Business

Manufacturing is key to economic growth, development- Dangote

Published

6 years ago

August 30, 2018

Dangote Refinery Receives Its Maiden Crude Cargo

Executive Director of the Dangote Group, Hajiya Halima Aliko-Dangote has urged millennials in Nigeria and across Africa to diversify from service-oriented enterprises to manufacturing and agriculture in a bid to fast-track the development of the continent and better life for its nationals.

Halima Dangote said that the economic realities around the world have shown that the way to go is agriculture and that the youths must take the lead more when most African countries are still grappling with low economic growth.

Addressing the 58th Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja yesterday, Hajiya Halima Dangote said African countries have groped in the dark for too long and it is high time the millennials stand up to be counted as the future of the continent.

In her paper titled “Roles of Millennials in Transition and Institution Building”, the Dangote Group Director explained that the youths have the potentials to turn around the fortune of the African continent. She stated that “Millennials are young ones born between 1980 and the mid-2000s, who account for 27% of the global population (about 2 billion people) and Sub-Saharan Africa alone is home to 13% of the entire millennial population, ranking second to Asia.

According to her, “available statistics have also revealed that by 2025, 75% of the global workforce will be millennials, large enough to influence consumer spending patterns; change consumer business models and impact the global economy. Most members of this generation are at the beginning of their careers and so will be an important engine for economic growth in the decades to come.”

Amid intermittent applause from the lawyers, Hajiya Halima Dangote stated that the theme of the conference which is “Transition, Transformation, and Sustainable Institutions” could not have come at a better time than now and therefore lauded the Association for coming up with a subject that Nigeria and Africa needed to discuss.

She congratulated the outgoing President of the NBA, Mr. A. B. Mahmoud OON, the incoming President, Mr. Paul Usoro SAN, and “all my learned friends here for successfully continuing with the vision handed down by the fathers and founders of the Association.”

The Executive Director also urged millennials and other relevant stakeholders to exercise restraint in the face common desperation for wealth by their contemporaries adding that, “Success in entrepreneurship takes time, dedication and hard work. There is a need to disabuse our mind from the concept of overnight success. Industrialisation requires patience and perseverance.”

She also spoke extensively on the successes recorded by the Dangote Group, founded by her father Aliko Dangote, in creating numerous jobs and establishing value-adding industries and contemporary businesses through importation, manufacturing and backward integration to generate and highlight local content for overall development.

While noting that the achievement by the group did not come easy, Hajiya Halima Dangote said “the Millennials should see these opportunities and diversify from service-oriented enterprises to manufacturing enterprises. Manufacturing has the capacity to create numerous jobs, develop an economy, sustain jobs and open other linkages.”

She noted that millennials are leaders in transition and are evolving. To her, “With smartphones and connections, the Millennials can exert much influence and swing the outcome of a situation. This confers on them great role and responsibility in shaping the outcome of policies and politics in a nation”.

“Economic sentiments have turned sharply since 2015. The general consensus across sub-Saharan Africa’s two largest economies is that lack of employment opportunities poses a very big problem amongst other key societal issues identified through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Despite these concerns, there is considerable optimism about the future, and millennials are increasingly getting more active in influencing and energising public opinion through social networks and creating mass movements. They are also actively leveraging digital fluencies to improve public sector accountability; address global societal problems and drive civil society engagement. “, she stated.

According to her, “Dangote Industries Limited is one of Nigeria’s foremost conglomerates with interests in cement, sugar, salt, flour, pasta, noodles, poly products, real estate, agriculture, logistics, telecommunications, steel, oil and gas, and beverages among others. The Group has over 15,000 direct employees. It provides indirect employment to tens of thousands of others who are engaged in activities relating to our businesses. Dangote Cement now has presence in 18 African countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon, Liberia, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Chad, Mali and Niger).”

Speaking at a breakout session of the Conference, the Chief Executive of DAX Consult, Adaku Ufere Awoonor said millennials are the most educated and assertive age group that are currently creating wealth globally pointing out that young people around the world are now influencing outcomes of political activities, while others have risen to position of power and are making meaningful contributions to their societies.

” Millennials are entrepreneurs. If they can’t find job, they create one. They are doers and comfortable using digital media for promoting their causes,” she added.

