Africa’s richest man and President of the Africa’s fastest growing conglomerate, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, made a strong case for creativity and innovativeness out of the current economic crisis confronting Nigeria, urging investors to see opportunity in the crisis. He was full of optimism that Nigeria would emerge from the current economic stasis stronger and better.
He spoke at the 11th edition of the Nigeria Summit hosted by The Economist magazine, Events Division in Lagos. According to him, not every crisis portends doom, recalling that the world had experience oil doom in the late nineties but some economies emerged from it stronger.
The bullish manufacturer said in spite of the odds, his companies are not relenting and have continued to make bold inroads in cement, oil and gas, sugar and sundry ventures.
Dangote said one of the beauties of local production is that it first attends to the needs of the local people before going global and in the case of Nigeria with a population projected to hit 200 million by 2020, there is a ready market that remains a source of attraction to manufacturers.
According to him, because of local production, the price of cement in Nigeria is “the cheapest on the continent.” He further contended that the Nigerian economy would grow if the government is consistent in its policies while also highlighting lack of capacity as the bane of Nigerians exporting their products.
Dangote also emphasised that improved local production capacity and self-sufficiency would help grow the naira. “The way to manage the exchange rate is to be self-sufficient and export materials,” he said. “The issue with Nigerian exports is capacity. Most Nigerian companies are not geared up for export.”
Dangote said the oil crisis presents an opportunity for Nigeria to diversify its economy.
Herbert Wigwe, the Chief Executive of Access Bank said the current situation means that every entrepreneur must find a niche for itself. He urged the government to roll out policies that would spark investor confidence, stressing that government policy would determine how entrepreneurs channel their energies and resources.
As a way out of the oil conundrum, Wale Tinubu, the CEO of Oando said Nigeria should look for cheaper ways to extract oil. He advised the government and corporates to slow down on mega capital projects at the moment and concentrate on low-cost initiatives.
