Success Nwogu and Regina Otokpa 
…boosts SMEs with power facility in Kogi
The Founder and President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said his investments in oil and gas sector, cement, and sugar productions has gulped over $25 billion in Nigeria in the in the last seven years.
He stated that the investments were meant to boost confidence in others that it is possible to invest in Nigeria and, by extension, Africa.
He spoke on the sidelines of the recently concluded 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 79) in the U.S, according to reports yesterday. While noting that there were a few challenges on the continent, he stated that there was nothing that cannot be solved.
Dangote said: “In areas of our own investment, we’ve invested heavily in the last couple of years in oil and gas, which we spent —between the refinery, cement, sugar backward integration—in seven years we have actually over $25 billion.
“Why are we doing that? We are doing that to show confidence. If we don’t really move by investing in our continent, it will be very difficult for other people to come in and invest.
“We need to tell them that there are quite a lot of things happening in Africa and the sky is the limit. Yes of course, there are some few issues here and there, but those issues are solvable.”
Africa’s richest man said that his dream is to make Africa self-sufficient and reduce the continent’s reliance on imported goods and services.
He said it was important to massively create jobs for Africa’s growing youth population through substantial investments across various sectors. Speaking on the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, he opined that a complete transition from oil would take a considerable amount of time to achieve.
He said that while the transition to renewable energy is inevitable, the current challenges required Africa to meet its electricity and energy needs through resources like natural gas and coal.
He also noted that the continent was facing many challenges such as fuel scarcity and lack of electricity. He called for the adoption of urgent, pragmatic and effective strategies to address these challenges.
He said: “Transitioning doesn’t happen in one day. It will happen over a period of time. If we are going to move from where we are straight into renewable energy, we will die.
“Right now, we have 600 million Africans without electricity. We have natural gas, coal and other things. What we do is that we have to do both at the same time.
Finding a replacement for oil will take a long time. Do you know what you can produce from oil? You produce over 6,800 items from oil. “We need to address those issues.
Right now, we are having several issues. We don’t have fuel. If we don’t have fuel, what do you do? We are transitioning from fossil fuel to compressed natural gas.”
Meanwhile, Dangote Cement Plc, Obajana Plant, has handed over a 33 KV public electricity power line and transformer to Jakura Marble Industry Ltd (JMIL) in Kogi State to boost Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).
Speaking at the handing over ceremony, Plant Director, Obajana, Azad Nawabuddin, said the project involved extending high-tension power lines from Oyo community, over 5 km, to JMIL’s facility, where the power was stepped down through an installed transformer.