Another Panelist speaker, Nasir Yammama, who is the CEO of Vordent AgriTech said millennials are extremely innovative, even in the face of limited resources, and challenges posed by social and political environments. He said his company is involved in creating technology that will support the agricultural sector. “We are also working on a craft, we called it “witchcraft” to help solve problems and create jobs, using technology,” he added.

In the same vein, the Managing Director of Mojec Holdings, Chantelle Oluwabumi Abdul said in spite being a young person, her company controls about 80 percent of metering in the power sector in West Africa.

She said young people should look into creating ideas and as well execute the ideas promptly.

“I believe in the Nigerian dream. I believe in africa. Young people now look at creating real wealth in billions and not millions again,” she added.

The sheer size of this demography which is already about half the size of world population and the democratisation of information using technology is a warning sign to future politicians and the future of politics.

“The Nigerian and African Millennials in this context although largely preoccupied with start-ups, business activities and professional success are also intensely politically and socially active through the social media”, Hajiya Halima Dangote added.

“They are thereby gradually influencing the course and content of politics and the flavour of social and political life, and social activism through the broad reach, power and immediacy of the social media. They will eventually have to enter the political arena as potential political and business leaders formed in the digital age.

“To do this, Nigerian and African Millennials must deliberately ground their transformation efforts for national and continental advancement in a deep understanding, respectful and non-abusive appreciation of their cultural heritage”, she added.

Hajiya Halima Dangote also stressed the growing need for strong institutions to manage these developments and transitions, as Africa develops. To her, the continent must transit from having strong persons to strong institutions, strong institutions with effective executive capacity needed for sustainable development.

Related Topics:business coverstory dangote Dangote Cement

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Business

Oil marketers counter Dangote

Published

10 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Sahara Weekly

Oil marketers counter Dangote over allegation of substandard product importation

The Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) has countered the claim by Dangote Refinery that any oil importers landing petrol at a price cheaper than what the refinery is selling are importing substandard products and conniving with international traders to dump low quality products into Nigeria.

The refinery had made the claim on Sunday.

In a statement yesterday, DAPPMAN’s Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, said none of its members was engaging in activities that could shortchange Nigerian fuel users by conniving with anyone to bring in low quality product into the country.

“We’ve said this for the umpteenth time, and it bears repeating, those in the downstream sector business of petroleum products trade are patriotic Nigerians who will not shortchange Nigerian citizens for filthy lucre. Our members are in this business to add value to the businesses of their fellow Nigerians and not to defraud them.

“Prices of products in the international market are dynamic as they’re dictated by prevailing circumstances at every given situation. We calculate our landing costs based on the dynamics of market forces, and the templates are always in the public domain. To claim that if the landing cost of imported product happens to be lower than that of the refinery indicates importation of low quality product is not only preposterous, but also fallacious. In any case, the management of the refinery has, until now, kept its cost and prices close to its chest and put it away from public scrutiny. “

“This type of submission, targeted at projecting our members negatively before the public, cannot help the management’s desire to have oil marketers patronise its products. What will ensure such patronage is transparency, fair play, and readiness to compete with others, including foreign refineries, on an even keel and on a level playing field.”

Adewole said the disclosure by the refinery’s management that the facility has a huge stock of 500 million litres fuel reserve came to its members as news.

“We were surprised because we believe that if the refinery has such huge stock, it’s the marketers that should be put in the know first.

‘Secondly, it was even more surprising given that the news came about the time the refinery was working on rationing what each marketer could pick from the refinery. If they had such huge stock, how is it then that they’re rationing what marketers could buy?

“On all these developments in the industry, the position of our members is very clear: we’ve always played by the rules, and we’ll continue to play by the rules. We’ll not be tired of advocating for a level playing field and a highly competitive and transparent sector that’s devoid of arm twisting and devoid of any form of dominant tendencies,” he said.

Similarly, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) said it had concluded plans to import the best quality petroleum product and sell at far cheaper prices.

The association said it was awaiting the NMDPRA to grant it import licence, saying it “has successfully incorporated a strategic business unit called PETROL.”

Its spokesman, Joseph Obele, said PETROAN had concluded plans with her foreign refinery counterparts and financial partners to import the best quality of PMS and “then sell far less than the present selling rate of PMS in Nigeria.”

