Nigerian business mogul Aliko Dangote has announced the sudden halt of plans to invest in a new steel plant, citing concerns over accusations of monopoly. This comes just days before the scheduled launch of his massive oil refinery project in Lagos.
Dangote, Africa’s richest man, addressed journalists at the refinery on Saturday, explaining the board’s decision.
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“Actually, our own board has decided that we shouldn’t do the steel because if we do the steel business, we will be called all sorts of names like monopoly. And then also, imports will be encouraged. So we don’t want to go into that,” he said.
Dangote, however, urged other Nigerians to invest in the industry to help boost the country’s economy.
“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 fatherland,” the CEO added.
On June 13, Dangote said he would go into steel production shortly, with West Africa as his target market like Andrew Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in history.
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Nigeria has significant amounts of iron-ore deposits, particularly in states like Kogi.
Nigeria spends around $4 billion on steel imports annually, despite having around 74 steel plants and fabricators across the country, according to findings by BusinessDay.
