Tag Archives: DANGOTE

We shut tomato processing plant due to lack of forex, says Dangote official.

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Edwin Devakumar, a senior executive with Dangote Group, says the conglomerate had to shut down its tomato processing factory due to lack of foreign exchange for raw material import.

 

In an interview with Reuters, Devakumar, said the Dangote group has been cutting down its operations across board due to lack of necessary foreign exchange.

 

“Where the foreign exchange is not available, we are cutting down our operations. For example … we had a tomato-based processing plant, we have shut it down,” Devakumar said.

 

Abdulladir Kaita, managing director of the company, however disclosed that the plant, which is located Kadawa, Kura local government area of Kano state, would be returning to production in February 2017.

 

Kaita said that the company had to suspend production when most of the tomato farms in about five states were affected by a pest that destroyed all the tomato species.

 

“We expect that tomato farmers would have produced enough for the company to process, hence our decision to resume production in February,” he said.

 

According to him, many tomato farmers at the Kadawa, Kura, Garun-Malam and Hadeja-Jama’are irrigation sites are expected to produce enough for the company to process.

 

“We deliberately decided to resume production in February because we don’t want to create scarcity of the commodity,” Kaita said.

Forbes Names Dangote, Putin, Others Most Powerful Persons In The World

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Foremost entrepreneur and President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, was at the weekend named along other world leaders including Russian President, Vladimir Putin, American President-elect, Donald Trump and German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, as the most powerful persons in the world.
These personalities were ranked along with 70 others, with Dangote ranked as the second most powerful on the African continent.
The Nigerian business mogul has constantly featured in the list since 2013, when he was listed as the only black African so rated by the U.S.-based Forbes magazine on the list of 100 most powerful persons in the world.
Listed as the 71st most powerful last year ahead of the American President-elect, Dangote, Africa’s richest man, moved up the ladder of influential people to come in as the 68th most powerful in the world at the weekend, after only Egyptian President, Abdel el-Sisi, who was adjudged the most powerful in Africa and ranked 44th in the world.
Forbes in the latest edition of its 74 World Most Powerful People ranking list, indicated that the 64-year-old Putin was the most powerful in the world, ahead of Trump who was second on the list.  
Ms. Merkel was ranked the third most powerful person in the world while outgoing U.S. President, Barack Obama placed 48th on the list.
The Catholic pontiff, Pope Francis was in fifth place; the world’s richest man, Bill Gates, come in seventh; Chinese President Xi Jinping came before the Pope in number four while the Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, was the 10th most powerful person in the world.
Forbes reported that there are nearly 7.4 billion people on planet earth but the listed men and women as the most powerful make the world turn.
The magazine is well known for its lists and rankings, including its list of the richest Americans (the Forbes 400) and rankings of the world’s top companies (the Forbes Global 2000).
Another well-known list by the magazine is the The World’s Billionaires list.
Read More: thisdaylive

Dangote Cement, Tanzania government haggle over price of natural gas

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Tanzania is in talks with Nigeria’s Dangote Cement on supply of natural gas to a manufacturing plant for building material, but negotiations are held up over prices, said government body.

The $500 million cement factory in the south-eastern Tanzanian town of Mtwara, set up last year with an annual capacity of three million tonnes, runs on expensive diesel generators and has sought government support to reduce costs.

The company, whose majority owner and Chairman is Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, halted production at the plant last week over technical issues.

State-run Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) said talks were expected to conclude in January, with price disagreements yet to be resolved.

“Dangote has held protracted talks with TPDC on the pricing of natural gas.

“The Dangote Cement factory has asked for gas supply at below market prices, equivalent to the price of raw natural gas from producing wells,’’ TPDC said in a statement.

“TPDC cannot sell natural gas to final consumers on at-the-well price because there are additional costs incurred in processing and transporting the gas,” it said.

Tanzania announced in February that it had discovered an additional 2.17 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of possible natural gas deposits in an onshore field, raising its total estimated recoverable natural gas reserves to more than 57 tcf.

Dangote has an annual production capacity of 43.6 million tonnes and targets output of between 74 million and 77 million tonnes by the end of 2019 and 100 million tonnes of capacity by 2020.

It is Africa’s biggest cement producer.

The company plans to roll out plants across Africa. In Tanzania, Dangote seeks to double the country’s annual output of cement to six million tonnes.

Dangote Sacks 109 Workers

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The Dangote Group has dismissed 109 workers at Obajana Cement Company in Kogi State, after being found guilty of various offences, Abdulahi Magaji has said.

Mr. Magaji, the coordinator of the company’s Patrol Team, announced this to journalists on Tuesday at the Obajana premises of the company.

He said that the dismissed workers were among the 244 suspects arrested between May and November.

According to him, they include erring drivers, owners of illegal haulage, and those stealing the company’s properties among others.

He said that another 115 workers were being remanded in prison custody pending the determination of their cases.

“I am happy to inform you that we have arrested and recovered five stolen trucks; but unfortunately, the products have been stolen.

“It is interesting to note that one of the kingpins, Samaila Yakubu, who specialised in stealing our trucks in collaboration with some drivers and buyers, has also been arrested.

“It is this group that has been terrorising our trucks in the South East and South South axis,” Mr. Magaji, a former commissioner of police said.

Read More:

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/217214-dangote-sacks-109-workers.html

BREAKING: Abducted Dangote staff has been murdered, body dumped in gutter.

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Istifanus Bello Gurama, a senior strategist with Dangote Industries Limited, who was reportedly kidnapped three weeks ago, has been murdered.

Reliable sources say Gurama’s body was found in the gutter, adding that one of the kidnappers must have alerted a member of the public to where the body was.

Gurama was believed to have been kidnapped three weeks ago but news of his murder got to his family members (today) Monday.

Sources close to him told our correspondent that as a senior strategist, Gurama was in charge of negotiations and handing ransom payment to kidnappers whenever any of the expatriates in Dangote Industries was kidnapped.

Punch is reporting that day Gurama was allegedly kidnapped, he was said to have gone, as usual, to negotiate and pay ransom money for the release of one of the expatriates. However, on getting there, the kidnappers reportedly said he was the one they were after and he was subsequently detained.

A close friend who refused to be named said Gurama showed him some of the videos of his negotiations with kidnappers.

During a visit to her on Monday, Gurama‘s wife of 20 years, Amina, was inconsolable.

She lamented, “Gurama was a lovely person, if he is not in the house one day, the children will be asking after him endlessly.

“Now, I do not know what to tell the children because he is always chatting with them on social media and phone and for three weeks since his disappearance, they have been wondering where he was because all his activities on social media ceased and the children have observed that it is quite unlike him.”

A key source in the Dangote Industries who confirmed the kidnap however reacted to the news of Gurama’s murder with surprise.

When contacted, the Head, Media of the firm, Mr. Tony Chiejina who said Gurama was very close to him, also reacted with surprise to the news of his death.

He informed our correspondent that he will make some calls and get back to her.

But he has yet to do that as at the time of going to the press.

Dangote Promises To Assist FG Out Of Economic Recession

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Dangote Group has pledged to support the Federal Government and Kano State in exploring key sectors of the economy to cushion the effect of the recession among Nigerians.

The Group said in a statement on Monday in Abuja, that it would explore opportunities opening up in agriculture, mining and infrastructure, through partnership with the levels of government.

An Executive Director of the Group, Hajiya Halima Dangote, made the pledge at Dangote Special Day ceremony at the Kano International Trade Fair in Kano.

The executive director, who was special guest at the event, represented the President of the group, Aliko Dangote. Dangote said challenges of the recession rather presented opportunities to explore areas of development and bring back the lost glory of Nigeria’s economy.

He said it was such determination that informed re-opening of Dangote Flour Mill in Kano as well as the Tomato factory processing project in Kadawa area of the state. Dangote said the project would have been fully operational but for the hitches caused by Tomato disease in the country and some technicalities.

He reiterated efforts by the group to ensure sustainability in rice production through extensive out-grower programme in Jigawa.

“It is our intention to establish a large scale rice mill of 250,000 tonnes per annum capacity in Kano, to process production in three states,’’ Dangote He re-emphasised that DANGOTE Fertilisers project, with capacity of 2.8 million tonnes per annum, the largest plant in sub-saharan Africa, would be inaugurated by the end of 2017.

Dangote commended the Kano Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, and the government for their commitment to the business community “as demonstrated by the fair which attracted wide range of businesses from far and near’’.

He assured the chamber of the Group’s willingness to continue partnership and scale up its presence in the years ahead.

Read More:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/11/dangote-promises-assist-fg-economic-recession/

Nigerians Mock Peter Okoye’s Sitting Posture Beside Dangote

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It’s amazing how Nigerians manage to finger out a flaw in almost everything. So Peter Okoye shared a photo with Billionaire, Aliko Dangote during a private party with his twin, Paul, but all hell got loosed. See the memes and comments made, criticizing Peter’s sitting posture beside Dangote.

Twitter user's comment on #PeterOkoye's picture with #Dangote goes viral

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Dangote’s refinery will make Nigeria’s worthless – Kachikwu

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The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said Nigeria’s four refineries my become worthless once the refinery being built by the Dangote group begins operation in 2019.

 

Kachikwu said this at a stakeholders’ consultative forum on the draft National Gas Policy and National Oil Policy in Abuja on Thursday.

 

The minister said the country’s refineries must be revamped within the shortest possible time to avoid such occurrence.

 

He said, “Refineries will have to work. It is really not an option anymore. And not only should they work, they have to work very quickly. The reality is that if we do not privatise and we do not concede them, which is not what we are doing now, then we have a responsibility to find private capital to get them to where they should be.

 

“This is because if we do not get them to work, in 2019, I can assure you that if the Dangote system works well, we will have scrap, we won’t have refineries, because by then it will be too late to do anything.”

 

Kachikwu also spoke on the deregulation of the downstream oil sector.

 

He said, “At every given time in the history of every country, you will always have partial deregulation. The reason being that you have to catch up each time and make an amendment, and even if it is just one day, you may have some level of subsidy for that one or two days before it is removed.

 

“What is important is the goal post, where are we headed? Where we are headed is to try and free the industry so that it can do its own rules and set its own prices. There are few mechanics that we still need to get in place properly. We can’t forget the fact that we still have foreign exchange challenges and that income to the government is still very tight.”

FG, Dangote Foundation join force against malaria in Nigeria.

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Federal Government of Nigeria and Dangote Foundation have jointly launched a Document tagged “Engaging the Private Sector to Eliminate Malaria in Nigeria”.

 

This is a private sector initiative that would explore resources from private investors towards eradicating malaria in the country.

 

Malaria has been described as one of the major causes of death of Women and Children in the country, it accounts for 60 % of out patients visits and 30 % of hospital admissions in Nigeria. An estimated 1.1 Billion US Dollar is lost annually in Nigeria due to malaria treatment cost. It is the major cause of absenteeism in the work place.

 

Launching the Document in Lagos on Monday 14th November, 2016, the Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole said that the present administration was determined to work with private sector not only in malaria control but also in the other health challenges in Nigeria.

 

He said: “Working with you today to launch this important document is a welcome development, it is important that we embark on this initiative, it would increase efficiency and ensure that we deliver”.

 

The Minister worried that despite the large volume of mosquito nets distributed in the country; the prevalence of malaria is still high which clearly indicated that most of those who received the nets declined to use it.

 

Speaking on local production of Mosquito nets, Adewole urged private investors to consider the possibilities of producing mosquito nets in the country.

 

He said “We cannot afford to be importing net, this net can be produced in Nigeria and the market is huge. We need about 30 million nets every year in Nigeria. A net has a life span of about 3years and if you compute on the bases of 1 net for two people Nigerian would need 90 million nets over 3 years so every year we need to replace 30 million nets, so there is a huge market apart from opportunities for export.

 

In his remarks, the Chairman Dangote Foundation who is also the Malaria Ambassador in Nigeria, Alh Aliko Dangote said that Private sector had an important role to play in mobilizing resources towards Malaria Elimination Programme in Nigeria.

 

Alhaji Dangote said that Private Sector Health Alliance in Nigeria which he is the funding patron and Co-founder focused on mobilizing the private sector across the country under one coordinated platform to leverage on private sector capabilities, advocacy, innovation and resources to complement government efforts in the fight against malaria.