He said the allegations that PETROAN would import inferior products and that an international company was trying to establish a PMS blending plant in Lagos “are all strategies for Dangote Refinery to push others out of the market…”

Also, Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, in a statement by its Chief Executive Officer, Bob Dickerman, denied blending substandard petroleum products.

Business

Why Protesters demanded Kyari’s resignation

Published

10 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Sahara Weekly

Why Protesters demanded Kyari’s resignation

Scores of youths stormed the headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on Monday, demanding the immediate resignation of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mele Kyari.

The protesters, led by some Civil Society Organisations, described Kyari’s leadership as incompetent, citing skyrocketing fuel prices, endless fuel queues, and economic hardship in Nigeria.

The protesters carrying placards with different inscriptions such as “we demand the immediate resignation of Kyari”, among others, said the leadership of the NNPCL boss has failed.

The aggrieved youths led by Abdullahi Bilal of the (Two Million Man March Against Oil Scam Cabal) and Barrister Napoleon Otache and Olayemi Isaac from Citizens and Economic Freedom Rights Activists in Nigeria demanded immediate action to address what they described as failed leadership in managing the country’s oil sector.

Central to the protests were grievances over skyrocketing fuel prices and the never-ending queues, which they argued have driven inflation and plunged millions of Nigerians into poverty.

They also decried the importation of adulterated fuel, which they said is a corrupt practice that harms citizens by damaging vehicles and businesses.

They demanded an immediate halt to these imports and accountability for those responsible, questioning how substandard fuel continues to enter the country despite quality control assurances.

Additionally, the group criticized the unfulfilled promise of the Dangote refinery to resolve Nigeria’s fuel crisis, expressing frustration over the billions of dollars spent on refinery development and refurbishing existing facilities.

They argued that despite these investments, fuel shortages persist, leaving Nigeria reliant on costly imports even as an oil-producing nation.

They urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene by overhauling leadership in the oil sector, enforcing greater accountability, and putting citizens’ needs first. The protesters vowed to continue mobilizing until their demands for reform and transparency are met.

Speaking to journalists during the mass demonstration, Abdullahi Bilal said, “The Two Million Man March stands as a united voice for every citizen who has been betrayed by a system that continues to enrich a few at the expense of many.

“Today, we call for the immediate resignation of the current leadership in the country’s oil sector. Their management has failed Nigerians.

“Under their watch, we have seen fuel prices skyrocket without consultation or consideration of the devastating impact on the people. We have endured fuel scarcity while substandard, adulterated fuel is imported, causing further hardship.

“We demand the complete removal of the fraudulent fuel subsidy regime that has only served to enrich a select few. Full deregulation is necessary to introduce transparency, competition, and fairness to our oil sector.”

On their part, Otache and Isaac, insisted, “This act of economic sabotage has led to endless fuel queues, skyrocketing fuel prices, and unprecedented disruptions in the daily lives of Nigerians.

“We demand an immediate end to fuel queues, transparency, and accountability from all involved parties. We want to know how substandard fuel continues to enter the country despite assurances of quality control.”

On July 7, 2019, former President Mohammadu Buhari appointed Kyari as the 19th GMD of NNPC, but with the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act, his current portfolio is without recourse to previous employment ranks in the company.

NNPCL reacts

Reacting, the NNPCL spokesperson, Femi Soneye, said the protestors lack understanding of the sector.

He explained that contrary to their agitation, the GCEO ensured Nigerians had access to fuel at N620 per litre for over a year, even when the landing cost was above N1,100.

Responding via a chat, Soneye said, “Unfortunately, they lack understanding of the sector. If they were informed, they would know that the GCEO is not responsible for the fuel price increase; in fact, he ensured Nigerians had access to fuel at N620 per litre for over a year, even when the landing cost was above N1,100.”

Business

Renewed Hope Agenda and Impacts in Aviation* By Mary Odoma

Published

12 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Sahara Weekly

Renewed Hope Agenda and Impacts in Aviation

By Mary Odoma

President Bola Tinubu’s knack for selecting top talent is unparalleled. In his quest to build a prosperous Nigeria, he’s assembled an exceptional team. By leveraging their expertise, experience, and strategic insight, he’s fostering national stability, economic growth, and a sustainable future.

His latest win is in Aviation and Aerospace Development, where he’s appointed a fearless and straightforward leader, Festus Keyamo, SAN. Keyamo’s commitment to excellence makes him an ideal fit. President Tinubu’s vision for Nigeria is taking shape, and his leadership choices are truly commendable.

