Business
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.
Continue Reading
Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.
Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.
The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.
Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.
“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.
“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”
Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.
In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.
Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.
Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
-
Sports4 days ago
CAFCL : Rivers United Arrives DR Congo
-
Sports4 days ago
FIFA rankings: S’Eagles drop Position, remain sixth in Africa
-
Sports4 days ago
NPFL club name Iorfa new GM
-
Sports4 days ago
NNL abolishes playoffs for NPFL promotion
-
Sports4 days ago
NSF: Early preparations begin for 2026 National Sports Festival
-
Sports4 days ago
Kwara Hopeful To Host Confed Cup in Ilorin
-
Sports4 days ago
RSG Award Renovation Work At Yakubu Gowon Stadium
-
Politics4 days agoRivers Assembly Resumes Sitting After Six-Month Suspension