Feature/OPED
Dangote, the Congo Plant and the Imperative of African Industrialization
By Ehiedu Iweriebor
The Dangote Group of Nigeria, one of the pre-eminent industrial conglomerates in Africa, in pursuit of its pan-African development and emancipation strategy, on November 23, 2017 formally launched its newest economic development industrial project, the Dangote Cement plant in Mfila, in Congo-Brazzaville.
With this $300 million, 1.5 million metric tonne per annum plant, the Group now has a presence in ten of the 17 countries in which it plans to construct and expand cement plans.
While it had to re-calibrate the pace and timing of its earlier ambitious plans to complete its various planned plants at an earlier date, because of the economic down turn in Nigeria from 2014, the completion of the Congo plant indicates that the Group’s Pan-African cement plant’s expansion and new plants’ construction programme is still very much on course even though the pace of completion is now staggered over a longer time frame.
This new plant, as an industrial project will have direct and indirect benefits in Congo-Brazzaville that domestic resource-based industrial projects plants usually generate. It is expected to provide at least 1,000 direct jobs and numerous other employment opportunities that will be stimulated by its presence.
For example, other sectors that will be stimulated include the following: expansion of local civil and housing construction projects by state and private builders; expansion of cement block makers; the establishment of a transportation fleet for the distribution of the cement and the employment of drivers, conductors and mechanics for the trucks; the expanded use of fuel; the emergence of small and medium scale cement distributors and even big distribution companies and workers and new sale stores; banks, food suppliers and sellers of small dry goods and items.
In short, the impact of this plant will be the progressive creation of new economic activities and employment opportunities. From these new economic activities the Congolese state, the local government and community authorities will derive Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) that did not previously exist.
The various speeches at the launching of the Congo-Brazzaville plant highlighted the economic development significance and prospective impact of this this massive industrial project. President Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville, noted that the plant was the biggest industrial plant in the country and the investment represented an industrial revolution within the regional group – Economic Community of Central African States.
He noted that from their assessment of the impact of Dangote cement plants in other countries, they had always stimulated multiplier effects through the promotion of complementary and cognate industries and hoped that similar multiple direct and indirect effects will happen in the country.
He also noted the timeliness of the take-off of the plant as a contributor to state revenues at a time when his government’s revenues had precipitously declined by 31.3 percent and oil sector revenues had also declined by 65.1 due to the fall in oil prices.
Clearly, the Congo-Brazzaville government appreciates the investment, presence and impact of the Dangote cement plant.
In his own address, the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, affirmed that Aliko Dangote and the Dangote Group by their pan-African investments had emerged as “worthy Ambassadors” of the country.
He highlighted the various areas in which the Dangote Group had through its massive investments in the cement sector changed the course of Nigeria’s economic history. These include the provision of a key material for infrastructure development, the introduction of road construction with cement, the pursuit of expansion through backward integration and import substitution and the achievement of national self-sufficiency in cement availability and the contributions to savings of over $2 billion annually from the termination of dependency through importation.
Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, in his address, articulated the significance of the plant in terms of timely completion, its contribution of widespread availability of affordable cement, the plant’s contribution to the country’s expanded cement production capacity in excess of current demand and the consequence of reducing dependency on cement importation. He also noted that the plant will contribute to the country’s economic renaissance through foreign exchange conservation, employment generation, infrastructure expansion and multiple economic activities.
Dangote graciously and gratefully highlighted the strong and dedicated support provided by the government and people of Congo-Brazzaville from project’s conception to completion. Partly in pursuit of the Group’s philosophy and strategy of Corporate Social Responsibility, the Group was implementing several social projects including school construction, provision of scholarships, renovation of a hospital, road construction and bridge renovation. It also affirmed its company’s policy and commitment to give priority in employment to indigenes of the area of the plant’s location.
The various addresses highlighted the great economic impact of the Dangote’s chosen investments in cement production. But they did not often directly and fully underscore the actual primary sources of its revolutionary impact as a specific type of non-dependent industrial project with its inherent catalytic consequences. That is that they are resource-based industrial plants whose productions are based on the exploitation and processing of a local resource.