A dedicated, charismatic and impactful lawyer, the dynamic and astute developer is a terror to mischief makers and enemies of progress. A tough and forceful personality who is determined with an ultimate goal to change Nigeria.

Appointed on 21st August 2023 as the helmsman of the Ministry, Keyamo has been unwavering in his drive for positive transformation, reforming the sector and bringing about enduring positive impact in a transparent manner.

His Ministry has the core mandate of regulating air travel and aviation services in the country. It is also responsible for overseeing air transportation, air development, maintenance, provision of aviation infrastructural services and other needs.

A very patriotic Nigerian, Chief Festus has several achievements, in line with the Renewed Hope Aviation Roadmap approved by President Tinubu to his credit.

In a steadfast commitment towards revitalizing the nation’s aviation sector, Mr Keyamo was able to ensure the approval of the concession of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano Airports. This is in line with the initiation of the Nigerian Airport Concession Strategy.

Also, in line with the Federal Ministry of Aviation Roadmap, Chief Keyamo initiated the signing of an MoU with the Nile University for the take-off of African Aviation and Aerospace University (AU). This milestone achievement of the Minister aims to integrate and create an avenue for the training, research and development of ready middle-class manpower for the sector.

Equally, under his watch, the pragmatic leader led the Ministry into partnership with the ICRC and also a collaboration with the IFC on infrastructural development. This partnership is to both develop and implement a comprehensive and durable framework that will meet the infrastructural needs of the sector over a long period.

Through Keyamo’s congruence and dynamism, the BASA arrangement is another revolutionary innovation aimed at ensuring the operationalization of direct flights between Nigeria and Brazil.

Keyamo’s motivation and altruistic devotion to having a functional aviation and aerospace sector also moved him to upgrade the Muhammadu Buhari, Airport, Maiduguri to the standard of an international airport. This airport is ready to commence full operation on January 1, 2025

In the area of staff motivation, retirees of the Ministry now have no cause for alarm as their interest is covered. Recently, the Ministry honoured 24 retirees drawn from the lowest rung to the highest. It is in a bid to acknowledge those who have contributed immensely to the growth and development of the sector as Nation-builders.

His prompt response to issues including distress reveals an empathetic personality and someone who is very much alive to his responsibilities. Recently, while reacting to the accident involving a helicopter on the 24th October 2024, Mr Keyamo, immediately upon receiving the distress call, activated protocols aimed at search and rescue operations, mandating all relevant bodies to do everything humanly possible to ensure the safety of the passengers on board the ill-fated vehicle.

The Minister was also actively involved with all the relevant agencies towards ensuring a coordinated response. His active and physical involvement led to the minimization of casualties.

In a show of collaboration and solidarity, the Hon. Minister travelled to far away Marrakesh, Morrocco, to give support to the 2024 International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) congress. His presence was to underpin the importance the federal government attaches to the role of the transport workers in stabilizing the aviation sector.

Festus Keyamo as the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development is certainly the best thing that has happened to the industry. He has exhibited passion, dedication and selfless forthrightness in the discharge of his duties and a total comprehension of what it takes to carry out his roles. He is well-groomed for the job and his background has helped him greatly towards shaping the positive impact he is making on society.

Today, Festus has proved that a faithful, disciplined, and dedicated Nigerian can stand out of the crowd because he symbolizes what governance is all about. These feats can only be achieved by a man with the right comportment and conduct in the service of humanity and the fatherland.

Deserving of note is that Chief Keyamo, through the foresight of President Tinubu has well-prepared team leaders appointed as heads of the agencies of the Ministry.

The supportive and collaborative roles of the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, Nigeria Metrological Agency, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Nigeria Airspace Management, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), have brought about those tangible and noticeable volte-face experienced today in the Aviation sector.

With Keyamo at the helm, Nigeria’s aviation sector is experiencing a transformative shift, thanks to President Tinubu’s foresight in appointing well-prepared team leaders. The Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, Nigeria Metrological Agency, and others are working together to bring about tangible change. Keyamo’s dedication, discipline, and commitment to service have improved Nigeria’s image and reformed the aviation and aerospace sectors.

Odoma is the President of New Nigeria Network [NNN[ writing from Abuja.