Africa’s wealthiest individual, Aliko Dangote, has scrapped plans to invest in a new steel plant in Nigeria.
This decision comes after the government raised concerns that Dangote’s newly built refinery in the country would give him a monopolistic advantage.
“Our own board has decided that we should not have the steel plant. If we do, we will be called all sorts of names,” the President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group said at a media briefing Saturday at the refinery in Lagos.
Dangote appealed to other wealthy Nigerians to prioritise investing in their homeland, rather than funnelling their resources into international locations such as Dubai.
By doing so, he believes they can contribute significantly to the nation’s economic development and prosperity.
“Let other Nigerians go and do it. We are not the only Nigerians here. There are some Nigerians with more cash than us. They should bring that money from Dubai and other parts of the world and invest in our own country,” he said.
Dangote earlier revealed his company’s plans to venture into steel production, aiming to make Nigeria the primary source of steel for West Africa.
He emphasised his desire to industrialise and advance the continent by processing solid minerals locally, rather than relying on foreign entities to do so.
Dangote stressed that his goal is to ensure that all steel used in West Africa is sourced from Nigeria.
This declaration followed the opening of his refinery project.
Last week, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed said Dangote had requested for total suspension of fuel importation into the country.
Mr Farouk who said this in a video issued by the State House media on Thursday, claimed that Dangote made the request to ensure that all oil marketers in the country would patronise only his refinery for fuel.
He further stated that the agency was unwilling to approve such a request in order to prevent a monopoly and due to concerns about the quality of the oil produced by the Lagos-based refinery.