In short, the reasons for the great impact of these projects is that unlike the more common, attractive and lucrative arenas of foreign direct investment (FDI) such as extractive, wasting and non-development sectors like mineral and mining sectors and enclave assembly plant industries that are unconnected to the local economic environment, Dangote chose a different trajectory.
The Dangote Group’s choice of resource-based industrialization based on a comprehensive backward integration strategy as the primary pathway and its contribution to African self-actuated and self-directed economic development, prosperity generation, transformation and emancipation is developmentally apt, strategic and fecund.
This can best be understood within the perspective of Africa’s greatest failure in the post-independence era: economic development. This has been due to the failure to create and apply an autonomous economic philosophy and strategy of self-actuated development based on the well-established principles of endogenous technology capacitation and industrialization.
On the contrary, African states and leaders at independence chose the maintenance of the inherited colonial economy, and in the neo-colonial framework of the times, the focus became the expansion of the production and export of raw materials: agricultural and mineral; the mass importation of consumer goods, intermediate goods and capital goods. This entailed the corresponding non-domestication of the historically established levers of development levers: the productive forces – technology and industrialization and equally importantly the ideological premise of development: the psychologically disposition, political will and activated self-agency for self-actuated and self-reliant development that is imperative to any successful development.
The result of this failure of the inherited and non-development neo-colonial economic system and strategy has been the condition of growth without development characterized by the persistence of underdevelopment, expanded dependency and poverty generation. The fact is that no African state since independence from the 1950s has been able to establish and sustain a philosophy, policy and strategy of self-actuated development and secure domestic prosperity generation.
This economic development failure was aggravated by the largely successful recolonization of African economic development objectives, policies, strategies and programmes in the 1980s through the acceptance, imposition and implementation of the Multilateral imperialist agencies – World Bank and International Monetary Fund(IMF) – non-development dogmas embodied in their Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) by the African leadership and states. Based on the unproven and unvarying dogmas called conditionalities: currency devaluation, trade liberalization, removal of subsidies, deregulation and privatization, they were not intended in any way to address the core causes of the balance of payments crisis of African economies of the late 1970s and early 1980s, that is African countries development incapacitation, raw material exports, dependency, mass importation, non-industrialization, under-production and poverty generation.
It was the African leaders’ inability or unwillingness to identify and address these fundamental issues and their preference for pre-packaged supposedly neutral external “expert technical” solutions that led them as supplicants to these neo-imperialist agencies.
The substantive objective of these imperialist agencies was to forcefully return the incrementally economically self-directed African states back into the conditions economic colonialism with its exclusive focus on primary commodities (raw materials) production and export and dependency on importation of all manufactured goods.
Furthermore, the World Bank and IMF also wanted to effect the removal of African states’ as promoters and activators of economic and social development especially freedom conferring industrialization through the cession of development responsibility by privatization to the undeveloped and dependent local capitalist groups; but more consequentially to foreigners through the fetish of foreign Direct Investments (FDI) as the new promoters of African “economic development.”
But the FDI fetish is a dangerously misleading dogma of non-development: it misdirects, misrepresents and disarms societies and leaderships from ownership and responsibility for the philosophy, objectives and strategies for their own societies’ development.
The ability of external forces to inflict these damaging, disruptive and painful consequences of neo-colonial economic failure and their expression in persistent underdevelopment, dependency, underproduction, poverty, beggarliness, humiliation and indignity on Africans, has been possible due to active and direct complicity of much of African leaderships’ and elite who were successfully programmed to marginalize African agency and responsibility for its own development. These African elite enthroned and accepted foreign diktat, policies and programmes as inescapable for African development.
Yet, this situation of the subservience and servility of the psychologically programmed African leadership, elite, intelligentsia has not been uniformly one-dimensional.
Not all African leaderships, elite, intelligentsia, business people, bureaucrats and technocrats have supinely conceded to Africa’s surrender, submission and acquiescence to conditions permanent underdevelopment and cession of self-responsibility for development to others.
Some among these were patriotic elite and leaderships who came to the ineluctable and correct conclusion that Africa can only enter into the state of freedom, dignified existence and a prosperous world by the pro-active choice and creation of its own philosophy and strategy of self-actuated development.