 

He added that Mr. Bill Gates and Other Prominent Business leaders have collaborate with Health Alliance to provide resources in the fight against malaria in Nigeria.

 

“Through my foundation we continue to contribute funds to support the government on National Malaria Elimination Programme and other NGOs directly involved in the fight against malaria. I would continue to engage government and partners to advocate for increased commitment towards addressing the financing gaps that hinder the elimination of malaria in Nigeria”. He said.

 

Dangote said as Malaria Ambassador in Nigeria, he would lead by example through provision of comprehensive malaria education and treatment to all his staff at all his business locations across the country.

 

He further pledged to support the Save One Million Lives Initiative programme launched recently by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

 

Earlier, in his presentation, the National Coordinator, National Malaria Elimination Programme, Dr. Abdu Bala Muhammed, who was represented by Deputy Director, Dr. Aro Modiu Aliu, said that Private Sector could support the fight against malaria through communications (educational messages), Capacity building, information Technology to improve disease surveillance, Direct funding, purchase of malaria commodities amongst others.

Help Nigeria Out of Recession – Dogara Urges Dangote, Other Entrepreneurs

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As the country continues to grapple with the economic recession, speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has charged President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and other industrialists to exhibit patriotism by helping ensure that the country came out of the current recession.

This is even as Alhaji Dangote urged Governor Obaseki of Edo State to adopt Lagos State’s development template to transform Edo State from where his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole stopped.
Dogara gave the admonition in the presence of many heads of industries and players in the financial sector, including Dangote, AIG Imoukhuede, among others, at the Governor’s Ball held in honour of Obaseki, to celebrate his inauguration in Benin City at the weekend.

The speaker, according to a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Turaki Hassan, expressed confidence in the industrialists to make the necessary impact needed to re-engineer the economy, and appealed to them to put their heads together to tame the recession.

Speaking on the new government in Edo State, Dogara said judging from past performances, he was positive that Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shuaibu, have the capacity to deliver growth and development to Edo people.

He said: “I had come in contact with the governor when I was serving in the House of Representatives, specifically, on the House Committee on Capital Market. He made appearances before that committee and I can attest to the fact that I knew him to be a man that is very deep.

“And so, when I heard that the people of Edo State identified him as one of the shining stars that will take over from the governor that by popular consensus, performed credibly well, I knew that they had made a good choice. “I believe beyond reasonable doubt, that together, you will achieve a lot for Edo State, what has not been possible.”

Meanwhile, Alhaji Dangote urged the newly sworn-in governor, Godwin Obaseki, to replicate the leadership template of former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, to transform Edo and make it a reference point for commerce and development.

Dangote, who also spoke at the inaugural dinner held in Benin to usher in the new governor, said Tinubu laid a solid foundation for development of Lagos, which his successors keyed into and even scaled up to bring about massive transformation and development.

He said just like Tinubu, Adams Oshiomhole, had also placed Edo on sound footing for development, urging the new governor to also follow the path of continuity for progress.

We won’t reverse power privatization on any grounds, says Fashola

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Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works and housing, says the ministry of power, under his leadership will not cancel power privatisation on any grounds.

 

Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Group, had asked that the power privatisation process be revisited and reversed into the “right hands”.

 

“We should be as open as we can if government doesn’t  intervene by taking back these assets and giving them to people who really have money that they can really inject, we will not be able to deliver on power,” Dangote had said.

 

“We should ask, how many people, who and who are these guys that have actually gone into the power sector then you will know when you see the quality of people, are they really serious, because they went in to just make money, power business is not just about money, it is a huge business when you invest heavily you will reap at the end of the day.”

 

Speaking at the fifth EU-Nigeria business forum in Lagos on Thursday, Fashola said those who want to get out of the agreement could, based on terms of agreement signed at the beginning of the deal, but added that total cancellation is not to be considered.

 

“I have heard discussions about revisiting the privatisation of power, honestly, I don’t know what it means. I’d like those who made the arguments to be specific; let them come out. Let us have a discussion; does revisiting means cancelling it?If it does, I don’t support it,” he said.

 

“The investors who took the plough, must have the assurance that government will not flip flop, and contracts that fail, have consequences.

Dangote Group Expands Investments Into Agriculture, Mining

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The Dangote Group has expanded its investments into agriculture and mining, Mansur Ahmed, Executive Director, Corporate Communications of the group, said in Kano.

He said at a media forum in Kano that the aim was to beat the economic recession in the country.

According to him, “The group reviewed its business plan to develop its investment directive and commits a greater investment in agriculture and mining to diversify economy.”

The reason is to diversify into areas that are fundamental to consumers and other stakeholders.

Ahmed pointed out that the company planned to expand its sugar refinery to other states, adding that the company had already started acquiring land for the purpose.

“We are actually working towards providing enough sugar and wishing to eliminate the importation of sugar by the next five years.”

The spokesman announced that rice and milk production had already begun in Jigawa, although it wasn’t done directly by the company yet.

 He, however, stressed that the company had worked with about 800 farmers in Hadejia in Jigawa and planned to increase the number to about 2,000 farmers to begin commercial farming.Other areas that the company is venturing into are in the oil and gas sector.

The group would also venture into fertiliser production, petrochemicals and provision of gas pipeline and alternative energy supply.

Credit: dailytimes

Dangote Refinery To Start Operation In 2018

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Dangote Group said its 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery currently under construction in Lagos would come on stream by the end of 2018.

The group’s Executive Director, Stakeholders’ Relations/Corporate Communications,  Alhaji Ahmed Mansur , announced this during a media parley in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said this would ultimately end fuel importation.

He said the refinery’s daily production capacity would be 150 per cent of the current total demand of petroleum products in the country, saying that the excess would be exported to other countries.

Mansur said a 1.3 million metric tonnes per annum petrochemical plant was also under construction at the refinery site in Lekki area of Lagos .

In addition , he said that a fertiliser company with capacity to produce 2.8 million metric tonnes of assorted fertilisers was also being added to help the country to achieve food security.

Mansur disclosed that the company had also diversified into gas business as it had started constructing a gas pipeline from the South East to Lagos.

He said that the gas plant, when completed, would have the capacity to produce three million standard cubic metres of gas per annum.

The executive director said the project would help the country to record appreciable improvement in power and manufacturing sectors.

According to him, the company’s huge investment in the oil and gas sector will impact positively in the economy, especially in the areas of employment and preservation of foreign exchange .

Credit: NAN

Dangote, Arsenal and Nigerian football. – Ogunbiyi

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Billionaire Businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, needs no introduction. He is currently Africa’s richest man with a net worth of $10.8 billion. His business interests cover manufacturing, oil and gas, haulage services, agriculture, among others. His sphere of influence transcends Nigeria as he has vast business interests across the African continent and, indeed, the entire globe. Without doubt, Dangote ranks among one of the highest employers of labour in the country. Indeed, a few analysts have claimed, either rightly or wrongly, that the economy of Nigeria is partly being sustained by Dangote.

What many do not know, however, about Dangote is that he is an ardent football fan. As it is characteristic of most Nigerian soccer fans, Dangote is also passionate about the English Premier League as he keenly follows and supports the London Gunners, Arsenal FC. Dangote’s romance with Arsenal FC recently came to public consciousness with reports that the Kano-born billionaire has his eyes on buying the London based football club.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote announced his intention to buy Arsenal FC last year. According to the report, Dangote is only bidding for his business prospects to improve and his investments in gas pipelines and oil refinery to play out before making an audacious bid for the London club. In a recent interview with Bloomberg Television in New York, Dangote revealed his interest in acquiring Arsenal. He said: “There is no doubt that I will love to buy Arsenal FC and there is no problem about money. I am going to do it may be in three or four years’ time. Presently, I have more challenging headwinds and I need to get those out of the way first and start having tailwinds. Then, I will focus on the acquisition of Arsenal”.

Arsenal Holdings Plc, the owner of Arsenal FC trades on the ICAP Securities and Derivatives Exchange, or ISDX, has a market capitalization of 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion). Currently, Stan Kroenke, American business entrepreneur with a net worth of $7.3 billion (Forbes-2016) and owner of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) top flight side, Denver Nuggets, holds 67 percent of Arsenal Holdings.

If Dangote eventually acquires Arsenal FC, he would be the first sub-Saharan African to own a team in the English Premier League. His desire to buy Arsenal, however, goes beyond merely creating such record. Being a keen follower of the club, Dangote essentially craves to build and sustain the club into one of the best football teams in the world. He said: “The intention is not just about buying Arsenal and just continuing with business as usual. It is about buying Arsenal and turning it around. I have run a very successful business and I think I can also run a very successful football team”.

Considering its recent dwindling fortune on the soccer field, Arsenal FC is actually in dire need of a turnaround. With 13 top flight league titles, Arsenal FC is, no doubt, one of England’s most successful teams. However, it last won the English Premiership title in 2004, something keen watchers and analysts of the English Premiership consider as not too good enough for a club of Arsenal’s pedigree.

Taking into account Dangote’s antecedent as a goal-getter and a successful business man, he might one day buy over Arsenal FC. If he does, one hopes he is able to turn around the fortune of the team. But then, that is not really one’s main goal at this point. Now that it has become evident that Dangote loves football it’s the right time to implore him to take more than a passing interest in the development of our local football.

While it is true that football in Nigeria is not in any way as profitable as it is in Europe, America and North Africa, development in the last two seasons has shown that things are really improving, especially in the management of the local national premier league.

For our football to transform into a profitable venture as it is in Europe and other such places, the involvement of well-meaning private and corporate individuals like Dangote is quite imperative. Globally, football has become a money spinning enterprise.

The organisation and management of football in Europe, for instance, is a multi million dollars project with all the teams running numerous other sports related businesses. Indeed, all sorts of professionals-doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists, grass men, scouts, etc-are employed by the various teams in their drive for soccer glory.

Therefore, in Europe, football has gone beyond a mere recreational activity. Consequently, youths across the continent have found football a means through which they could use their talents to escape poverty.

Ironically, in Nigeria, what we have is the exact opposite of what operates in Europe. The once exciting Nigeria local league, that produced household names like Segun Odegbami, Adokie Amaesimeka, Christian Chukwu, Stephen Keshi, and Rashidi Yekini among others, has become a shadow of itself. Hitherto widely followed teams such as Stationery Stores, Spartans of Owerri, Rovers of Kano, Abiola Babes, Leventis United, etc have gone into extinction while popular European clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal and AC Milan among others have been in existence for over a century. Unlike in Europe, where football clubs are purely run as business ventures, clubs in Nigeria are mostly run by governments on a non- profit making basis.

Unfortunately, football administrators in the country are largely only interested in fighting over the paltry funds that come from government rather than creatively and passionately evolving strategies to lift the game. This is why, some of our footballers travel to less known footballing nations such as Bangladesh, Sudan and India among others to further their careers.

It is, therefore, in order to reverse this trend and bring about a major transformation in the management of football in Nigeria that one is appealing to Dangote and other such spirited Nigerians and corporate organisations to key into the development of football in the country. Indeed, the private sector needs to take more active part in the project to restore the nation’s lost glory in sports. All over the world, the initiatives and funds that drive sports come from the private sector. With the much required private sector participation, the declining status of football in the country could be effectively addressed.

It is in doing this that we can discover new football talents, revive the sport and tackle the problem of job creation and youth restiveness in the country.

– Ogunbiyi writes from Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos

Reverse Privatisation of Power – Dangote Advises FG

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Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote group, has advised the federal government to take back the assets it sold earlier and give it to people who “really have money” to manage them.

According to reports, Dangote said this in Plateau state during the senior executive session of course 38 at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru.

The billionaire businessman reportedly said majority of the people who bought these power assets do not have an understanding of it.

He advised the government to negotiate with them and find solutions to the problems confronting the sector.

“We should be as open as we can if government doesn’t  intervene by taking back these assets and giving them to people who really have money that they can really inject, we will not be able to deliver on power,” he said.

“We should ask, how many people, who and who are these guys that have actually gone into the power sector then you will know when you see the quality of people, are they really serious, because they went in to just make money, power business is not just about money, it is a huge business when you invest heavily you will reap at the end of the day.

“What government did was to privatise but the privatisation was done wrongly. People who wanted to buy all these plants, both the generating and distribution companies, thought that this was another opportunity like mobile phones, where we have moved from 500,000 lines in 2000 and in ten years we now have 120million lines.

