are selling.

    Dangote is also developing its own farms with a special tomato strain that could yield 60 tons per hectare, compared with the yield of 10 tons per hectare being recorded by the local farmers, Kaita said. The company plans to distribute the seedlings to growers to boost their output.

    The plant, which started production in 2015, was to help Africa’s most populous nation cut paste imports of 300,000 tons a year from China by using an estimated 900,000 tons of tomatoes lost after harvest every year for lack of storage and processing facilities.

    Dangote Farms is part of Aliko Dangote’s diversified group of businesses, of which cement manufacturing is the main one. The 61-year-old tycoon, who is currently building a vast $12 billion oil refinery close to the commercial hub of Lagos, is also invested in sugar and flour.

  • Chevron Nigeria, Dangote sign gas supply deal

    Chevron Nigeria, Dangote sign gas supply deal

    Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) has signed a deal to supply natural gas to the fertiliser plant of Dangote Fertilizer Limited.

    The factory is expected to begin operations soon and as part of efforts to enable smooth services, the management of Dangote Fertilizer Limited entered into a long-term supply agreement with Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL).

    The factory will produce 3.0 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) of Urea and consists of twin train, with each single train having a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum of Urea and Ammonia, which makes each of them the largest train available in the world. Hence the total capacity of the plant is 3 million tonnes per annum, and it sits on an area of 500 hectares.

    The contract, under the Gas Sale and Aggregation Agreement (GSAA) is part of International Oil Company (IOC)’s gas obligation to the domestic market through the Gas Aggregation Company Limited (GACN).

    The signing ceremony, held at the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) office in Lagos, was executed on behalf of the parties by Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects & Portfolio Development, Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin; Chairman/Managing Director, Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), Jeffrey Ewing; Head, Gas Monitoring & Regulation Division, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Sanya Bajomo; and Managing Director/CEO, Gas Aggregation Company Nigeria Limited (GACN), Engr. Morgan Okwoche.

    Speaking at the signing ceremony, Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects & Portfolio Development, DIL, Devakumar Edwin, commended the Managing Director of GACN for his role in the new business relationship between Dangote Fertilizer Limited and Chevron Nigeria Limited.

    He said the company is looking forward to having a long-term relationship with Chevron Nigeria Limited as well as synergies in other upstream and wider areas of operations in the oil and gas sector.

    Chairman/Managing Director, CNL, Jeffrey Ewing commended GACN, DPR for helping with the signing of the gas supply agreement. He said: “We are looking forward to working with Dangote Fertilizer and maintaining a good relationship with the company. This agreement is very important for the country and Chevron is committed to Nigeria’s economic development.”

    Managing Director/CEO of GACN, Morgan Okwoche, expressed delight to be part of the domestic gas agreement, describing it as “the beginning of fruitful relationship between Dangote Fertilizer Limited, Chevron Nigeria Limited and other parties.

    “I am excited that this is happening during my term in office. You cannot imagine my satisfaction in having this contract signed at this time.”

    Head, Gas Monitoring & Regulation Division, DPR, Sanya Bajomo, said: “I am glad that GACN, Chevron and Dangote have signed this gas supply agreement.

    “I want to say that this gas supply agreement is an issue of national interest and what happened today is going to be transmitted to the presidency. I believe everybody is going to benefit from this agreement when the fertilizer plant starts operation.”

  • Burna Boy christens new song ‘Dangote’

    Burna Boy christens new song ‘Dangote’

    Nigerian Afro-pop singer, Burna Boy starts 2019 with a mid-tempo Afrobeat song titled ‘Dangote’. The song which is obviously dedicated to Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, is also a metaphor for wealth and success.

    After enjoying what by every yardstick was the best year in his career yet in 2018, there is no stopping Burna Boy as he shares his first official song for the new year titled

    ‘Dangote’ produced by Kel P, makes allusions to Africa’s Richest man, Aliko Dangote, while stating the need to continue to put in the work to remain relevant, make money and become prosperous.