This new development strategy will comprise the assumption of responsibility; the centrality of African agency; technological capacitation; modernization of all productive forces including agriculture and mineral production but above all the relentless pursuit of mass industrialization and mass production as the indisputable pathway and proven expressions of societal self-modernization in the contemporary world.
In the African business world today, it can be said without equivocation that Dangote and the Dangote Group has been and is in the vanguard of the promotion African self-development through resource based development capacitation; backward integration and genuine import substitution; radical reduction of import dependency for consumer goods and industrial inputs; mass industrialization, mass production and in-country and incontinent prosperity generation.
The expansive range of the industrial products of the Dangote Group beyond cement; and including food and agro industry: sugar, salt, tomato, rice, pasta, milk, flour; poly products and heavy industry like motor vehicles, coal mining and processing, refined petroleum, fertilizer and petrochemicals all attest to the promoter and Group’s understanding of the centrality of industrialization to genuine economic diversification and successful societal development and advancement.
The opening of the Congo cement plant within the Dangote Group’s pan-African industrial development strategy and its multiplier effects, creation of diverse employment opportunities and in-country prosperity generation, all attests to the Group’s contribution economic development and empowerment, and re-dignifying of Africans through the single-minded commitment to economic advancement through industrialization.
What is now required of African states, leaderships, technocratic and bureaucratic elite and business leaders and intelligentsia is following Dangote’s example, to prioritize technological capacitation and industrialization as the indisputable foundations and pathways for the project of Africa’s self-conceived, self-directed, self-funded and self-actuated and non-dependent programme of radical economic transformation and renaissance in the modern era. Only liberated African peoples, states and leaders can create this made in Africa – Africa by Africans for Africans and the world.
Ehiedu Iweriebor is a Professor, Department of Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies, Hunter College, City University of New York, USA.
By Kehinde Ogundare
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionising industries globally, and Nigeria is no exception to this trend. Businesses in Nigeria are increasingly exploring AI-driven automation to enhance efficiency, drive innovation, and remain competitive. However, AI adoption remains relatively low, as many businesses struggle to identify practical use cases that deliver measurable ROI.
A key emerging trend addressing this challenge is Agentic AI–a more advanced form of AI that enables businesses to create autonomous digital agents capable of handling complex tasks, optimising workflows, and improving decision-making. Unlike traditional AI models that react to user inputs, Agentic AI proactively learns, makes decisions, and automates entire processes, making it a game-changer for businesses looking to scale productivity.
The Rise of Agentic AI in Business
Globally, AI adoption has grown, but many businesses still hesitate due to concerns over cost, implementation complexity, and lack of clear ROI. According to McKinsey & Company, organisations that have successfully integrated AI-driven automation report efficiency improvements ranging from 20–30%. The key to unlocking AI’s full potential lies in specialised AI models designed for specific business functions–precisely where Agentic AI excels.
For example, in customer service, AI-powered agents can automate repetitive tasks, resolve issues faster, and enhance customer satisfaction. Studies have shown that nearly 88% of Nigerian consumers consider customer experience critical to their purchasing decisions. Agentic AI can help businesses meet these expectations by providing instant, personalised support.
In sales, AI-driven Sales Development Representative (SDR) Agent can analyse customer interactions, identify sales opportunities, and suggest targeted outreach strategies. Research highlights that businesses using AI in sales automation experience increase conversion rates and higher sales productivity.
Similarly, Human Resources (HR) operations are being transformed by AI-powered automation. Tasks such as leave management, employee onboarding, and performance tracking can be effectively handled by Agentic AI, allowing HR professionals to focus on strategic employment engagement. Deloitte indicates that AI-powered HR automation reduces administrative workload significantly, enhancing employee satisfaction and operational efficiency.
In IT operations, AI-powered Help Desk Agents streamline troubleshooting, diagnose issues, and execute quick fixes. This reduces downtime and significantly improves operational continuity and productivity.
How Zoho is Innovating with Agentic AI
At Zoho, we recognise the potential of Agentic AI and have developed Zia Agents for specific use cases within various products. Unlike generic AI models, Zia Agents provide contextual intelligence, real-time decision-making, and deep business-specific insights. Additionally, Zoho ensures that Zia agents operate within a secure infrastructure, fully compliant with various global privacy regulations, making it a trusted solution for businesses handling sensitive data.
