Dangote urges African countries to eliminate trade barriers

The President of Dangote Group, Mr. Aliko Dangote, has urged African countries to dismantle all barriers hindering free trade among them to achieve sustainable growth and development across the continent.

Dangote gave the advice at the launch of a special publication, The World Ahead 2023, by The Economist, a media outfit, according to a statement on Monday in Lagos.

The statement was issued by Mr. Anthony Chiejina, the Group Chief Corporate Communications and Branding Officer of Dangote Group.

Dangote, represented at the launch by the Group Executive Director, Dangote Industries Ltd., Dr. Adenike Fajemirokun, expressed the commitment of the pan-African conglomerate to tackling some economic challenges faced by the continent.

He said that, to realize the goal, the organization had committed over 20 billion dollars to investments in several key sectors of the African economy.

The massive investments, he said, were meant to turn around Africa’s economic fortunes in its quest for sustained economic growth through free trade and economic integration.

“Our massive investments of over 20 billion dollars are across key industries, including energy, agriculture, and infrastructure.

“Our recently-commissioned three million metric tons of fertilizer plant, expansions in cement production, and the 650,000 bpd world’s largest single-train refinery are all set to empower farmers and foster integration.

“These investments would create thousands of jobs, eliminate our dependence on imported products, and improve our nation’s foreign exchange earnings significantly,” he said.

Dangote also said that the conglomerate was confronting environmental issues through investment in alternative fuels as well as unlocking enormous opportunities in the communities where it operated.

Dangote said that issues being faced globally, such as rising energy costs, inflation, and food insecurity, called for an objective rethink.

He said that the issues vastly affected policy execution and the ease of doing business in more vulnerable economies.

According to him, overarching conversationsat global or regional levels must be refocused toward exploring the specifics of the fast-changing world.

He praised The Economist for its launch, describing it as a rich body of work that offered useful data for all sectors to draw insights from.

In his remarks, Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Hazmat Obafemi, described the publication as a valuable document for policymakers and strategic planners.

Obafemi said that its contents reaffirmed part of the strategies that the Lagos State Government executed to make the state the preferred destination for investors.

“Lagos is Africa’s fastest-growing economy, and a key policy of the state government is to improve its investment profile by providing an enabling environment.

“The state has invested billions of Naira in infrastructure and technology, and the Lekki Deep Seaport is one of the enablers that made Lagos attract 60 percent of the foreign direct investment into Nigeria,” he said.