    Burna Boy also samples Fela Kuti’s hit song ‘Palaver’ in the groovy song.

     

  • Dangote emerges 64th richest man in the world

    President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has significantly moved up in the world billionaires’ list, as he emerged 64th richest person in the world, with an estimated networth of $16.6 billion, as against his previous ranking of 103rd in the world.

    Dangote, who remains the richest man in Africa for the eighth year running, was the only Nigerian on the list of the top 500 billionaires, as released by Bloomberg in its yearly billionaires list.

    Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon, remains the richest in the world with $136 billion in his kitty, while Bill Gates and Warren Buffett followed as second and third respectively with $98.4 billion and $83 billion on the world billionaires chart, which is dominated by North Americans.

    Dangote’s estimated worth in the latest Bloomberg ranking far outstrips an earlier ranking by the Forbes Magazine, another elite publication which placed his fortune at $10.8billion in the 2019 Forbes Africa’s Billionaires’ list released in January, although he retained the rank as the richest African for the eigth consecutive year in the latter ranking.

    There are only five Africans on the Bloomberg list of the world’s top 500 billionaires, with Dangote topping the group. The other four Africans included Nicky Oppenheimer of South Africa, who was ranked No. 216 with an estimated worth of $7.05 billion; Johann Rupert of South Africa (ranked No. 225 with an estimated worth of $6.92billion) and Natie Kash of South Africa (ranked No. 263 with an estimated worth of $6.10billion). The fifth and last African on the list of 500 HNW individuals was Naguib Sawiris of Egypt, ranked No. 331 with an estimated fortune of $5.12billion.

     

  • CCT Trial: El-Rufai knocks Onnoghen, says even Dangote can’t forget $1m in account

    …Insists CJN must go

    Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State on Friday dismissed as untenable alleged claim by the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN),Justice Walter Onnoghen that he (Onnoghen) forgot to declare $3million dollars in his accounts.

    El-Rufai said in Kaduna that even Alhaji Alio Dangote with all his wealth cannot forget $1million in an account.

    The governor spoke while receiving a solidarity letter from members of Coalition of Civil Society Organizations who took to the streets of Kaduna to express support for the action taken by President Muhammadu Buhari against the suspended CJN.

    He said: “the case with Justice Onnoghen is a very sad one. Othman Dan Fodio, the founder of the Sokoto caliphate wrote that the worst form of corruption you can find in any public service is judicial corruption. This is because when the president is corrupt or the governor is corrupt, it is to the judge that ordinary people can take their case to.

    “The president did the right thing by asking him to step aside pending investigation. It is the proper thing to do. It is what is done in every organized and civilized society.

    “Unfortunately, some people in Nigeria are trying to make white black and black, white. They are using technicalities to delay bringing this man to justice.

    “Mr. President did not remove Onnoghen from office. He said in honour of the judiciary, he should step aside so that the charges against him can be investigated and prosecuted.

    “But the man does not want to go.It is time for Nigerians to come all out and tell him he must go. Our judiciary must be clean. Our judiciary must consist of judges who cannot be bought.

    “The case of Justice Onnoghen is the case in which somebody who has worked in government for the past 20 years suddenly has millions of dollars in his account, he has admitted but says he has forgotten about it.

    “I do not think Dangote will forget $1 Million in his account.”

    Leaders of the civil society organisations, Comrade Zubairu Muktar and Arc Abubakar R Abubakar hailed Buhari for taking steps to restore the lost glory of Nigeria’s judiciary .

    They pledged the coalition’s continued support for government to “purge out corruption embedded in the Nigerian system which has become a hindrance to the economic, political and social development of our dear nation.”

  • Dangote hails Buhari’s Executive Order 007, says private sector will fix deplorable roads

    Africa’s richest man and Chairrman of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for signing Executive Order 007 on Friday noting that the new order will make businesses run smoothly and more profitably.

    According to him, the new order, tagged Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme, will reduce the cost of doing business in the country.

