Aliko Dangote, one of Africa’s richest serial entrepreneurs, has called on his fellow business leaders to “take the lead in transforming the continent.”
- •Previously the continent’s richest man, Dangote heads the vast Dangote Group conglomerate, which has interests in cement, trading, rice, and oil refining.
- •The Dangote refinery, with a full capacity of 650, 000 barrels per day, is meant to fulfil Nigeria’s fuel needs but it has faced multiple issues since it begun operations.
- •Dangote’s commercial interests give him an outsized presence in West Africa’s economy, among other regions it is present in.
“With the foremost entrepreneurs on the continent, the leaders of the largest pan-African companies, those at the helm of the most important development institutions in Africa, our brothers and sisters leading global institutions, our leading investors, our pre-eminent civil society activists and a few of our most respected political leaders, this first step will be an opportunity to have a frank and honest dialogue amongst ourselves to consolidate what we see as our common ground,” Dangote said at the recently concluded African Renaissance Retreat in Kigali, Rwanda.
Participants at the retreat also proposed to urge private and public sector leaders to have constant dialogue, urge the ratification of the free movement of people, and convene a top global business leaders of African descent, the Dangote Group said in a statement on Friday. Many longstanding plans crucial to the continent’s economic development have stalled due to multiple reasons, slowing down transcontinental trade and economic cooperation.
Dangote’s conglomerate employs over 50,000 people and generates revenues that the billionaire said should exceed $30bn by the end of next year. In August, South African entrepreneur Johann Rupert (net worth: $14.3bn) overtook Dangote (net worth: $13.4bn) as the continent’s wealthiest man according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Rupert’s company, Richemont, is the maker of luxury brands such as Cartier.