“Yes it would have been so but these guys, what they did when they bought these power plants was that they borrowed 90% of the money in foreign currency. You cannot go and borrow dollars when your base income is in naira, you will have an issue because your earnings are in naira you are taking a huge exchange risk and that is what happened today.

“These are guys, with respect to them, when I say guys I don’t mean 100% of them but the majority of them went in without even understanding what they are doing and the worst thing for any entrepreneur is to go into a business without understanding it.

“If you don’t understand a business no matter how much money they show you that you are going to make, how much profit, don’t go into where somebody has to come and sit you down and start explaining because if he is doing something wrong, you don’t have any way of challenging him.

“If you wake me up in the middle of the night on any of the businesses we are doing today, even the new ones I will be able to explain it to you, I know my entry and I know my exit but unfortunately that is what these guys did and today they are holding the entire nation to ransom, it is very embarrassing for us.

“Today, how can we say that we don’t have 300,000 prepaid meters? things have changed you cannot go and charge a rate and then you have to follow people one by one to be scheming for them to pay but with a prepaid meter, once you buy for N10,000 after the N10,000 you have to remain in darkness so it is not an issue to start chasing people to pay. And it is also estimated that 30% of the overhead costs of businesses in the country go into the provision of alternative source of power. This affects their revenue and profitability.

“My own advice is that government should sit down with them and negotiate the best way out because we need power, we are desperate for power and if there is no power no growth because if you look at the medium and small industries, most of their income goes into buying diesel or petrol to generate power and that shouldn’t be the case. I believe with enough power we will have tremendous growth.”

Dangote Cement records N442bn revenue in nine months.

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Leading cement manufacturer, Dangote Cement Plc, has declared an increased revenue of N442.09 billion in the last nine months, the Company’s financial report released on Thursday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange indicated.

The revenue in the nine month ended September 30, 2016 was 20.97 per cent higher than the figure recorded during the same period in 2015, despite the harsh operating environment, a development attributed to management’s strategy to leverage on its pan-African status.

The report indicated that Dangote Cement increased the revenue by N76.642 billion from N365.450 billion it made during the same period in 2015.

The crises of foreign exchange gulped a huge amount of its revenue, as it spent N231.684 billion on cost of sales during the review period of nine months in 2016 as against N138.694 billion spent on the same purpose in nine months in 2015.

The enormous money spent on cost of sales affected the profit after tax of Dangote Cement from N157.993 billion it made in nine months 2015 to end the current period with N133.521 billion.

Reflecting on its outlook, the Managing Director of the Company, Onne Van der Weijde, said the management is confident of delivering strong growth this year despite the challenging economic conditions facing Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

Dangote Cement achieved particularly strong sales growth in Nigeria.

It, however, expects the final quarter to be lower because of the high Q4 base in 2015 and also because of the price increase that became effective on September 1, 2016.

Weijde said: “This price increase will have an immediate and positive impact on margins in Q4, as will the elimination of LPFO from our fuel mix, as we increase our use of coal and as higher gas levels return. We do not expect to use LPFO again this year. From January 2017, our use of own-mined coal, sourced in Nigeria and paid for in Naira, will further improve margins and significantly reduce our need for foreign currency.

“As we have previously made clear, our focus will be to improve margins through cost controls and the adjustment of prices. We have new capacity coming on stream in Congo and Sierra Leone and expect Tanzania to increase its market share in the coming months.

“Foreign exchange constraints in Nigeria have made us reconsider the pace of our expansion and we now believe that a longer-term building programme will enable a more measured approach that balances our ambition for growth with the realities of obtaining foreign currency in this difficult environment.”

The Cement Company’s results showed that profit before tax fell by 38 per cent year on year to N23.8 billion while profit after tax grew markedly by 147 per cent year on year to N68.3 billion.

Reviewing the third quarter results, analysts at FBN Quest are of the opinion that the stellar growth in profit after tax could be attributed to a strong positive result of N37.5 billion on the other comprehensive income line and to a lesser extent, a tax credit of N6.3 billion.

Excluding the comprehensive income line gains, the growth on the profit after tax line would have been more subdued at around 12 per cent year on year (mainly because of a comprehensive income line loss of –N21.9 billion in Q3 2015).

Similar to Q2 2016, the comprehensive income line gains can be linked to currency translation effects of Dangote Cement’s overseas operations.”

Moving up the profit and loss, the marked decline in profit before tax was driven by a gross margin contraction of -1773 basis points year on year to 38.3 per cent and an 81 per cent year on year spike in operating expenses.

The negatives on both lines completely offset a 22 per cent year on year growth in sales to N150 billion.

Similar to Q2 2016, the marked growth in sales during the quarter was driven by volume growth across all the major regions, particularly those of the West and central African region.

While total volume despatches in Q3 grew by around 9 per cent year on year to 5.5 million metric tonnes, in Nigeria unit volume were up by 6 per cent year on year to about 3.2 million metric tonnes.

On a nine months basis, Group and Nigeria unit volumes grew by 41 per cent year on year and 28 per cent year on year to 18.4 million metric tonnes and 11.9 million metric tonnes respectively.

Also similar to Q2 2016, the firm had to contend with high fuel costs due to disruptions to gas supplies as a result of the vandalized gas pipeline infrastructure.

Although management effected a significant price hike of around 39 per cent for the Nigerian market in late August, it appears that the combination of slower sales growth in Q3 (relative to the months preceding the price review) and significantly higher fuel costs (+53 per cent year on year nine months 2016) more than offset the effect of the upward review in prices.

Dangote Sacks 36 Expatriates, 12 Nigerians

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The current recession rocking the Nigerian economy has hit one of the biggest employers of labour in the country outside of the government as the Dangote Group, belonging to Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has fired 48 members of staff.

It was gathered that those sacked were made up of 36 expatriate and 12 Nigerian workers from the group’s headquarters and one of the subsidiaries, Dangote Cement Plc.

Though no official of the group was willing to speak on the matter on Sunday, one of our correspondents gathered from highly placed sources that the decision to sack the workers was not unconnected with the current high cost of running business in the country occasioned by the unavailability of foreign exchange and the unprecedented hike in the naira to dollar exchange rate.

It was further gathered that the huge amounts in foreign currencies being paid to the expatriate workers had become a burden on Dangote due to the steady depreciation in the value of the naira and the difficulties of raising enough dollars.

Consequently, the industrialist, according to sources, has decided to replace the expatriates with Nigerians, who have acquired the requisite experience on the job, as paying them in naira will be less problematic.

For the affected Nigerians, it was gathered that most of them had disciplinary issues, which made it easy for the group to do away with their services.

When contacted on Sunday, the Group Head, Corporate Communications, Dangote Group, Tony Chiejina, said he could not speak on the development.

However, in a letter signed by the President/Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, dated Thursday, October 20, 2016,the firm stated that it was constrained to take the “tough” decision as economic factors had affected the cost of production.

The letter, which was titled: ‘Recent Retirement Exercise’, however, appreciated those affected for their contributions to the growth of the group.

The letter read in part, “This year has been a very challenging year for us as a business. The unavailability of foreign exchange coupled with an unprecedented hike in the exchange rate has resulted in increased costs across the organisation.

“This called for a proper review and adjustment of our costs across board to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the deployment of our factors of production in a bid to eliminate redundancies that we know exist, which resulted in some tough decisions, which means losing staff, including some of our colleagues.

“On Friday, October 14, 2016, we began the process of staff cutbacks as it is imperative to review our human capital deployment for the required cutbacks that would ensure efficiency and eliminate redundancies in the allocation of human resources.

“This first phase of this exercise involved the cutback of 36 expatriate staff across the Dangote Cement Plc and Dangote Industries Limited, and 12 local staff members in Dangote Industries Limited.”

As an organisation with international operations, the group promised that it would continue to review and restructure its human capital deployment to ensure “optimal allocation of skill sets and size of the workforce each function requires.”

The group urged the workers to shun lateness, improper dressing and other unsavoury behaviours in the workplace.

Bloomberg had in its latest ‘Billionaire Index’ reported that Dangote had lost $5.4bn of his fortune this year due to the fall in the value of the naira and the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria to ration dollars to stem huge capital outflows in the wake of Nigeria’s worst economic crisis.

Dangote had recently urged the Federal Government to sell off the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company and other dormant but huge capital-generating enterprises and reinvest the proceeds in the economy to bring the country out of the current economic recession before the end of the fourth quarter.

Dansa Foods Nigeria Limited, which claims to be a member of the Dangote Group, has reportedly been unable to pay its workers for the past six months.

The company is being run by Alhaji Sani Dangote, a brother of Aliko, who is the Executive Chairman, with Aliko’s shares embedded in the firm.

Multiple sources in the Dangote Group claimed that Dansa Foods was not part of the group but was an independent company owned and run by Aliko’s brother.

However, in a statement announcing its participation at the just concluded Lagos International Trade Fair, the group listed some of its subsidiaries as Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Agrosacks, NASCON Allied Industries Plc (Dangote Salt), Dangote Rice Limited, Dangote Cement Plc and Dansa Foods Limited.

It was reported that the company, which produces Dansa Juice and other goods, had laid off more than half of the workforce following dwindling sales and high cost of production caused by high exchange rate of the naira.

It was gathered that the company had suspended the production of Dansa Juice and other products, and was only producing Mowa Bottle Water.

As a result, the workers have reportedly embarked on a strike to press home their demand.

Food Importation: Nigeria At Risk Of Hunger – Dangote

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Africa’s richest man and Chairman, Dangote Group, Mr. Aliko Dangote, says 98 per cent of all dairy products consumed in the country are imported.

He said that the nation was at the risk of hunger in the next few years if the mass food importation was not checked.

Dangote made this assertion in lagos on Monday while addressing some students of the Executive MBA class of the Lagos Business School who visited the Dangote Petrochemical Refinery.

He said, “Ninety-eight per cent of all the milk and dairy products we consume in Nigeria are imported.

“This is why Dangote Group has planned to develop dairy plants, and develop homegrown milk production, to reduce importation.

“By 2020, it is estimated that the Nigerian population would have risen to between 207 million and 210 million. If we do not make efforts to grow and process our own foods, God forbid, we will go hungry.

“We have been in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria on ways we can add value to our local produce, and we have marked massive dairy production for the next three years.

“We cannot solve all Nigeria’s problems, but at least we can embrace and add value to areas where we have comparative advantage.”

He said that Dangote Group was the most capitalised company on the stock exchange, with investments which include six ongoing projects that would create not less than 250,000 jobs across the nation.

He said that the refinery, which primarily majored in gas plants, petrochemicals and fertilizer production, could generate an annual foreign exchange savings and earnings of $15bn dollars.

He said it would also generate up to 1500 direct jobs and 15,000 indirect jobs in support services and logistics, which would also include up to 22,000 housing facilities.

Dangote also said that the East West Onshore Gas Gathering Section pipeline of the refinery was a $3bn investment specially dedicated to generate 12,000 mega watts of power for industries.

He urged the students and other potential entrepreneurs to endeavour to venture into businesses that they are familiar with.

Dangote targets 2m metric tons of sugar annually.

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The Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, a member of Dangote Group, on Monday said it plans to produce between 1.5 and 2 million metric tons of refined sugar annually from locally produced sugarcane.

The Acting Group Managing Director, Mr Abdullahi Sule, made the disclosure at the 2016 World Food Day celebrations organised by Lagos State Government.

Sule, who was represented by the company’s manager, Mr Braimah Ogunwale, said that the target was in line with its backward integration master plan.

“Our efforts are geared towards the achievement of our backward integration projects master plan to produce 1.5 to 2 million metric tons of refined sugar annually from locally grown sugarcane within the next 10 years.

“We have acquired and currently rehabilitating Savannah Sugar Company Ltd, Numan, Adamawa State to bring it to its full potential.

“Also, we are in the process of acquiring various sites across the country for our Greenfield Sugar projects, though very challenging, but we are focused on this goal, ‘’ he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Dangote Sugar Refinery sponsored this year’s Schools Agriculture Quiz Competition in Lagos to mark the World Food Day, which was won by Keke Senior High School, Agege.

Sule commended the efforts of the Lagos State Government’s towards ensuring food security, and implored it to engage the youths on new innovations.

Since FG won’t sell NLNG, Dangote acquires gas processing company in Netherlands

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Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) has completed the acquisition of Twister B.V., a gas processing company headquartered in the Netherlands.

