The President of Dangote Group, Mr. Aliko Dangote, had on Friday stated the willingness of his company to increase its investment in Nigeria.
He remarked this on the scheduled visit of some States’ governors to the sites of the Dangote Refinery, Petrochemicals and Fertiliser projects at Ibeju Lekki, Lagos.
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) members who visited the site included: Governors Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State; Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State; Godwin Obaseki, Edo State; Dapo Abiodun, Ogun State; and Simon Lalong, Plateau State, Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia State; Bala Mohammed, Bauchi State; Abdulrahman Abdulrazak, Kwara State; Babagana Zulum, Borno State; Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna State; and Ivara Esu, Deputy Governor of Cross Rivers State.
Dangote in an elated mood, thanked the governors for the visit to the facilities and assured them that the group would continue to invest in Nigeria to be productive and create jobs.
“We will continue to make sure that we are the ones that will lead and others will follow. We want to bring all our monies to Nigeria and invest where we belong to,” he remarked.
However, Dangote beckoned on the governors to focus more on the areas of health, education and capital development, adding that these sectors should be part of their key responsibilities to their people.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum and Governor of Ekiti, Mr. Kayode Fayemi, described the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals sited in Lagos as a pride to Nigeria and Africa.
Fayemi was impressed and expressed his heartfelt gratitude over the huge $12 billion project which he stated would contribute immensely to Africa’s economy and increased food security when fully operational.
The NGF Chairman called on the Governors to continue to create an enabling environment through right incentives, policies, provision of infrastructures needed to attract investors to their states.
The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu commended Dangote for such a strategic investment in the State, adding that his government would support and provide the necessary assistance needed for completion of the project.
Mr Devakumar Edwin, Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects and Portfolio Development, Dangote Group, said all the States would benefit from the three million Metric Tonnes Per Annum fertiliser plant because it would improve the agricultural sector.
Edwin noted that the 650,000-barrels-per-day refinery could meet 100 per cent of the Nigerian requirement of all liquid petroleum products and would have surplus for export.
“The refinery project will create 1,600 permanent jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs. It will save Nigeria over $7.5 billion annually through import substitution, ” he added.
