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Dangote Blames Unstable Electricity For Poor Industrialisation In Nigeria
The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has said Nigeria’s industrialisation challenges is caused by unstable electricity.
He said running a business abroad is 30 per cent cheaper than running the same business in Nigeria and other African countries due to stable electricity supply in developed countries.
Dangote, who stated this recently while hosting the Zambian Minister of Energy, Makozo Chikote, at the Dangote refinery in Lekki, Lagos State, said the group’s most profitable cement factory is the one in Ethiopia because of its stable power supply.
According to him, he had carried out research before going into industrialisation to ascertain why others who attempted it failed in the past, including his grandfather.
He stated that a major challenge was lack of electricity, saying “If there’s no power, there won’t be growth. For example, anything I’m going to do abroad will cost me maybe 30 per cent cheaper than here, because abroad is plug-and-play. You just go, no infrastructure construction. You just build a factory, and you connect to the network; that’s all.
“That’s why, if you look at it today, I tell you that our most profitable cement factory is in Ethiopia because there’s no investment in power. They gave us power at the same rate for five years. So, we plan, it’s a one-price electricity continuously.”
In Nigeria, Dangote said the group had to invest a lot in generating electricity for the refinery and other factories, saying this does not happen in developed nations.
Aside from electricity, Dangote also blamed inconsistent government policies for Nigeria’s failure to industrialise.
“One of the problems of industrialisation is inconsistencies in government policies, where, just like a footballer, you’re about to score the goal, and the government will remove the goalpost and point behind you that the goalpost is behind.
“So, you have to now turn. Once you turn back, you have a lot of challenges to get to that goalpost again”, he stated.
Dangote, Africa’s richest man, noted that the best way to reduce the inconsistencies is to explain to the government that when industrialisation happens, the government is a major shareholder, especially with the collection of taxes.
“For example, in our cement, every N1 we turn around, 52 kobo go to the government in various taxes—30 per cent corporate tax, 7.5 per value-added tax, two per cent for education, and one per cent,for health.
“When money is being made in the company, if you want to take the money, all the shareholders will have to pay the government 10 per cent as withholding tax again.
“This is for the Federal Government. When you add the state and the local government, everything now is something else”, he stressed.
Noting that if a business shuts down, one of the major losers is the government, Dangote stressed that industrialisation is key to national development.
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The Federal Government has approved a whooping $1bn credit facility to support Nigerian exporters and small scale businesses to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in order to boost production, competitiveness and intra-African trade.
The $1bn AfCFTA Adjustment Fund Credit Facility is also expected to address some of the financing gap being faced by Nigerian exporters and enhance the competitiveness of African businesses within the continental market.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole, disclosed this during the second quarter 2026 meeting of the AfCFTA Central Coordination Committee held in Abuja.
According to a statement issued by the ministry’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Obilor-Duru Okechi, Oduwole said the financing facility represented a major opportunity for Nigerian businesses seeking to expand operations, modernise production processes and increase exports to African markets.
The statement partly read, “?The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to accelerating Nigeria’s export-led growth agenda under the African Continental Free Trade Area, unveiling opportunities for businesses to access a US$1 billion AfCFTA Adjustment Fund Credit Facility aimed at boosting production, competitiveness, and intra-African trade.”
She noted that despite the progress Nigeria had made in implementing the continental trade agreement, many local businesses continued to face obstacles that limited their ability to take advantage of the single African market.
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“Many businesses still face challenges relating to export documentation, certification, standards compliance and market access,” the minister said.
She explained that the Federal Government was addressing these bottlenecks through enhanced trade facilitation measures, simplified AfCFTA guidance tools, stakeholder engagement programmes and stronger collaboration with institutions such as the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council.
Oduwole stressed the need to strengthen Nigeria’s legal and regulatory framework by domesticating key AfCFTA protocols, particularly the Digital Trade Protocol, to position the country as a major player in Africa’s growing digital economy.
The minister also highlighted some of the gains recorded in Nigeria’s AfCFTA implementation efforts.
According to her, the expansion of Nigeria’s Air Cargo Corridor Initiative to Rwanda, increased collaboration with development partners and private sector players, as well as sustained engagement with state governments, were helping to deepen awareness and participation in the continental market.
In her welcome address and first-quarter update, the National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, Mrs Patience Okala, provided details of the financing initiative.
Okala said the $1bn AfCFTA Adjustment Fund Credit Facility was targeted at large African businesses with a minimum financing capacity of $10m.
She revealed that the National AfCFTA Coordination Office was working closely with fund managers to facilitate access for eligible Nigerian companies and had begun assembling a pilot group of businesses to ensure that Nigeria maximised the opportunities provided by the facility.
Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has advised Nigerians against boarding boats that require constant bailing of water in the interest of their safety.
NIWA Area Manager for Cross River and Ebonyi, Mr Stanley Onuoha gave this warning in an interview with Newsmen in Calabar.
Onuoha who spoke on waterway
safety, said that passengers should take responsibility for their safety by inspecting boats before embarking on any journey.
According to him, repeated scooping of water from a boat is a clear indication that the vessel may be leaking.
“If you are entering a boat and see people using a bailer to remove water, it is the first signal that the boat is leaking,” he said.
He urged passengers to check the integrity of boats, including seating arrangements and other visible safety features.
The Manager restated the importance of using safety jackets, saying that damaged jackets may fail during emergencies.
He further said that passengers should ensure that safety jackets were appropriate for their body sizes in order to guarantee effective flotation.
Onuoha reiterated the need for passengers to fill manifests before departure to aid accountability during emergencies.
The NIWA official further advised travellers to monitor weather conditions and avoid boarding boats when the weather is unfavourable.
According to him, poor weather conditions can trigger strong tidal waves capable of affecting small boats commonly used on inland waterways.
He said that waterway journeys should be embarked upon between 6.00a.m and 6.00p.m for clearer visibility.
Onuoha said the Authority had continued to sensitise riverine communities to the need for safety precautions during waterway journeys.
He stated that sustained awareness campaigns and enforcement measures had contributed to safety waterway safety in Cross River.
CHINEDU WOSU