Twister B.V. used to be owned by Shell Technology Ventures Fund 1, before its recent acquisition by DIL along with its partner – First E&P.

A statement yesterday from DIL said the acquired company would help design and build the gas plants which would be critical in processing gas from oil fields for transportation via Dangote’s planned subsea pipeline (EWOGGS) for ultimate consumption by various industries and power plants.

Aliko Dangote, President & CEO of Dangote Industries Limited said, “This was an important acquisition for us. Twister’s cutting edge gas processing technology is fundamental to delivering our strategy to unlock about 3bcfd of gas in order to meet Nigeria’s gas needs.”

Twister’s CEO, John Young said, “We are delighted in the confidence DIL and First E&P have shown in Twister to be their core provider of gas separation solutions. After a very thorough due diligence our technology has been recognised as a key enabler to reduce gas project costs which is crucial in this current environment. We are excited to be part of the Dangote family of companies.”

It would be recalled that the refinery and fertilizer projects of Dangote Industries Limited are reported to have the capacity of creating a minimum of 235,000 new jobs – both direct and indirect jobs – as it becomes operational in the first quarter of 2019.

Aliko Dangote, who revealed this recently, also stated that the projects would cost a minimum of $17 billion.

Dangote said the $12 billion refinery would have a capacity of 650,000 barrels a day.

He assured that there would be market for the refined products because even in Africa, only three countries had effective functioning refinery with others importing from abroad.

He said: “Our refinery will be ready in the first quarter of 2019. Mechanical completion will be end of 2018 but we will start producing in 2019.”

When the projects fully take off in 2019, Dangote said it would help the country save $5 billion spent on the importation of oil into the country.

Dangote Aquires Gas Processing Company In Netherlands

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Reports reveal that Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote has finalized the acquisition of Twister B.V., a gas processing company headquartered in the Netherlands.

This was revealed in a statement by his company, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) announcing the new acquisition,

The statement quotes Dangote as saying “This was an important acquisition for us. Twister’s cutting edge gas processing technology is fundamental to delivering our strategy to unlock about 3bcfd of gas in order to meet Nigeria’s gas needs.” Chief Executive Officer of Twister, John Young who also spoke on the new deal said, “We are delighted in the confidence DIL and First E&P have shown in Twister to be their core provider of gas separation solutions.

After a very thorough due diligence, our technology has been recognized as a key enabler to reduce gas project costs which are crucial in this current environment. We are excited to be part of the Dangote family of companies.”

Dangote is currently building a refinery and fertilizer project that is expected to be in operation in the first quarter of 2019. The projects are expected to cost a minimum of $17 billion.

Recession: Dangote threatens to stop tomato paste production

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Few days after Erisco Foods Limited threatened to shut down its tomato factory, Dangote Industries Limited yesterday disclosed plans to stop tomato paste production because of the harsh operating environment that gives advantage to imported production.

Group Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Sani Dangote, disclosed that the group recently stopped tomato paste production because of the harsh operating environment that gives advantage to imported products.

He also said the company would not be able to pay farmers from whom they get the raw materials unless government did something urgently.

Although, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it would not give dollars, Dangote noted that countries like China give their people huge support and waivers that allow them access to finance that they do not really feel the forex crunch being faced by their Nigerian competitors.

Dangote who spoke at the 2nd group meeting of the Zero Hunger Committee in Abuja, expressed dissatisfaction over the delay on the part of the ministries and agencies involved to address the issue of tomato importation.

The Chairman of Nigerian AgricBusiness Group (NABG) insisted that the only way out was for government to put in place a clear cut policy on tomato importation and local production, stressing: “We have bee n talking for the past one year and up till now there is no clear cut direction where the government is heading.”

He further said that the forex policy being implemented by the CBN has not stopped importers from making profit from importation instead it is the local industries that are recording losses.

According to him, forex was not the problem but establishing a policy that would restrict the importation of tomato.

“We are not looking for forex. We are only saying that government should put up a policy where we are producing tomato concentrate to those industries that are into packaging; we are not into retail packaging,” he said.

So, that about 30 of those retail companies in Nigeria that are importing would stop and buy from us and repackage into smaller sachets, tins and so on.

“If we are talking about importers and we are talking about local producers; there is no way we can have a common ground because they are looking at 100 per cent import and we are looking at 100 per cent local production.

Dangote, who stated that “some companies have opened industries in Ghana and other free zones under the disguise of ECOWAS and are importing”, was however, optimistic that President Muhammadu Buhari would key into the issue and find a lasting solution.

Recall that Erisco Foods Limited had indicated plans to shut down its tomato paste processing business in Nigeria owing to unfavourable operating climate which will lead to loss of about 1,500 jobs.

Dangote: Even if FG wants to sell NLNG on credit, I am not interested

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Aliko Dangote, president of of Dangote Group, says if the federal government offers to sell the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) to him on credit, he is not interested.

Reacting to the criticisms that have trailed his advocacy for the sale of national assets, Dangote told THISDAY that his proposal was borne out of the desire to see Nigeria get out of the current economic recession.

In an interview with CNBC Africa, the billionaire had said the government would be able to raise between $12 billion and $15 billion from the sale of the company.

“If I had challenges in my company, I would not hesitate to sell assets, to remain afloat, to get to the better times, because it doesn’t make any sense for me to keep any assets and then suffocate the whole organisation,” he had said.

“The African Finance Corporation… it can fetch them $800 million easily. My own suggestion before was that they should even sell 100 percent of NLNG. I don’t think government should be in any business of investing in sectors of LNG.

“A company like that, with earnings of $1.5 billion on the average, they should get anywhere between $12 billion and $15 billion.”

The comment had generated reactions, with some saying the billionaire was interested in buying the company.

But Dangote waved aside the criticisms, saying he offered the suggestions as “a true Nigerian who really wants the issues about the economy to be sorted out”.

“You know the issue, once your reserves are low, the banks, entrepreneurs, including external forces, would definitely attack your currency. They would speculate on your currency,” he said.

“We all know that the exchange rate of almost N500 to the dollar is not a true reflection of the value of the currency – the naira cannot be almost N500 to the dollar!

“But you see, if this thing is not handled properly, it can get out of hand. It can get to N600 to the dollar, or even N700 to the dollar.

“But the issue is, why did I suggest that we should sell some of the assets? I know the touchy one is the NLNG. I want to make it categorically clear that even if the government is selling NLNG on credit, I am not interested in buying.

“I don’t have any interest in NLNG and I will not buy it. It is not a business that I want to invest in. It is a mature business; that is what people don’t understand.

“You see, we should have invested heavily in all these Brass LNG, Olokola LNG, etc, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo started work on the projects, but we missed the opportunity.

“Today, you have massive LNG projects that have been done by Qatar, Australia and the United States is also exporting. But right now, all the gas that we have is even in the ground. Even Mozambique has a massive amount of gas and also Tanzania, and they are nearer to the markets than we are.

“So, if somebody is even going to invest in LNG, he would go to those areas and invest there and not here in Nigeria, because the investment here is daunting. So my own suggestion is that even if we must sell, it doesn’t have to be 100 per cent of our interest in NLNG.”

Despite recession, Dangote vows to scale up investments in Nigeria, Africa

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In recognition of his immense contribution to human capital development in Africa through the establishment of businesses across the African continent, a United States of America-based Organization, Africa-America Institute (AAI) has honoured the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, with the “2016 African Business Leader Award.”

The business guru was named and presented the award at a colourful ceremony held on the side-line of the United Nations Congress held in New York city, United States alongside other prominent Africans like Stephen Hayes, President and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), who won the AAI ‘2016 U.S. Business Leader Award’; and Sunil Benimadhu, Executive Director of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM), who won the AAI ‘2016 Distinguished Alumnus Award.’

Dangote said he was humbled by the award considering the pedigree of the award which celebrates African achievement at the global stage and promised that he would not be deterred by the current economic challenges in Nigeria but would intensify the expansion of his businesses across Africa.

At the award Gala themed “Education: The Key to Africa’s Economic Growth,”, Dangote expressed delight that the Institute brought education in Africa to the front burner., noting “I have always been passionate about education because I believe it is a weapon of liberation.

Drawing a reference from a Nelson Mandela quote that: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”, the Chairman of Dangote Cement, global, said he identified himself with laudable initiatives that seek to promote educational growth and development, particularly in Africa.

“As a matter of fact, I am a founding member of the Gordon Brown-led Global Business Coalition for Education. Education is also one of the cardinal areas that the Aliko Dangote Foundation focuses on.

“I believe quality and affordable education will address the immense social and economic inequalities that often breed discontent in many parts of Africa. I also believe education will strengthen the human capital that will drive Africa’s development in the 21st Century.

“I am happy to note that AAI has been contributing to Africa’s development, through training and education, since it was founded 63 years ago. This award is coming at a time the Dangote Group is rapidly expanding its footprints across Africa, and into new sectors.

“Last year alone, we commenced cement operations in Ethiopia, Zambia, Cameroon, South Africa, Senegal and Tanzania. By 2019, we will have operations in 18 countries with a total capacity of nearly 80MMTPA, thus making us the largest cement producer in Africa and the 6th largest in the world.

“Over the next few years, we will be investing nearly $20billion in projects ranging from a petroleum refinery, petrochemicals, fertiliser, gas pipeline, and backward integration in sugar and rice production.

“These projects will create over 250,000 jobs and provide foreign exchange earnings and savings of $16 billion for the country and help diversify our economy. Central to this developmental trajectory is the need for capacity building and ramping up of the quality of skills of a fast growing African workforce.

“Despite the current economic challenges, we will continue to scale up the value of our investments not only in Nigeria but also across the entire continent, because we believe in Nigeria’s and Africa’s potential. We believe that it is only by sustained massive investments in infrastructure across the continent, supported with access to education, that Africa can reach its full potential.

“This award will further encourage us to redouble our efforts as we work towards promoting Africa’s economic renaissance. We are grateful to the organisers for recognising our modest efforts to transform Africa”, he stated.

Founded in 1953, The Africa-America Institute (AAI) is a premier U.S.-based international organization dedicated to strengthening human capacity of Africans and promoting the continent’s development through higher education and skills training, convening activities, program implementation and management.

Its primary model is to identify capacity-building projects and coordinate the programmatic, financial administration and evaluation necessary to deliver high-impact results.

I Am Hale & Hearty, Dangote Debunks Death Rumours

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Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote has debunked rumours making the rounds that he has passed on.

The report what published by a German news medium DW-TV3. It reported that the industrialist died after a short illness in Germany.

“I am hale, hearty and alive. Please disregard malicious report saying otherwise. Thank you,” he tweeted.

Credit:

http://guardian.ng/news/oil-edges-higher-ahead-of-opec-meeting/

Dangote sets deadline to buy Arsenal

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Aliko Dangote who is Africa’s richest man has reiterated his desire to by London club, Arsenal on or before the year 2020.

Dangote , a Nigerian worth $10.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, announced his intention to buy the club last year.

He said he needs to wait for his business prospects to improve and his investments in gas pipelines and an oil refinery to play out before making the acquisition.

“There’s no doubt” I’ll buy Arsenal and “it’s not a problem” of money, Dangote said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in New York on Wednesday.

“Maybe three to four years. The issue is that we have more challenging headwinds. I need to get those out the way first and start having tailwinds. Then I’ll focus on this.”

Dangote, an Arsenal fan, has lost $4.4 billion this year, the fourth most of anyone globally, due mainly to the depreciation of Nigeria’s currency, the billionaires index shows.

If he succeeds in his acquisition bid, Dangote will be the first African owner of a team in England’s Premier League.

“It’s not about buying Arsenal and just continuing with business as usual,” he said.

“It’s about buying Arsenal and turning it around. I’ve run a very successful business and I think I can also run a very successful team. Right now, with what we’re facing, over $20 billion of projects, I cannot do both.”

While Arsenal has won 13 top flight league titles in England, making it one of the country’s most successful sides, it’s last was in 2004.

Recession: We’ll resist sale of national assets – NLC

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The Nigeria Labour Congress has called on Nigerians to resist the planned sale of the nation’s shareholdings in the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas and other national assets.

The President of the NLC, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, said in a statement on Thursday that Nigerians must resist the surreptitious moves by some businessmen and the political class to acquire the remaining national assets which he said should be preserved in the interest of future generations.

