By Adedapo Adesanya
The president of Dangote Group, Mr Aliko Dangote, has called on African business leaders to take the lead in transforming the continent.
According to a statement, the billionaire mogul made this stance while speaking at the just concluded African Renaissance Retreat held in Kigali, Rwanda.
Mr Dangote pointed out that despite significant challenges besetting Africa, its youthful population and abundant resources, including about 30 per cent of the world’s mineral reserves and the largest reserves of gold, cobalt, uranium, platinum, and diamonds, offer opportunities for substantial and inclusive growth.
The retreat was a high-level gathering to discuss issues and align development with the foremost entrepreneurs on the continent and the leaders of the largest pan-African companies including President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and former Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn among others.
Mr Dangote, who initiated the retreat, noted that he had long contemplated bringing together a group of dedicated African business leaders to address the continent’s challenges, identify concrete solutions, and showcase Africa as a viable investment destination despite its obstacles.
“We have 65 per cent of the world’s arable land and 10 per cent of the planet’s internal renewable freshwater sources. Together, these present a myriad of opportunities for robust, inclusive growth that harness our abundant human potential and natural resources to increase prosperity, not just in Africa but across the globe,” he said.
Mr Dangote added that Africa is at a crucial inflexion point, with the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population, rapidly expanding cities, and a growing embrace of innovation and new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence.
He noted that despite dealing with multiple barriers such as visas, inconsistent change in government policies, inadequate technical talent, lack of critical infrastructure, foreign exchange crises, inflation, cost of capital and other conflicts of differing dimensions, the Dangote Group has expanded from Nigeria to 14 countries across the continent, spanning multiple sectors from cement to fertilizers, sugar to oil refineries, petrochemicals, agriculture and more.
“The good news is that despite these challenges, we have succeeded in building a pan-African Group that employs over 50,000 people and generates revenues that should exceed $30 billion by the end of 2025,” he said.
He emphasized that the objective of the retreat was to offer an opportunity for collective action in tackling various issues, including persistent conflicts, energy and food security, supply chain disruptions, the debt crisis, and access to long-term concessional funding for development.
“We are coming together not just as leaders in our respective institutions but as visionaries and catalysts for transforming our societies. It is our collective responsibility to play our role in transforming our continent. Nobody will do it for us but us – especially us in this room,” he noted.
He also cautioned that it is crucial for the leaders present to move beyond dialogue to decisive implementation and tangible impact.
Other participants at the retreat, which took place from September 6 to 8, included Ms Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations; Mr Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank; former Liberian President, Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; Mr Adebayo Ogunlesi, Chairperson of Global Infrastructure Partners; former Ethiopian Prime Minister, Mr Hailemariam Dessalegn, Mrs Samaila Zubairu of the African Finance Corporation, Mr Makhtar Diop of IFC, and Mr Jeremy Awori, CEO of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated.