We have also launched Agent Studio, an AI-powered platform that enables our customers, partners, and independent developers to create specialised agents for their specific needs. These can be hosted on Agent Marketplace, where they can be monetised. Nigerian businesses can utilise Agent Studio to build hyperlocal agents for various industries.
The Future of Business with Agentic AI
The shift towards Agentic AI is inevitable as businesses increasingly seek smarter, more autonomous systems to drive efficiency and growth. Organisations that embrace AI-driven today will be better positioned to compete in Nigeria’s evolving digital economy.
For Nigerian businesses looking to scale efficiently, Agentic AI offers a practical and results driven approach to automation. By leveraging Zoho’s Zia Agents, companies can achieve higher productivity, ensuring long-term success in a competitive marketplace.
Kehinde Ogundare is the Country Head for Zoho Nigeria
By Timi Olubiyi, PhD
Internet users are growing at an unprecedented rate, and in Nigeria, for instance, internet users have expressed concerns and frustration over the data price increase in recent times, with many feeling its negative impact on their budgets and mobile smartphone usage.
Major networks such as MTN, Airtel, and Glo have seen a close to 50 per cent increase in Nigerian mobile data prices, with no known alternative available. This shows the significance of data and internet usage, highlighting its role in the digital age and the rapid growth of data and content creation across Africa.
From mobile phone data and e-commerce activities to social media interactions and government services, vast amounts of information are being created daily, which is accessible through internet usage.
The economic and technological landscape of Africa has been undergoing significant evolution recently. The continent is inhabited by over 1.4 billion individuals, and a larger portion of them create, use, and feed on data— which is a digital transformation.
The convergence of rising mobile phone usage, enhanced internet accessibility, and a youthful, technologically adept demographic has positioned Africa at the forefront of global discussions around technology innovation and data generation.
Recently, the phrase “data is the new oil” has gained significant traction in discussions related to technology, business, and the digital economy. But it is public knowledge that when it comes to oil, its availability is limited to certain areas of the world.
On the other hand, tech giants like Google, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple control most of the world’s data.
According to a study by Sandvine in 2021, these companies are responsible for about 57 per cent of global data flow, and they have all commodified data. The huge amount of data controlled by these mega-companies is bigger than most small businesses and corporations. But, anyway, this would be another story piece for another time.
In the view of the author, if we want to know if data is really the “new oil”, we need to first look at how it builds value. Data by itself is not useful, just like in the case of oil. Raw data, without any processing or analysis, is merely a collection of information that requires interpretation.
For instance, an online store might keep track of what customers do, like what links they click on, how long they stay on product pages, and what they bought in the past.
However, this data remains mostly useless until it undergoes processing, analysis, and transformation into actionable ideas. Business managers in Africa should follow this path and should adhere to a mindset of ‘facts superiority over opinion’.
As businesses expand, an increasing number of individuals express ideas regarding the actions to be undertaken. However, it is beneficial to employ a data-insight mentality. All company metrics can be tested, measured and improved upon.
It is important to note that business owners/managers must have real-time access to the most important data in their business. Understanding which Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) affect revenue and profit is significantly more crucial than the revenue and profit figures themselves.
When data is cleaned up and analysed, it becomes really useful. Similar to refining oil to produce petrol, diesel, and other products, processing data yields beneficial outcomes. This is where Google and Facebook shine. They have put a lot of money into technologies like machine learning and big data analytics that can turn huge amounts of raw data into personalised ads, recommendation engines, and models that can predict the future. In this way, they make money for both their users and their owners.
In Africa, the idea of “data as the new oil” is particularly appealing because it could help the continent skip ahead in the normal stages of economic growth. Mobile phones let African countries get around the need for landline infrastructure.
Similarly, data technologies could help African economies get past older, resource-heavy ways of growing, leading to new ideas and long-term growth in fresh ways. In agriculture, for instance, data analytics and satellite imaging can help farmers figure out how the weather will behave, get the most out of their crops, and make harvest supply lines work better. Data-driven solutions in healthcare, like electronic health records (EHRs) and predictive analytics, can help find diseases, control outbreaks, and make healthcare better.