He said the NLC was prepared to join forces with other progressive movements in the country to resist the current moves to plunder the nation’s assets.

He said it was in the interest of generations of Nigerians for the existing investments to be developed by investing in profitable areas.

Wabba said the NLC was totally opposed to the recent calls by Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, for the sale of national assets to get the country out of recession.

He said, “The recent call by Alhaji Aliko Dangote for the sale of the national share holdings in the NLNG and the suggestion by the Senate President that the shares, along with other sovereign assets in the oil and aviation sectors, should be sold as a way of stemming the current economic recession are unacceptable to us at the Nigeria Labour Congress.

“Investments in the LNLG and joint venture oil upstream operations are profitable and represent potential sources of revenue into the future.

“Inter-generational considerations require that we build on these existing investments by identifying other profitable endeavours to invest in. What we need is to leverage on the stream of potential earnings from these investments in seeking to turn around the economy.

“We, therefore, call on Nigerians to resist these new schemings by those waiting and wishing to lap up these lucrative national assets. We need to preserve these assets for our children and future generations.

“On our part, we are ready, in partnership with other progressive and nationalist forces in our country, to resist the further attempt to plunder our common patrimony.

Dangote Named Co-Chair of US-Africa Business Centre

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In a show of commitment on collaboration by the business communities in the United States and across Africa, the United States Chamber of Commerce has named Aliko Dangote, Africa’s most successful businessman, co-chair of its US-Africa Business Centre.

Dangote will serve alongside Jay Ireland, President/CEO of GE Africa, as a leader for the US-Africa Business Center Board of Directors.

“We are honoured to have Aliko Dangote on board to help guide the business communities’ efforts in pursuit of a new era of unprecedented growth between the United States and Africa,” said Scott Eisner, President of the US-Africa Business Centre.

“The future of job creation lies in the hearts and minds of business leaders and their enterprises across Africa. We are fortunate to have an opportunity to tap into the expertise of Dangote on our board to ensure that US companies have strong partners across Africa and can provide access to African companies interested in the US market.”

Read More: thisdaylive

Dangote, 14 Others Gain N127bn On Stock

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Equity transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), yesterday, favoured the Dangote Cement Plc and 14 other companies listed on the nation’s bourse with N127bn gain.

The recorded profit pushed up benchmark index by 1.33 per cent as the NSE All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated 370 basis points to close at 28,209.93 absolute points, and market capitalisation, also closing higher at N9.690 trn.

While the trading session favoured the 15 gaining stocks against 14 declining ones, 10 other stocks traded and closed the session on flat prices.

The Dangote Cement Plc gained N6.79 kobo to close at N183 per share, Total Plc followed by appreciating N6.50 kobo and closing at N269 per share and Conoil Plc occupied the third position on the chart by gaining N3.59 kobo to close at N38.69 kobo per share.

Other advancing stocks included Stanbic IBTC, Oando Plc,

On the losers’ list were UAC of Nigeria Plc, which shed 78 kobo to close at N21 per share, Unilever Plc, losing 51 kobo to close at N45 per share and WAPCO Plc that lost 11 kobo in share price to close at N56.15 kobo per share.

Collectively, investors traded 231.5m shares valued at N2.488bn in 3,452 deals compared with a total of 328.2m shares worth N2.895bn that exchange hands in the previous session.

Oil Discovery In Lagos Excites Dangote

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The recent discovery of oil in Lagos State in commercial quantity has been described as a good omen for the development of the oil and gas industry, which Dangote refinery will benefit from.

Speaking in his office in Lagos on Monday during a visit by the leaders of the League of African Development Students, the Group Executive Director, Dangote Industries Limited Mr. Devakumar Edwin, said it was a good development that Lagos was now an oil producing state, adding that this would further strengthen the country’s oil output.

He stated that Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical would be more than willing to work with the state and the Federal Government in ensuring that oil production from Lagos would add value to the economy of the state and the nation at large.

Edwin was quoted to have said in a statement issued by the firm, “We are very happy at the discovery of oil in Lagos. It is indeed a good and welcome development for us as a company. It will accelerate the growth level of the state and also be of immense benefit to the residents and the country at large.

“Not only will Lagos be regarded as an oil producing state and share out of the derivation fund, but Lagos will continue to be an invaluable partner to the Dangote Group with the Dangote refinery in Ibeju-Lekki.”

He pointed out that though crude oil prices might be unattractive at the moment, a situation that had made major International Oil Companies to slow down, “it did not mean that the oil and gas industry is devoid of development.”

Read More:

http://punchng.com/oil-discovery-lagos-excites-dangote/

Despite My Influence, I Need 38 Visas to Move Around Africa – Billionaire Businessman, Dangote

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Billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote has revealed that despite the size of his company and his investments on the continent, he needs 38 visas to travel across Africa.
Aliko Dangote
Speaking in an exclusive interview with CNBC Africa, billionaire businessman and Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, advised African leaders to give incentives to investors and make intra-Africa travel easy.
The Nigerian billionaire who owns the Dangote Group, which has interests in commodities, revealed that despite the size of his group and his investments on the continent, he still needs 38 visas to travel across Africa.
Alhaji Dangote who is worth $12.5 billion and is the richest man in Africa, according to Forbes, said adequate steps must be taken to address the issue in order for the continent to have a blossoming economy.
“Our leaders must give incentives. For example, little things like visa issuance. You go to a country that is looking for investment, that particular country will give you a run around just to get a visa.
 
“You have to know somebody who is big in that country to call somebody. They are giving you visas as if it is a favour.
 
“Somebody like me, despite the size of our group, I need 38 visas to move around Africa. Yes, I’ve heard that they are going to do the (African) passport, but you can see that there is still a little bit of resistance from other African leaders.
 
“Even countries like Rwanda and co, that say no visas for Africans, they are still having problems getting visas into other African countries, despite saying no need for visas for Africans coming in. They say, just come, we would give you on arrival,” he said.
He said intra-Africa trade is still very much on the downside, stating that Nigeria imports flour from Europe, whereas, the flour was exported to Europe from Kenya and Ethiopia.

Dangote visits Benin Crown Prince, promises more investments in Edo

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Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who said he was in the palace to commiserate with him on the demise of the late Oba, as well as congratulate him on his forthcoming coronation as the new Oba of Benin, also promised to bring more investment to the state.

He said that with the kind of weather and natural resources in the state, Edo could be made an employment hub for job seekers.

He added that the. state was so blessed and creating jobs would not be a difficult task.

He expressed delight that the prince would be crowned as the new Oba of Benin on Sept. 26, saying that the late Oba served the people of Edo in particular and the country well.

He added that “I have no doubt that with you as the next Oba, Benin will be taken to the next level.

“I also know that your experience as an Ambassador will be brought to bare.”

He assured the monarch of his continued support to the kingdom.

Responding, the crown prince said he was delighted to receive Dangote in his palace.

He gave assurance that he would do all it takes to justify the confidence reposed in him by the people.

He said “when God gives an assignment, He provides the means and resources by which the assignment will
be accomplished.”

He appealed to Dangote to always represent the state before the Federal Government, noting that “I know you always have a way of attacking any government in power, please always help actualise state’s request before the Federal Government.”

He also appealed to Dangote to help support and promote tourism in the state.

According to him, he has a passion to promote tourism in the state so as to create employment for the unemployed through the establishment of a finery.

He urged the business mogul to support the initiative to make Gelegele, a coastal community in the state, a Free Trade Zone.

Earlier, Gov. Adams Oshiomhole, who accompanied Dangote on the visit, said that the business tycoon was in the palace to commiserate with the royal household, in addition to congratulating the monarch on his forthcoming coronation.

Dangote Tomato Resumes Production December

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The Dangote Tomato Processing Factory in Kadawa village in Kura Local Government Area of Kano State, which closed shop seven months ago, would resume production in December, the Managing Director of the company, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kaita, said.
Kaita made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Kano on Tuesday.

He said the company, which commenced production in February 2016, had to stop activities due to the lack of fresh tomatoes.

He, however, added that the company had already started preparations for the recommencement of commercial activities.

He noted: “Our target is to resume production in December 2016 because by then we expect tomato farmers to have produced enough for the company to process.”

The managing director said that the company, which could process 120 tonnes of fresh tomatoes per day, would soon begin recruitment of additional staff.

He said: “We have plan to recruit additional staff who will be deployed to different sections of the company to ensure effective service delivery.”

It would be recalled that the company, which started processing tomatoes into cans and sachet in February 2016 had to close shop due to scarcity of the commodity as most farms in about five states were affected by a pest popularly known as “Tuta Absoluta”, which destroyed the tomato species in the affected states.

The pest destroyed some tomato farms in Kano, Jigawa, Plateau, Katsina and Kaduna states.

Dangote Pledges To Support Boko Haram Victims

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The Chairman of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on Sunday promised to mobilise additional support towards assisting victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East.

 

Dangote made the pledge shortly after visiting the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Dalori and Bakassi in Maiduguri.

 

He described the situation on ground as “pathetic” promising to make contact with partners towards alleviating the problems of the IDPs.

 

Dangote was accompanied on the trip by Mr Paul David-Hewson, a former British pop star, and other philanthropists. He also promised to offer more financial and moral support to the state government in its quest to handle the challenges caused by the problem.

Dangote also interacted with some former Boko Haram women who had been de-radicalised and promised to lend a helping hand towards completing their rehabilitation.

 

Also speaking, Gov. Kashim Shettima thanked Dangote for the gesture disclosing that he (Dangote) had provided financial support to the state at numerous times.

 

“This includes the donation of N2 billion cash and the provision of 106 trucks of food for the feeding of the IDPs during the annual Ramadan fast.

 

“We are renaming the Baga road after Alhaji Aliko Dangote in appreciation of his unwavering support to the state,” Shettima said.

Dangote & Legendary British Singer, Bono, Visit Ex-wives Of Boko Haram Fighters In Maiduguri

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Businessman Aliko Dangote spent Sunday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, visiting several Internally Displaced Persons’ camp in the city.

Mr Dangote, who was accompanied by legendary British singer of the U2 fame, Sir Paul David Hewson, popularly known as Bono, also visited a rehabilitation centre where former wives of Boko Haram insurgents are being deradicalized.

The British singer is an ambassador of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Mr. Dangote, who arrived Maiduguri at about 11am was led to some of the major IDP camps by Borno State Governor, Kashim Shetima.

He also visited a site where his foundation is building 1000 homes for the displaced persons.

At the Centre where the former wives of Boko Haram insurgents are being rehabilitated, Messrs Dangote and Bono were informed by Mr. Shettima that most of the women and girls there were full-time wives of the insurgents before they were rescued by soldiers.

“When they were brought in initially they were very hostile and unfriendly,” Mr. Shettima said. “But now they have embraced us and they are about to complete the deradicalization programme. After that, we have to educate the kids because education is very key in the whole effort to deradicalize.

“For the parents, we are going to empower them by providing them with a lifeline like irrigation pumps, and we have also procured special breed of goats that will be given to them to rear as well as cows that will be artificially inseminated for them to start a new life,” the governor said.

Read More: PremiumTimes

Omojuwa, Dangote, Patoranking Nominated For 2016 Peace Achievers Awards

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Popular blogger and social commentator, Japheth Omojuwa has been nominated for the 2016 Peace Achievers Awards alongside Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote and popular dancehall artiste Patoranking. Other nominees for this year’s award include Governor of Lagos State Akinwunmi Ambode, Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, veteran comedian AY, and award winning film maker and producer Kunle Afolayan.
 
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Rwanda Paul Kagame and Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Group, and three other individuals were nominated for the Lifetime Achievement Award. Patoranking was nominated alongside Olamide, Diamond Platnumz, Ycee, Stonebwoy and Davido for Africa Fast Rising Artiste of the Year.
 
Each year, the Peace Ambassador Agency recognizes individuals and organizations in Africa who have demonstrated strong commitment to serving their community while maintaining a global mindset. Founded in 2012, the Peace Achievers Awards encourage leaders and organizations in Africa to continue to be forces for positive change, to inspire thoughtful dialogue about the issues facing our community and our world, and to bring together the best and the brightest in Africa to work together towards a more peaceful future.
Peace Achievers Awards will be held in Sheraton Hotels, Abuja on the 24th September, 2016.
Check out the nomination list on www.peaceachieversawards.com/vote and vote for your favourite nominee.

