1st July, 2013
Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has called on indigenous and foreign investors to invest more in the economy of Nigeria, revealing that Nigeria is the best place to have good returns on investment.
Speaking recently when a group of entrepreneurs visited him in his office in Lagos, Dangote assured them and other Nigerians of economic revival, stating that the current challenges facing the country will soon be a thing of the past.
“We need not be discouraged by various challenges facing us as a nation, they are necessary steps needed for the nation to rank among the best industrially in years to come,” said Dangote.
He noted that the situation in Nigeria is such that all must ensure the dream of Nigeria’s economic turn-around becomes a reality.
The business mogul therefore urged that local investors should complement the efforts of the Federal Government at ensuring the success of the economic agenda by engaging in manufacturing as one of the means of empowering Nigerians through job creation.
He then advised them to take advantage of abundant opportunities in the country to invest in employment-generating businesses to empower Nigerians.
Dangote assured that his group is already walking the talk and promised that he would do all within his power to ensure that any investment he makes is job creation focused. He urged other investors to do same for the nation to be where it ought to be in 2020.
To buttress his position, Dangote referred to a report published last August by the renowned Global Consulting firm, McKinsey, on the economic potentials in Nigeria and a host of other African countries.
Said he: “The McKinsey Report is very instructive, it says that half of the 30 million jobs in African manufacturing, offer wage paying employment, a higher share than most sectors. If current projections for manufacturing value-added growth hold, it is estimated that that the sector will create eight million more stable jobs by 2020.”
Dangote, who is a member of the National Economic Management Team, stated that what Nigerians need most presently is economic empowerment and that it is only a working population, whether self-employed or engaged could be economically empowered.
“Economic development of the country rests more on the shoulders of the private sector operators. Government strategic role is to ensure conducive environment by putting in place right policies that will encourage setting up of businesses,” Dangote explained.
He noted that it was only through the active involvement of the private sector that the areas of infrastructure deficit could be tracked and tackled by government, adding that all countries of the world whose economy have made appreciable impact on the citizenry have done so through manufacturing.
He however appealed to all Nigerians to contribute their own quota by always doing what is right and adequately paying their taxes for the country to experience real growth and development.
—Funsho Arogundade