In the same way, data-driven education platforms can give students personalised learning experiences and give teachers and managers useful information about how students are doing and what they need. More so, businesses could be data-driven by setting up special internal research units on data, where insights can be generated to improve on decision-making.
Looking ahead, there are evident similarities between data and oil; much like crude oil, data is valuable. Data is not a naturally occurring resource like oil; it is a by-product of human activity. Oil is a limited resource, whereas data is plentiful and perpetually increasing. Raw data must be processed and analysed to derive significant insights and facilitate informed decision-making.
This is where artificial intelligence (AI) is relevant. AI acts as the ultimate data refinery, enabling the conversion of extensive information into meaningful insights. In contrast to oil, which is extracted and processed by a limited number of firms, data is more extensively disseminated, including various stakeholders in its collection, analysis, and utilisation.
Anticipating the future, data will probably witness ongoing advancements in many domains because it is a strategic asset for business and economic growth. With it, people, organisations, and governments can make better decisions. Good luck!
How may you obtain advice or further information on the article?
Dr Timi Olubiyi is an entrepreneurship and business management expert with a PhD in Business Administration from Babcock University, Nigeria. He is a prolific investment coach, author, seasoned scholar, chartered member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI), and a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-registered capital market operator. He can be reached on the Twitter handle @drtimiolubiyi and via email: drtimiolubiyi@gmail.com, for any questions, reactions, and comments.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, Dr Timi Olubiyi, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of others.
By Kenechukwu Aguolu
As the year 2027 draws closer, political manoeuvrings and calculations are already underway across Nigeria. The landscape is expected to shift, with new alliances and coalitions forming among political actors and parties. However, in my view, the chances of the current administration retaining power in 2027 remain high, and several compelling reasons support this assertion.
First and foremost, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party currently in power, stands as the most formidable political force in the country. The APC boasts an unrivalled structure, a stable leadership, and the highest membership among all political parties. With the largest number of serving governors and National Assembly members, the party is firmly entrenched in all corners of the nation. These factors alone give the APC a significant advantage as it gears up for the 2027 presidential elections.
Under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, the current administration has displayed a deep sense of patriotism and a clear vision for Nigeria’s future. While the reforms introduced by the government came with initial challenges, these difficulties are gradually easing, and the results are becoming increasingly evident. Prices of goods and services are steadily dropping, and the Naira is beginning to show signs of recovery.
The government’s efforts to diversify the economy are also bearing fruit, with initiatives such as the revival of the Ajaokuta Steel Company and ongoing reforms in the mining sector. By 2027, the dividends of these economic reforms will be more apparent, and the public will be able to feel their positive impact. These successes will work in the administration’s favour and could solidify the APC’s hold on power.
Infrastructure and security have been at the forefront of the government’s priorities. Significant improvements in power generation have already been made, and efforts to tackle insecurity have begun to show positive results, albeit gradually. Furthermore, the government is investing heavily in road construction, including vital projects like the Lagos-Calabar Expressway.
These infrastructural developments are not just for show—they will stimulate economic activities across the country, create jobs, and enhance the living standards of Nigerians. If these trends continue, it will be hard for any political opponent to deny the progress made under the current administration.
Perhaps the most critical factor in the APC’s favour is the leadership of President Tinubu himself. With his personality, widespread followership, and experience, he stands as a political giant in Nigeria. His leadership has been marked by a strong sense of purpose and determination, and his vast network of supporters spans across different regions of the country.
While some may argue that time will tell who will emerge as a viable challenger to President Tinubu, it’s difficult to imagine any politician currently being touted as a credible candidate who could match his national appeal and charisma. The nature of Nigerian politics means that any potential challenger would need to command significant nationwide support to pose a real threat to the APC’s grip on power.
Looking ahead to the 2027 presidential election, I believe it will be much easier for President Tinubu to secure re-election than it was in 2023. His leadership performance, coupled with the robust support of the APC, places him in a strong position for victory. While unforeseen events may shape the political landscape over the next few years, the factors already in play suggest that the current administration is well-positioned to retain power.
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