Dangote To Create 210,000 Agriculture Jobs

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Dangote Group of Companies on Tuesday said the organisation would create 210,000 jobs for the unemployed Nigerians in agriculture between now and 2018 in agricultural sector.

The Chairman of the Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said this in Katsina in a goodwill message at the opening of Katsina Economic and Investment Summit.

“We will create 210,000 jobs between now and 2018 with 80 per cent coming from the agricultural sector.

“So, we should pay attention to the agricultural sector for investment opportunities, particularly when the crude oil is now becoming unreliable,’’ he said.

He said Brazil, which had same peculiarities with Nigeria, had $350 billion in its foreign reserve. adding that 80 per cent of the fund was from agriculture.

“Brazil is now a leading producer of sugarcane, soya beans, wheat and poultry in the World,’’ he said.

Dangote also said that he would establish the largest single refinery with the capacity to produce 650,000 barrels per day and two subsea pipelines of 550 kilometers in Delta, Ogun and Lagos.

The chairman said that he would assist government to reduce pipeline vandalism as well as provide 12,000 megawatts of power.

He called for the creation of enabling environment for investors by identifying areas with comparative advantages.

“You don’t need to call for investors, just create enabling environment for the local ones, you will see the foreign ones gate crashing,’’ he said.

 

(NAN)

Dangote, His Brother Dantata, Fingered in Panama Paper Leak

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Africa and Nigeria’s richest man Aliko Dangote and his half-brother, Sayyu Dantata including allies and relatives have been named among those who use secret shell companies domiciled in controversial tax havens in their business transactions.

According to Premium Times investigation, Mr Dangote, alongside his half brother, Sayyu Dantata, the founder of MRS Holdings bought equal shares of 12,500 each from OVLAS S.A, a shell company registered in Seycheles, on October 6, 2003.

13 shell companies registered by the firm are directly linked to persons and companies who in turn are linked to Aliko Dangote and his allies, the report added.

In what seems like a curious but smart business transaction, Dangote, Dantata and their company, bought equal shares of 12,500 each from OVLAS S.A, a shell company registered in Seycheles, on October 6, 2003.

On the same date, a company they both own, MRS Oil and Gas Co. Limited bought 25,000 numbers of shares from OVLAS S.A.

According to the documents, three years after they existed as shareholders of the company, the trio – Dangote, Dantata and M.R.S Oil and Gas Company Limited – ceased to be shareholder in the company. That was on April 12, 2006.

Mr. Dangote was issued a higher amount of shares – 250,000 – on the same day he resigned. Same curious but smart business transaction was used to acquire Petrowest S.A in the same Seycheles.

The report also revealed that Mr Dangote employed a tactical move of companies within companies all in an attempt to evade taxes.

Dangote had earlier been linked to be operating highly secretive foreign accounts with the Swiss branch of banking giant, HSBC.

But Dangote has denied having connection with the off shore companies.

“Thank you for your enquiry concerning our alleged relationship with the following off shore companies namely: Paseo Trading Ltd, Seychelles; Petrowest S.A.,Seychelles; SID Holdings Corp, Panama and Chalmers Shipping Inc, Panama.

“I wish to state categorically that neither Aliko Dangote nor Dangote Industries Ltd (DIL) has any form of relationship with these alleged four off shore companies. The Group has four quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and we cannot afford to tarnish our reputation or conduct our business in an unethical manner given this profile,” the spokesperson for the Dangote Group, Tony Chiejina said.

Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to swing into action and arrest Nigerians named in the Panama Paper leaks with secret offshore companies.

So far, Nigerians named in the leak are embattled senate president, Bukola Saraki, Former Senate President David Mark, Saraki’s wife, Toyin, former Delta State Governor James Ibori, Mr. Laolu Saraki, Mr. Obi Asika, Olufela Ibidapo and former Defence Minister Gen. Yakubu Danjuma.

British High Commissioner to Nigeria Meets With Bola Tinubu, Mike Adenuga & Aliko Dangote

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The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright met with the national leader of the All Progressives Congress(APC) Chief Bola Tinubu, Globacom Chairman, Chief Mike Adenuga and Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote. Mr. Arkwright who shared the photos on his official twitter account said he had interesting discussions with the men on UK-Nigeria affairs and business opportunities. See more photos below…

Nigeria To Commence Rail Transportation Of Petroleum Products – Rotimi Amaechi

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Minister of Transport, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday, declared that the Buhari administration would commence the rail transportation of petroleum products to selected parts of the country before the end of the first quarter of 2016.

He made this known at the hearing on rail contracts awarded between 2010 and 2015, by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, conducted by the House of Representatives ad hoc committee on railway contract scam.

Amaechi disclosed that the development would decongest the number of heavy trucks and tankers that convey petroleum products that ply the nation’s highways.
“As from this first quarter, we should be able to begin to move petroleum products from Lagos by rail up to the north, so as to reduce the impact of trailers and tankers on our roads”, Amaechi said.

He added that the ministry would focus on completing the construction of the Lagos to Kano and Lagos to Calabar railway lines with a view to developing a faster railway system.

The minister gave an assurance that if the ministry got the loan to finance the project from the China-Nexim Bank, it would speed up the completion of a standard gauge railway track.

According to Amaechi, before the end of 2016, trains would start running on the Kaduna-Abuja standard gauge line, which is currently near completion.

Besides, he said that the ministry will harness the potentials in the railway sector to create employment and ensure the easy movement of goods across the country.

Emerging Photo Shows How Dangote Reconciled Don Jazzy & Olamide

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An emerging photo shows  Aliko Dangote as the person behind the reconciliation of Olamide and Don Jazzy’s following a mega rift which occurred between the two at the 10th Headies awards on January 1, 2016.

Dangote reportedly settled the rift at his Lagos home where he hosted Don Jazzy and the YBNL boss in his Lagos home.

Recall that the rift between the entertainers which was quickly resolved on Sunday, January 3, 2016 left their fans with uncertainties about the actual processes leading to the reunion.

While  some of their fans alleged that the peaceful resolution was brokered Lagos State Commissioner for Arts, Tourism and Culture, Folarin Coker, there were also unproven reports at the time that it was moved by Dangote.

Credit: Vanguard

Dangote To Build 500MW Power Plant

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Dangote Plc said, it has concluded preliminary arrangements to build a 500 mega watt (MW) of electricity into the national grid for the people of Kano.

In a statement over the weekend, the group executive director, Stakeholders Management and Corporate Communications, Engineer Mansur Ahmed made this disclosure at the Kano 36th International Trade Fair.

According to him, the new power plan, which is part of the philanthropic gesture of the company is meant to support government’s effort in the provision of electricity for the people in the region and when completed it would benefit Jigawa, Katsina and some parts of Kaduna.

He said the Dangote Foundation was scaling up its charity works across several African countries and has started deepening its philanthropic gestures in the areas of health and education.

He said in the North Eastern part of the country, the Foundation has also provided over a billion naira to support the Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) and is desirous of addressing the challenges of unemployment in the country.

Credit: Leadership

Buhari, Dangote, Adesina Make Africa’s 100 Most Influential Africans

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President Muhammadu Buhari, business mogul, Aliko Dangote, blogger Linda Ikeji and 17 other Nigerians have been named amongst the 100 most influential Africans of 2015.

The list complied by New African Magazine was dominated by Nigeria and South Africa, with 20 and 16 personalities respectively.

Kenya, Uganda and Cameroon also feature strongly with eight, six and six entries each respectively. Of the top 100 personalities, 65 are men and 32 are women, with the other three being groups of people. South Africa’s students, for example, were recognised this year for their role in South Africa’s #FeesMustFall and #Rhodesmustfall campaigns.

The list presents the continent’s definitive power list and profiles the continent’s top game changers in eight different fields: 22 from politics ; four from public office; 21 from arts and culture; 21 from business; 11 from civil society; nine from technology; seven from media, and five from sports.

Credit: Leadership

T.Y. Danjuma, Dangote Bag Traditional Titles

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The paramount ruler of Umaisha, Nasarawa State, Usman Abdullahi, has conferred privileged traditional titles on five prominent Nigerians.

Nigeria’s former defence minister, Theophilus Danjuma, a retired general, was conferred with the title of Ohireku Opanda of Nasarawa, while Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, bagged the title of Dan Maliki Opanda.

Mr. Abdullahi, who is the Ohimegye Opanda of Nasarawa (a First Class Traditional Ruler), conferred the traditional titles on the recipients during his 20 years anniversary in Umaisha development area of Nasarawa state.

Other awardees included Governor Tanko Al-Makura as Wambai Opanda, and Abdullahi Adamu (the Senator representing APC-Nasarawa West) as Asayidu Opanda.

Similarly, Ibrahim Balarabe, Speaker of the Nasarawa state House of Assembly was turbaned as the Wali Opanda.

The traditional ruler said he decided to honour the awardees in recognition of their positive contributions to the development of the area.

Credit: PremiumTimes

Dangote Makes Bloomberg’s 50 Most Influential People In The World

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Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has been named among the 50 most influential personalities in the world by Bloomberg, a business and financial news media in the US. The list consisted of CEOs, world leaders as well as religious leaders.

According to Bloomberg, those who made the list are businessmen & women who “build companies and assemble fortunes. They run banks, or hope to disrupt them. They shape economies and spread ideas. They manage money and wield the clout that goes with the billions of dollars they invest.” Read what was written about Dangote below:

He’s feted like royalty. He has businesses ranging from cement to sugar to energy in a dozen sub-Saharan countries. He’s a fixture at elite gatherings such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. No ?African has ridden the continent’s halting march out of poverty toward potential prosperity as spectacularly as its richest person, the Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote.

Dangote’s clout extends beyond the boardroom and the high-flier dinner circuit. In March, as votes were tallied in Nigeria’s presidential election, Dangote, 58, served as an intermediary between the camps of the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, and his ultimately victorious rival, Muhammadu Buhari. “There’s no question that he is quite an exceptional person—not only in Africa but globally,” says Mark Mobius, chairman of the emerging-markets group at Franklin Templeton Investments.

Today, Dangote is seeking to export his business empire and his influence beyond his terror-racked and corruption-riddled home country. Nigeria is responsible for about 85 percent of his fortune, which stood at $13.9 billion as of Sept. 9, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He’s planning new cement factories across Africa and as far afield as Nepal and Brazil.

He’s considering taking Dangote Cement public on the London Stock Exchange and has even floated the idea of buying his beloved Arsenal, a top-ranking soccer club in the English Premier League. “I’m surprised I’m getting even four hours of sleep a day,” Dangote says. “We’re going ahead full steam.” The wealth Dangote has amassed is particularly conspicuous in a country as poor as Nigeria, which the International Monetary Fund ranked 122nd in the world in gross domestic product per capita last year. “You ?really see the inequalities,” then-president Jonathan said in May last year at a World Economic Forum conclave in Abuja, the Nigerian capital. Citing Dangote by name, Jonathan said, “Income distribution is skewed toward a few people.”

Dangote says his critics are being churlish. “Instead of studying how Dangote succeeded, they’re busy complaining,” he says. When he says that, he’s speaking above the thrum of his private jet as it makes its way back home to Lagos from Addis Ababa after an hourlong meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. But compared with the lifestyles of some tycoons, Dangote’s is understated. Divorced from his wife, the mother of his three adult daughters, he lives on Lagos’s Victoria Island. It’s one of Africa’s most expensive neighborhoods, but the home is far from lavish. Adjacent to a Mitsubishi dealership, the house is sparsely decorated, with a modest half-moon-shaped swimming pool set in a small garden.

Dangote grew up in the city of Kano on the edge of the Sahara, raised by his maternal grandfather, a wealthy rice and commodities trader. In his early 20s, he left for Lagos in search of fat profits buying and selling sugar, textiles, and cement in the fast-growing city. Soon, he was earning enough “to buy a Mercedes 200 every day,” he says. These days, he’s fallen on what are for him hard times. His net worth has tumbled by some $10 billion in the past two years because of the crash in the price of crude and unrest in Nigeria. Even so, he remains characteristically upbeat. His setback? “An accident,” he says. “I’m very confident that in the next two years, you won’t even remember it.”.

Dangote Meets Mugabe On Investment Approval

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Alhaji Aliko Dangote has met with the Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on the need to speed up the necessary approval for his investment in power, mining and cement industries in the southern African country.

