Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has travelled to Gabon to honour the invitation of the country’s President to explore investment opportunities in cement and fertiliser manufacturing.
This is coming on the heels of the billionaires dispute with regulatory authorities in Nigeria’s oil sector over supply of crude oil to his 650,000 barrel capacity oil refinery and the quality of products from the company.
In a post on the official X page of the Dangote Group, the company stated that its President and CEO was invited by President Brice Oligui of Gabon to explore investment opportunities in cement and fertiliser production.
The post reads, “President/CE of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, (left) in Gabon on invitation of the President, Brice Oligui Nguema (right) to explore investment opportunities in Cement and Fertiliser (Urea and Phosphate).”
The Dangote Group asides its cement factories in Nigeria also has operational facilities in other African countries such as Cameroon, Congo, South Africa, Tanzania, Sierra-Leone, Ethiopia, Ghana and Zambia.
Also, the Dangote Fertiliser plant located along side the refinery in Lagos and had a capacity to produce 3 million metric tonnes of Urea annually.
Many African countries depend on Europe especially Russia and Ukraine for their fertiliser needs, the disruption of supply chains following the war between both counties further exacerbated the food security crisis across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Food insecurity in Africa is further compounded by the low yield per hectare for major crops across the continent due to the limited application of fertilisers.
In 2020, the continent’s usage of synthetic fertilizer, was approximately 26 kilograms per hectare of cropland according to a report from data world. This amount is only about one-fifth of the European Union’s average of 135 kilograms per hectare, roughly one-sixth of the 150 kilograms per hectare used in North and South America, and just one-seventh of the 187 kilograms per hectare applied in Asia.
In the past few months, the Dangote Group have been engaged in a row with Nigeria authorities and International Oil Companies (IOCs) over supply of crude oil to the refinery and the quality of its products especially the Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) diesel.
This came to a climax last week when the Chief Executive of the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) alleged that the diesel quality from the Dangote refinery is below quality and further accused the group of seeking to monopolise the energy sector in the country.
However, the Chairman of the group, Aliko Dangote has rejected the accusation and further dropped plans of the company to invest in the country’s steel sector noting that they might be accused of monopoly in the future.