    Dangote Group is one of six companies selected to construct 19 federal roads in the pilot phase of the new scheme.

    The companies will enjoy tax credit to finance the construction of key economic roads.

    Speaking with State House correspondents Friday after the signing ceremony, Dangote said the impact is huge because “as we speak today all of you know the deplorable conditions of roads in Nigeria”.

    “This order will allow private sector to use their capital, their knowhow and also their efficiency in terms of delivering roads in time.

    “It is not going to be business as usual, when you look at Abuja-Lokoja that road started by the administration of President Obasanjo up till today is still ongoing, it might still be ongoing in the next five years because it is very difficult to deliver roads based on budgets,” he said.

    The business mogul said based on the new order the Nigerian government will be saving billions of naira.

    “As we speak now, what is going to happen for example by the government doing Apapa – Oshodi-Oworonshoki and Ojota roads?

    “These roads alone will save people billions and billions of naira. I don’t know what other companies have lost but I think we, apart from losing a percentage of our profitability, we have actually lost more than N20 billion naira in the last one year paying demurrage because we have not been able to remove our goods from the ports,” he said?

    Dangote said the order will allow such firms “to quickly go and build that road, now you will not see trucks littered all over in Lagos, so this will help quite a lot”.

    He also said the new order will also help other motorists who are using the roads.

    Meanwhile, Dangote advised the government to do a lot more in marketing to popularise new scheme.

    “What this means is that you will advance your taxes. You know advancing taxes is not an easy job, but some of us will like to do that so that the infrastructure can be provided and it will help us to make more money in our businesses.”

     

  • Refinery: FG Will Source Forex from Dangote – CBN Gov

    The Federal Government will soon start sourcing foreign exchange (forex) from Dangote Group, as soon as the latter’s refinery, petrochemicals and fertilizer projects come on stream.

    This potential reversal of roles was disclosed by the Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, after he spent over four hours touring the ongoing Dangote Refinery, Petrochemicals, Fertilizer projects and Dangote deep-water jetty at the weekend.

    Emefiele toured the project sites in the company of the President/CE of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote; Deputy Governor of the CBN, Aishah Ahmad; Group Managing Director, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Olakunle Alake; Group Executive Director of Dangote Industries, Mr. Devakumar Edwin; and the Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank, Mr. Segun Agbaje.

    The CBN governor premised his comment on the huge forex earnings that are expected to accrue from the export of the petrochemical and fertilizer products from the Dangote refinery and fertilizer plants by the time the fertilizer plant begins operations in May this year, and the refinery takes off as planned in 2020.

    Mr. Emefiele, who commended Aliko Dangote for the volume of work done on the Dangote projects since his last visit over two years ago, also enthused that the refinery and fertilizer projects would help Nigeria to create thousands of Jobs and check importation of fuel by the federal government; thereby saving government huge amounts of forex currently being spent on fuel import.

    He added that about 55 to 60 per cent of Nigeria’s spending on foreign exchange for the importation of petroleum products and food items would be saved when the Dangote Refinery come on stream. Emefiele said one third of Nigeria’s spending on forex will also be retained when the Dangote Refinery is completed.

    Emefiele described the Dangote Refinery as transformational project for Nigeria, which totally keys into the objectives of President Muhammadu Buhari on self-sufficiency in petroleum products, conservation of forex and diversification of the economy. “I am sure by that time, the CBN will be begging Dangote to sell its dollars to the bank,” he said.

    He noted that the completion of the refinery would make Nigeria self-sufficient in the production of refined products and also make the country to be among the league of exporters of petroleum products.

    Emefiele declared the CBN’s support to any company or individuals who are ready to invest in the transformation of the Nigeria economy. “We are ready to support in Naira and also ready to provide foreign exchange for any investor who is ready to support Nigeria’s transformational agenda.

