Help government diversify economy, Dangote tells local investors

… urges Nigerians to have faith in nation’s economy

Nigerian and international business people have been urged to lead in the task of diversification of the Nigerian economy as the only viable option to the current economic quagmire, as the economy comes under pressure due to scarcity of funds occasioned by the fall in crude oil prices.

Aliko Dangote, president, Dangote Group, made this call in Lagos while addressing some business executives on the new initiatives of his pan- African conglomerate.

Dangote said it had become apparent that Nigeria needed to move away from a monolithic economy that thrived only on trading of oil and gas, and urged private investors to rise up to the challenges by initiating fresh investments in manufacturing and agriculture.

Dangote, who lamented the over-dependence on oil to the detriment of other viable sectors, said that the situation in Nigeria, where states could not meet their obligations to pay salaries and the Federal Government not having enough to meet its needs, called for concerted efforts that will move the economy away from its present one sector dominance to other areas like agriculture, mining and manufacturing.

According to him, his Group, apart from building a refinery and a petrochemical company, is also into fertilizer plant construction to help in agric sector while on the other hand, it has also invested heavily in rice cultivation.

All these ventures are capital intensive but with prospects for massive job opportunities, which Nigeria needs at this time, he said, saying Nigerians should see the current challenges being faced by the country as a passing phase that could make the country to be more economically stronger in the future.

“I have always said it that Nigeria is a good place to investment. God has given us in Nigeria what many other countries don’t have and they keep searching for it. We have got fertile land for agriculture, we have the minerals resources and we have oil. All we need to do is to harness them for our our good.

“The present challenges we are facing should not deter us from going our economy. It shouldn’t stop us from investing. It’s just a passing phases. Other countries whom referred to as developed started from somewhere. They all experienced some of these challenges in the past. So, I want us to see these challenges as obstacles towards attaining greatness,” he said.

He told the business executives that it was for this reasons that he had continued investing in Nigeria’s economy because “if Nigerians do not investing their country, other people would not come. They will want to see our success story before they can come.”