Dangote who paid a courtesy call on President Mugabe reminded the President at his state House yesterday that he was awaiting the relevant approvals to set up the group’s investments.

He said, “We have already decided on multimillion investments in Zimbabwe in three sectors which are power, cement and coal mining. As soon as we get permits, we will hit the ground running.”

Read More: vanguardngr

Dangote Inaugurates $250 Million Plant In Cameroon

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Dangote Cement Plc inaugurates a 250 million-dollar (N48.75 billion) cement grinding plant in Douala, Cameroon. Dangote Group also laid the foundation stone for a 200 metre jetty in Douala.

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President/ Chief Executive, Dangote Group, said at the ceremony, that the plant, with a capacity of 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa), was a great feat in the operations of the company.

“The plant is our largest greenfield project in a neighbouring country with which we not only share a boundary but also a long history of brotherly relationship dating from our colonial days,” Dangote said.

Read More: NAN

See What Dangote Is Promising All Nigerians By 2019

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Aliko Dangote, the Chairman of Dangote Group, on Monday said Nigeria would be self-sufficient in rice, sugar and other commodities by 2019.

Dangote said this in Abuja at a meeting with the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, Nigerian businessmen and some philanthropists. The billionaire businessman, who was speaking against the backdrop of his investment in the economy in the nation, added that Nigeria would soon become the largest exporter of petroleum products and fertiliser.

He said he would not want to be known as the richest man alone, but would also lend his voice and other capacity to better the lots of Nigerians; and commended the steps being taken by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in addressing the challenge of corruption facing the nation.

Read More: dailytimes

Photos From Vice President Osinbajo’s Visit To Zambia To Commission Dangote Cement Factory

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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo arrived Zambia yesterday for a one day visit where he will be joining the Zambian president, Edgar Chagwa Lungu to commission a 1.5Mt Dangote Cement plant and 30MW coal-fired power plant in Ndola, Zambia. Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomole and some top Nigerian businessmen are in Zambia for the commissioning. More photos below…

Yar’Adua Cancelled Sale Of Refineries, Refunded Dangote’s $750M – Obasanjo

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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has explained that the sale of two of the nation’s oil oil refineries had been concluded before he exited office in 2007, saying his successor, the late Umaru Yar’Adua, reversed the sale due to “pressure”.

Obasanjo said this in his serialised interview with ‘Book Club’, a programme on Channels Television, monitored in Lagos on Wednesday.

The ex-President said business mogul, Aliko Dangote, leading a consortium of investors, had paid $750m for two of the refineries, as the Federal Government was finding it difficult managing the facilities at the time.

He, however, regretted that instead of the Yar’Adua administration to consolidate on the sale so that the investors could turn around the fortunes of the refineries, his successor succumbed to pressure and reversed the sale of the oil facilities.

Obasanjo equally revealed that not only did his successor canceled the sale, he also refunded the $750m paid by the investors.

He added, “The refineries are old and Dangote and some investors paid $750m for two of the refineries. My successor came to office and reversed the sale; he even refunded the money they paid.

“So, I went to him and said ‘why did you do this’? He said it was because of pressure. So, I said ‘so the pressure of some people was more important than the interest of the whole nation’!

“Right now, you will hardly be able to sell the refineries for more than $250m because they are very old.”

Obasanjo explained that most people, especially leaders, failed to analyse the decisions of those before them before upturning those decisions, pointing out that most leaders yielded to sentiment than informed opinions

Source – punchng.com

Dangote Foundation Targets 5,000 Displaced Families In North-East

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Dangote Foundation last weekend commenced distribution of relief materials to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states, in the spirit of the holy month of Ramadan, targeting a minimum of 5,000 families in the three states.
Managing director of Dangote Foundation, Zuwaira Youssofu, assured the IDPs that the foundation would live up to its promise of supporting them and meeting them at their points of needs, just she prayed that their travails would soon be over.
She said: “One of our Foundation’s mission is to relieve the sufferings of people. We identify where the suffering is and move aggressively to the area to ameliorate their sufferings.
“A special victims’ fund has been set up, which we have made a pledge to. Today we are here in the context of Ramadan, just to let the internally displaced ones in Yola know that we remember them, and we are with them throughout this journey.
“We, the Dangote Foundation, are distributing products like Dangote spaghetti, rice, seasoning, salt, sugar and blankets, to bring relief to the sufferings of the people in this IDPs camp. We are in Yola now, but we are targeting a minimum of 5,000 families in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno. We are physically here in Yola to witness the distribution process. We are partnering with Like Minds, an NGO which has volunteered to facilitate the distribution exercise.”
Coordinator of the non-governmental organisation, Like Minds, Fatima Kiyari, praised the Foundation and prayed specially for the chairman of the foundation, Aliko Dangote. “God will bless Aliko Dangote. The number of lives he has been able to touch today is unbelievable, not to talk of other camps we are distributing in, in Yobe and Maiduguri, which are 10 times bigger than the camps here,” she said.
One of the recipients of the relief materials, Malam Ari Gwaza, also lauded the Foundation’s philanthropic gesture and appealed to other prominent Nigerians to emulate the good deeds of Dangote and use their wealth for the poor.
LEADERSHIP recalls that Dangote Foundation recently provided succour to the victims of Nepal’s disastrous earthquake by donating $1million to the government and people of that country.
The amount was in line with its mandate to provide relief in times of disaster, with a message that the chairman of the Foundation, Aliko Dangote, and the people of Nigeria shared in that country’s moment of grief.
The chief executive officer of the Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou, said on behalf of Dangote during the cheque presentation to the prime minister of Nepal, Mr. Sushil Koilara, at Kathmandu, the country’s capital, that the gesture was to support the government’s emergency efforts in providing relief to the victims of the earthquake.
These tragic events were recorded as the worst quakes to hit the Himalayan nation in nearly a century, causing a high number of deaths, injuries and an avalanche at Mt. Everest, the world’s highest mountain.
Over 600,000 homes were reported to have been destroyed in the catastrophe.
In his message to the prime minister, chairman of Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote, conveyed his sympathy to the government and people of Nepal, assuring them of the Foundation’s support in rehabilitating the victims of the unprecedented tragedy.
Dangote said: “We join the rest of the world to express our sympathies over this unfortunate incident. We hope this donation will help alleviate the sufferings of the Nepalese people who have been devastated by the earthquakes.”
Responding to this kind gesture, the prime minister expressed the gratitude of the people and government of Nepal to Aliko Dangote and the Foundation, for their humanitarian support at this difficult moment of his country’s history.
The Dangote Foundation has been touching lives both within and outside the shores of Nigeria since its establishment in 1993, providing opportunities for social and economic transformation through investments and interventions that improve and promote health, education and broaden economic empowerment opportunities.
In September 2010, the Foundation also made a similar donation of $2million, through the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), to assist survivors of the flood that ravaged Pakistan. Through this donation, the Foundation extended its support to more than 325,000 children in need in that country.
Dangote endowed the Foundation with $1.35billion in March 2014 to ensure that the Foundation had secure and steady funding to carry out its mission as it significantly scales up its work both within and outside the shores of the country.

Dangote Explains Why He Wants To Buy Arsenal

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Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has disclosed his reason for seeking to acquire a stake in English Premier League team, Arsenal.

Few weeks ago, Dangote, 58, attracted widespread criticism from various quarters in Nigeria when he re-iterated his interest in acquiring the Premier League team. Many Nigerians called him out, insisting that his money would be better spent by acquiring a local Nigerian football team and promoting the Nigerian Premier League rather than spending on a foreign club.

But speaking to senior Nigerian journalists in Lagos on Saturday, the Nigerian billionaire explained that he is interested in buying the Premier League team to promote Nigeria internationally.

“The issue is that if I buy all the Nigerian clubs, the Nigerian flags will continue to remain here. But buying Arsenal will take the Nigerian flag worldwide. Just like whenever Abramovich is mentioned, the name of his country, Russia comes up. Everyone knows he’s Russian,” Dangote said.

Read More: forbes

A Dollar Would’ve Been Exchanged For N500 Without Subsidy- Dangote

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Media men had a piece of Aliko Dangote last weekend. And when they were done many appreciated why he is one of the richest in the world. In an interactive session with senior editors Dangote discussed state of the nation while explaining some details in his businesses that are geared towards a better life for Nigerians.

On oil subsidy he said,

The issue with subsidy is that government needs to block all loopholes. If there’s no subsidy, it will affect our foreign exchange, we’ll end up buying a dollar at N500, because there’s no VAT on petroleum products. That’s why the import of petroleum products is taking about 30% of our foreign reserve. We just need to make sure that there’s no siphoning of money. The refining business requires volume. If you don’t have a massive volume, there’s no way you’ll make money. Most of the refineries in Africa are running at a big loss. It’s not possible for government officials to successfully manage oil businesses. It’s good enough if they remove the subsidy, but you can check with neighbouring countries like Senegal. If a poor person in Senegal can afford to pay subsidy, why can’t a poor person in Nigeria afford to pay. I think there must be something for the masses, which should be in terms of power, social insurance, good education system, good roads etc.

Read More: vanguardngr

I Don’t Have A House Outside Nigeria- Dangote

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Africa’s richest man and foremost business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that despite his wealth, he has no residential property outside Nigeria. Dangote, whose 2015 net worth was put at $21.6billion, according to Forbes, also revealed how the late Chief M. K. O. Abiola discouraged him from investing in the media.

The business mogul stated this during an interactive meeting with senior media executives in Lagos at the weekend.

He said, “Somebody asked me, how many houses do you have abroad? I said, well, to tell you the good news, I don’t even have a nine-inch block outside Nigeria, and that is the truth; I don’t have a house anywhere abroad.”

Dangote also recalled a meeting with the late Abiola at his Ikeja, Lagos residence where the latter told him about the dangers of mixing media interests with other business interests.

He said, “I went to see Abiola and I said to him, you look a bit worried. And he said he could not sleep because of a publication…How many times will I be chasing reporters and running my business. Let me advise you, don’t go and do this newspaper business.”

Read More: leadership

Arsenal Aside, Aliko Dangote To Also Start Cement Factory In Asia

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Aliko Dangote has expressed his desire to start a Cement empire in faraway Asia. According to the richest man in Africa, the project will commence in 30 months’ time. It has received 90 percent of the regulatory approvals needed to start construction in the south Asian nation.

‘’It’s going to be one of the first factories for us to build outside our comfort zone, outside Africa,’’ Dangote said, during a Tuesday interview at his Lagos office.

Arsenal FC Will Be Mine Soon- Dangote

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Nigerian business magnet, Aliko Dangote, has said that he will soon acquire London based Premiership club, Arsenal FC.

He made this known in an interview with BBC Hausa service on Tuesday.He said he will have enough time and resources to buy the club after he finishes building his refinery in Nigeria. Mr. Dangote first hinted that he would be buying the club last month.

Mr. Dangote is one of the few persons that secured the license to build new private refineries by the Nigerian government. “After we finish building the refinery, I will have ample time and resources to pay what they are asking for,” he told BBC Hausa.

Credit: premiumtimesng

Dangote To Create 200,000 Jobs In Jigawa Before December

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The chairman, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has promised to generate 200,000 jobs in Jigawa State by the end of this year to support the new administration’s drive at economic revival of the state.

Dangote, who disclosed this in Dutse on Tuesday, said preparations for the production of two million tonnes of sugar in Kafin Hausa and Auyo have been concluded.

He said that when fully operational, the projects will provide 200,000 direct jobs and millions of indirect jobs to the teeming youths in the state.

Read More: leadership

Dangote To Supply 24-Hour Power To Lagos

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President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote yesterday said plans have been concluded to construct a gas pipeline to address power supply challenges in Lagos State.

He disclosed this during a courtesy visit to the office of the Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode.

He said; “We also assured him that we are going to do a Gas Pipeline from Bonny (River State) to pass under the sea (to Lagos.) When it is completed, Lagos state will never ever experience blackout. There will be electricity 24 hours a day.”

Addressing newsmen after the meeting with Ambode, Dangote said they also discussed the ongoing construction of the largest fertilizer plant of two to three million tonnes of Uranium and Amonia in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju-Lekki.