    “I use this opportunity to repeat that we are ready to support any individual like Aliko Dangote who is willing to invest in this country. We will continue to support companies that display the determination to support the CBN. I feel so delighted and I am happy this is happening in my own life-time and I am sure you are all so happy.”

    Speaking also, President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said the project would definitely transform the Nigerian economy. “We have a couple of projects at hand and we will continue with these transformative projects. The biggest problem we have in Nigeria is that we currently import more than we produce like any other African countries. But, by the time we finish our fertilizer plant, Nigeria will be the largest exporter of fertilizer in Africa. We will also be the largest exporter of petrochemicals and the largest exporter of petroleum products in the whole of Africa. This is a major transformation.”

    He said the 3billion Standard Cubic Feet gas pipeline and other Dangote Projects are geared towards Nigeria’s economic transformation.

    Dangote commended CBN for its moral support to the refinery project. “There are lots going on in Nigeria. We want the CBN to support us like what it did in cement sector, which made Nigeria not only self-sufficient in the production of cement, but it became an exporter of the product. Today, Nigeria will not even import cement because we no longer have capacity for importation of cement,” he added.

    In a presentation made to the CBN governor, Group Executive Director at Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, disclosed that the company’s target is for a significant portion of Nigeria’s crude oil production to be refined domestically, rather than imported, thereby creating jobs within Nigeria, and bringing a halt to the current importation of refined petroleum product.

    Edwin said the refinery is going to provide over 100,000 indirect employment through retail outlets. He said the refinery is designed to meet Euro V grade, which is the highest standard in the world, hence products can be exported to any part of the world.

    “It will be well diversified and able to process Nigerian crude, African crude and crude from other parts of the world. In terms of evacuation routes, two crude oil single point mooring (SPM) buoys and three multi-product SPMs will be located within the Atlantic Ocean to transfer crude oil to a calling tanker.

    “The 2-Line Dangote Fertilizer Complex, consisting of Ammonia and Urea plants, is conceived to be one of the world’s largest fertilizer plants with a total capacity of 3 Million Tonnes per Annum of Urea fertilizer. Therefore, the Dangote Fertilizer is positioned to bridge the gap between local demand and national capacity. Dangote Fertilizer Plants will produce Urea that will assist farmers boost their crop yields through easy access to fertilizer,” he added.

  • Ekiti killer truck not ours – Dangote

    Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) has denied the ownership of the truck that caused the accident at Iworoko Ekiti.

    Fifteen people allegedly died in the accident on Saturday night.

    In a statement on Sunday, the management of Dangote Industries Limited frowned at what it called the misleading and unverified report carried by an online medium that a Dangote truck was responsible for the accident.

    The company wondered why some journalists rushed to the press without verifying information at their disposal, thereby reporting falsehood.

    It said the truck does not belong to Dangote, as reported by the medium.

    The statement said: “While we commiserate with the families of the deceased and pray for God’s strength to bear the loss of their loved ones, it is important to state that the affected truck does not belong to our company.

    “DIL does not import or produce rice for the market or for any individual or entity. Our trucks are also not meant to carry third party goods as we have consistently requested the public to report any such illegal action by our drivers to us for monetary rewards.”

    The management of DIL recently issued an appeal to the public to monitor and report recklessness and illegal haulage of contraband by any of its truck drivers with a cash reward of N250, 000 per report.

    The company, in a paid advertisement in electronic and print media, warned those “illegally transporting unauthorised goods with the company’s trucks” to desist from such.

    It said the drivers and the owner of such goods would be arrested and prosecuted.

    To clarify its position, the management listed its products and the goods the over 10,000 trucks operating across the country and neighbouring West African countries could convey.

    It said: “Dangote trucks are permitted to transport only the following materials: Dangote Cement Plc – Dangote cement, limestone, high grade gypsum and coal; Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc – Dangote sugar; NASCON Allied Industries Plc – Dangote salt and DanQ seasoning; Agrosacks Industries Limited – Bags; Dangote Flour Mills Plc – Dangote wheat, flour and Danvita.”