Africa’s richest man and Chairman, Dangote Group,
Mr. Aliko Dangote, says 98 per cent of all dairy
products consumed in the country are imported.
He said that the nation was at the risk of hunger in
the next few years if the mass food importation
was not checked.
Dangote made this assertion in lagos on Monday
while addressing some students of the Executive
MBA class of the Lagos Business School who
visited the Dangote Petrochemical Refinery.
He said, “Ninety-eight per cent of all the milk and
dairy products we consume in Nigeria are imported.
“This is why Dangote Group has planned to develop
dairy plants, and develop homegrown milk
production, to reduce importation.
“By 2020, it is estimated that the Nigerian
population would have risen to between 207 million
and 210 million. If we do not make efforts to grow
and process our own foods, God forbid, we will go
hungry.
“We have been in talks with the Central Bank of
Nigeria on ways we can add value to our local
produce, and we have marked massive dairy
production for the next three years.
“We cannot solve all Nigeria’s problems, but at
least we can embrace and add value to areas where
we have comparative advantage.”
He said that Dangote Group was the most
capitalised company on the stock exchange, with
investments which include six ongoing projects that
would create not less than 250,000 jobs across the
nation.
He said that the refinery, which primarily majored in
gas plants, petrochemicals and fertilizer production,
could generate an annual foreign exchange savings
and earnings of $15bn dollars.
He said it would also generate up to 1500 direct
jobs and 15,000 indirect jobs in support services
and logistics, which would also include up to
22,000 housing facilities.
Dangote also said that the East West Onshore Gas
Gathering Section pipeline of the refinery was a
$3bn investment specially dedicated to generate
12,000 mega watts of power for industries.
He urged the students and other potential
entrepreneurs to endeavour to venture into
businesses that they are familiar with.
No comments:
Post a Comment