Read More: vanguardngr

Photos From Dangote Cement Commissioning in Ethiopia

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Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote yesterday June 4th took a lot of Nigerian businessman and captains of industries to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the commissioning of his Dangote Cement Plant. CBN governor, NSE CEO, former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, billionaire business men Femi Otedola, Jim Ovia and MDs of Access Bank, Zenith Bank and First Bank and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia were all at the event. See the photos below…

Cecil Hammond with CBN governor
Dangote and his guests
Former MD of Access Bank Aig with other guests admiring the plant
MDs of First Bank and Access Bank
Cecil Hammond with ex-governors Donald Duke and Niyi Adebayo
Dangote with NSE CEO
Aliko Dangote giving a speech
Prime Minister of Ethiopia giving a speech

Dangote’s People Rubbish Sylvia Nduka in New Statement

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In Aliko Dangote’s harem, Sylvia who thinks herself a major chick is actually considered a ‘Jumpoff’, apparently.

According to insiders in Dangote’s office, the billionaire is upset because they can’t understand how someone will wake up one morning and cook up marriage stories.

According to Yes International, The alleged romance tale involving Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and ex-beauty queen, Sylvia Nduka has been described by some insiders at the billionaire’s office as both untrue and unfounded.

According to one of them, the story is nothing but ‘arrant nonsense and total falsehood’.
“Nothing like that exists. In fact, if at all it exists, it does in the imagination of whoever cooked up the story. We are still investigating the original source of the mischievous and misleading story and will definitely take it up with them once we are done with that. We shall also issue an official statement, rebutting the cock and bull story.

“We just can’t understand how someone will wake up in the morning and begin to fabricate and spread falsehood aimed at tarnishing someone’s hard-earned reputation. The story is totally false. Totally false”.

Dangote Dumps Sylvia Nduka For Leaking Their Secret Romance

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Internet Users eyes and ears were busy minding their businesses and many were reading the word of God when a strange North East wind from the lucid grapevine blew some hot gist about Sylvia and Dangote over to all of us .

Now  lets start from the very beginning…

Earlier this week, the internet was agog with reports that former beauty queen Sylvia Nduka, was gearing up to get hitched to Africa’s richest man, billionaire Aliko Dangote.

The reports are true as Sylvia was actually a share holder in Dangote’s Harem. She travels to any country in the world on his luxury private jet. Gets pampered in some of the most exotic hotels and locations in the world. pricey designer labels (bags, shoes, clothes), good measures, pressed down, shaken together and running over, was what Dangote poured into her laps and her closet!

When she realized that the hussle was tougher than she thought, She changed her dressing to wearing Hijabs and Burqua even though she hates covering up the Islamic way. But becoming Mrs Dangote no be beans so she embraced hijabs and was seen a few weeks back sweating profusely at a function yet she kept the hussle on all in a bid to con Aliko into dumping others and wifing her up. When that didn’t work, she consulted her beauty queen BFF and the planning went deeper
.

Sensing that the Oshiomhole/Iara wedding would be a good season to pressure Dangote into marriage. The ex beauty queen acting on the catastrophic advice of her friend called Ene, went ahead and leaked the fake news of an impending marriage between them. An act that did not go down well with the very conservative Dangote who allegedly warns members of his harem against publicity. The love struck Sylvia even went further by adding Aliko Dangote’s initials to her Instagram page, calling herself Sylvia Nduka AD.
.

However, she deleted it after news broke about their not-so-secret whirlwind romance and Dangote became angry and would not take her calls.

An anonymous insider added:

“She wanted to be Mrs Dangote so bad and she is willing to do anything but this latest stunt has backfired. Dude wont pick her call but she is trying hard and Very soon he will forgive her because they have something special and she lied to him that she was not behind the leak. The only problem is that she is just a small fish considering the calibre of women who make up the harem. She stands no chance”

Credit – www.Kevindjakporblog.com

Dangote’s Oil Refinery To Run On UOP Technology

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UOP LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Incorporated, on Wednesday said its process technology, catalysts and proprietary equipment would form the basis for Dangote’s refinery, the largest refinery in Africa that is targeted at reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuels and petrochemicals.

Africa’s richest man and President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, had in March announced that his oil refinery would process 650,000 barrels per day of crude, up from the 450,000bpd initially planned.

The completion of the plant, expected to come on stream in 2017, will see Nigeria having the largest refinery in Africa.

Dangote Oil Refining Company selected UOP technology for a world-scale integrated refinery and
petrochemical plant to be built in Lekki, Lagos, said Honeywell in a statement on its website.

Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer with the second largest amount of proven oil reserves on the continent, currently imports most of its refined product requirements due to lack of domestic refining capacity.

The Senior Vice President and General Manager, UOP’s Process, Technology and Equipment business, Pete Piotrowski, was quoted as saying, “UOP has been designing state-of-the-art refineries and petrochemical plants for more than a century; so, we are well-equipped to help Nigeria develop a massive new installation to meet its domestic needs.

“This project will enable Dangote to improve Nigeria’s oil refining capabilities, reduce the country’s dependence on imports, and work to revive and transform the Nigerian economy.”

Dangote Cannot Afford To Buy Arsenal Football Club – Etcetera Writes ..

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You have sold some shares and you’ve got some money to spend. Now you want the ultimate: Your own football club. Hold on there, are you sure? Football clubs are a nightmare to run. In fact, almost two-thirds of premiership clubs have been in receivership at some point. Remember Portsmouth FC ploughed through four owners some seasons back and landed itself a debt of £60m and relegation in the Championship.
Think of Leeds United’s tragicomic collapse; the balls-up at Cambridge United; Rotherham going into receivership in 2006 and 2008; Southampton’s sorry saga. And, of course, Crawley Town getting a winding up order years back. So, what do we know? Don’t buy a football club for the glory. So, before Dangote aspires to join Abrahamovic, Glazers and Al Mansours, he should make sure he
knows his stuff.
But does Dangote know how much these football clubs really cost?
No, he can’t. New UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations already in place, require clubs to balance their income and expenses. Dangote cannot operate under such rules. The premiership is too organised and transparent for any businessman to easily manipulate. The wage structure of footballers is too large for a businessman like Dangote to take on. Let us forget that those goons at Forbes have told us that Dangote is Africa’s richest man. As it stands, he cannot afford the outright purchase of a big football club like Arsenal. It is as simple as that. He will go broke. It is a possibility if we are talking about a club in the coast of West Africa. Dangote has most of his wealth in shares and physical assets and the football business requires liquid cash to sustain. Have we all forgotten that the same Dangote got a 3G licence and sold it to Etisalat? He is a very smart businessman who knows how to pick his areas of investments.
Can he get Bank backing?
Unlikely! No serious private equity firm would get involved with a football club. They are not proper businesses. Too much politics, too many egos. And there’s no proper exit route – the history of football clubs on the stock market is chequered, to say the least. They are rich men’s toys, great for entertaining your mates, and that’s about it. I don’t think Dangote can afford such an expensive toy.
A lot of people think it is relatively easy to make a million pounds by being the owner of a football club. That all you have to do is put in that first two million pounds. But these people should also know that since the English Premier League was formed in 1992, football finances have dried up to the extent that making a million pound profit is no longer a walk in the park. It is also the case that buying a football club is unlikely to yield that much of a return. Despite the significant TV and other commercial revenues, football clubs in England’s top flight still struggle to break even. This is ironic, given the goal of setting up the Premier League was to stabilise club finances.
Is Dangote putting his heart over his head?
Yes I think so. Simon Jordan, in his autobiography, tells the story of how owning a football club can go terribly wrong. Jordan amassed a fortune of £75m in the early days of the mobile phone revolution. In 2000, he paid £10m to take control of South London football team Crystal Palace, becoming the youngest football club chairman at the age of 32. He was warned by many not to do it, but having watched the club since his childhood, he could not resist. Fast-forward 10 years and the club was in administration and Jordan’s personal wealth largely wiped out. It is reported that Roman Abramovich, the Russian owner of Chelsea, has written off more than one billion pounds he ploughed into the club since acquiring it in 2003.
 Catching him up fast is Sheikh Mansour from Abu Dhabi, who has invested close to one billion pounds in Manchester City since 2008. Can Dangote write off such a huge amount of money? It is in fact the amount of money he borrows to invest in businesses. But again, I think Dangote is just trying to hype himself. Most of the serious money flowing into football recently has come from the Middle East. The Qatar Investment Authority (the country’s sovereign wealth fund) bought the French Ligue 1 side Paris St Germain in 2011 and has gone about transforming them in the same way Sheikh Mansour has Manchester City. Forget those guys at Forbes, Dangote is not in the same league as these guys.
The Glazer Family bought Manchester United in 2006, recognising the immense value of its global brand as a cash generator and the opportunities to enhance it even further. The cost of buying the club was loaded on to the club itself, with the revenues it generates used to pay the debt and interest that the Glazers undertook to buy the club. Eventually, the hope is that the club will essentially pay for itself leaving its American owners in possession of a multi-billion pound asset but till date, the Glazers are still gnashing their teeth and are still neck deep in debt. When it was speculated that a Middle East consortium was willing to pay £1.5bn for Arsenal Football Club, it was stated that Stan Kroenke, the American who owns about 63 per cent of the shares in the club, would have made just £400m on his shares. So, given the appalling financial returns, why do people buy football clubs?
Who can buy Arsenal football club?
Anyone can buy Arsenal football club, but that anyone doesn’t include anyone who obtains bank loans to fund a business. Sir John Madejski, chairman of Reading Football Club, describes the ideal football club owner as having deep pockets, mercurial, and not faint-hearted.
It is often mistaken that these clubs go for a quid. For instance, Swansea City was bought by investors for £100, and sold four years later for a £1. But beware: underneath those figures lies a pile of debt.
Does Dangote have the cash, can he do an Abramovich?

Dangote Reveals Plans To Buy Arsenal Football Club

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Respected businessman, Aliko Dangote, has admitted that he is still interested in buying English Premier League team, Arsenal.

Dangote, who is Africa’s richest man, is worth $15.7billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and was rebuffed in his attempts to buy a stake in the club in 2010. “I still hope, one day at the right price, that I’ll buy the team,” Dangote said in an interview on a flight between Addis Ababa and Lagos.

“I might buy it, not at a ridiculous price but a price that the owners won’t want to resist. I know my strategy.”

 If the 58-year-old is successful with a future bid, it would make him the first African owner of a club in England. Billionaires like Roman Abramovich (Russia) and Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan have purchased Chelsea and Manchester City respectively.

Arsenal is currently valued at £988m ($1.49bn) and Stan Kroenke, owner of the National Football League’s St. Louis Rams holds 67% shares in the club. Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri, own 30%. Dangote, who has interests in sugar, flour, cement, oil etc, however, says he is not planning to make a bid soon.

Read More: dailypost

Mu’azu Reports Buhari, APC To Abdulsalami, Dangote, Others For Insulting Jonathan

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National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP pleaded with former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar,retd, former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, retd, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah to ask the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC to stop insulting President Goodluck Jonathan.

Speaking yesterday at PDP National Secretariat, Abuja when members of Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Peace Committee on Election visited him, Muazu told the Committee members that the Presidential candidate of APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, retd and other key stakeholders of the party must stop portraying President Jonathan as a bad product.

Also with Ukiwe during the visit was the Chairman of Dangote group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, among others. Speaking further, Muazu told his visitors that rather than insult and attempt to ridicule President Jonathan, the APC should tell Nigerians what they would do better with their candidate, adding that though it was not the policy of the PDP, but some younger members of the party had no choice than to react in commensurate manner to attacks from the opposition as they were pushed to the wall.

Credit: Vanguard 

Aliko Dangote Drags Zambian Minister To Court For Slander

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Dangote Cement, Zambian subsidiary, has dragged the country’s labour minister to court for libel after the latter accused an executive of the company of attempting to bribe him.

The company and the minister have been on war path after he leveled the allegations against Dangote in September.

Dangote said in papers filed in court that the minister had created an impression that the company was exploiting Zambian workers and enticing government officials with bribes.

“The plaintiff has been brought into public scandal and its reputation has been injured”, Dangote said in a writ of summons dated October 10.

Dangote Industries Zambia (DIZ) has 400 workers building a $400 million cement plant, a staff count that should rise to 2,000 when production starts in November.

During a tour of the plant in Ndola, the minister of labour, Fackson Shamenda, said a Nigerian executive attached to the Zambian unit tried to bribe him at a hotel.