- Safiu Kehinde
Nigerian billionaire businessman and CEO of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has harped on the need for entrepreneurs to invest more in Nigeria and Africa at large.
Dangote made the call while speaking at the 2025 Imo State Economic Summit in Owerri on Thursday.
The Africa’s richest man explained that foreign investors get attracted to invest in a country through the presence of domestic investors in such country.
“One advice that I have is that most of our own entrepreneurs please invest at home. What attracts some of us is the good governance, rule of law, good policies that the government has actually put down right there. And you can see that there is actually nothing that is impossible.
“So, our job is to keep investing at home. If we don’t invest at home, there is nobody on earth that will come and invest here. What attracts foreign investor is the domestic investor. And that’s what we are doing.” He said.
Citing his planned expansion of the Dangote Refinery as an example, the businessman maintained that Africa has a lot of potentials especially with its mineral resources.
The continent according to him accounts for about 30 percent of the world’s minerals.
He however reiterated domestic investment as the only driving factor that can attract foreign investors into to the continent.
“It’s just like what I said yesterday. I was being interviewed by CNN, and they asked me ‘you have actually been investing, why did you announce to double up your refinery to make it the largest refinery in the world by doubling already what you have which is 650,000?
“I said ‘I don’t have anywhere to go and invest but at home. When I say at home, I mean Nigeria and Africa.’
“There are so many potentials that we have, mineral resources. You heard that Africa actually has about 30 percent of the world’s minerals.
“So, there are a lot of people that are fighting, trying to get these minerals. If now we don’t lead the way in footing this investment, who do we expect to come and invest?
“We can never ever really convince anybody to come and invest in our continent. We must be the ones that will lead, and we are taking that leadership to make sure that people do come here and invest heavily. To create prosperity, we must do that.” Dangote added.