Dangote to build Africa's largest fertiliser plant

The plant is due to be completed by 2014 and may enable Nigeria to become self-sufficient in fertiliser production

Dangote to build Africa’s largest fertiliser plant

Nigeria’s Dangote Group has announced plans to build the largest fertiliser plant in Africa in an effort to aid the country’s agriculture industry and to cut down on food shortages.

The plant, which is scheduled to come into operation by 2014, will be located in Edo state in the south of Nigeria and will be constructed by Italian firm Saipem.

Aliko Dangote, who heads up the company and is said to be Africa’s richest man, said Nigeria will no longer have to import fertiliser and may eventually be able to export its own products across the continent.

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“There is no reason why Nigeria should be importing fertiliser,” he said. “I am happy that with this agreement, by the time our plant is completed and commissioned, the country will become self-sufficient in fertiliser production and even have the capacity to export the products to other African countries.”

Benjamin Odoemena, the Nigerian programme officer for the International Fund for Agricultural Development, was optimistic about the move. “Whatever happens here will have a multiplier effect on the rest of Africa,” he said. “Once there is food sufficiency in Nigeria, other African countries, including the famine-ravaged Horn of Africa, will benefit.”

The Dangote Group is the largest industrial conglomerate in West Africa and has been successful in cement, flour and sugar production. The fertiliser plant is set to employ around 7,000 people.

At present, the Nigerian government earns two-thirds of its revenue and over 90 percent of export earnings from the oil industry. However, 70 percent of the country’s workforce is employed in the agriculture industry.

Dangote donates N100m to flood victims

IKEJA- Governor Babatunde Fashola, SAN, Tuesday, received a cheque donation of N100 million from Dangote Group for victims of the July 10 flooding in Lagos with its Group Chairman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, urging residents to pay their taxes to the government regularly.

Dangote, who spoke before he handed over the cheque to Gov. Fashola at Lagos House, Marina, in company of members of his management team, said his organisation was always willing to pay its taxes because the manifestations of good governance in the state is evident for all to see.

He said: “With 10 or 12 of you as governors working so hard, Nigeria will change for the better. We are happy with you and always happy to pay our taxes because we are seeing it work and not embezzled.

Fashola thanked the Dangote for the kind words he had for the administration and the generous donation.

Fashola explained that against the backdrop of global warming and climate change disasters are bound to happen but that government must be prepared to reduce the human impact and human inconvenience that comes with it.

“A lot of Governors are copying what you are doing. The job of Government is to facilitate, it has no factories, what they have is taxes. People have to pay taxes so that government can build what it promised the larger society”, Alhaji Dangote said.

The Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) in his response explained that against the backdrop of global warming and climate change disasters are bound to happen but that government must be prepared to reduce the human impact and human inconvenience that comes with it.

He gave a commitment that government will continue to share information with members of the public so that the more the people become aware about the dangers they themselves inadvertently contribute in terms of how they dispose their refuse, “I think sooner or later we will be able to live through this rather challenging weather condition without too much human impact”.

He explained that at the State’s Resettlement Centre put in place after the last flood of last year, the children in the centre were able to continue their education while the adults went to work and the hospital located within the centre ran for over a year.

Governor Fashola added that it may be difficult to expect that Lagos may never experience the kind of rainfall that it witnessed on July 10 again because globally the society has taken too much from nature which has made the damage irreversible.

“The damage has been done already, what we can do is now is to develop strategies to adapt and mitigate damage. Tomorrow (Wednesday), we will host a conference of African Mayors to discuss mitigation and adaptation strategies for the impact of global warming and climate change.

“All over the world, nature is reacting. We are having extreme weather conditions. Those in arid areas, the desert are facing acute drought. Famine in Somalia and Kenya is as a result of that. Unusual earthquakes are also being experienced in Asia. Even Washington suffered a mild earthquake recently.

“Australia and Pakistan people are affected. Lagos got its own dose of the rainfall just as Ibadan did. Europe is going into winter which may be a very bad winter. As managers of the city, our responsibility is to share knowledge with our people to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

“In this part of the coastal region, we will see extreme rainfall. Since July 10, we have not had rainfall. What should have happened over three months happened in one day”, the Governor reiterated.

He said government on its own is building more storm drain channels and ensuring that as it approaches the dry season, it will progress more rapidly with the civil work necessary to actualise the plan.

Governor Fashola informed that the State has also reordered its budget to allow the Ministry of Environment to respond to the weather conditions more effectively, adding that government is also planning to construct a new resettlement centre in Alimosho in addition to the one in Epe.

“We have also paid money on compassionate ground to people whose houses are close to the canal whom we have to relocate so that they can get money to rent new apartments and get on with their lives”.

The Lagos State Governor who also thanked the Dangote Group chairman for the kind words he had for the present administration also expressed appreciation for the generous and public spirited nature of Alhaji Aliko Dangote and the Dangote Group.

“I want to commend it to the generality of Nigerians that the strength of our nation lies in the ability to demonstrate the willingness to give a little more back to the society, to plough back, help those who are vulnerable, weak and infirm. Their prosperity will be our prosperity”, the Governor noted.

Alhaji Aliko Dangote who said the Dangote Group is making the donation in response to a clarion call by the administration for people to assist it also called on well meaning Nigerians both individuals and Corporate organisations to partner with the government to ensure that the government succeeds.

Governor Fashola was joined in receiving the Dangote Group by some members of the State Executive Council including the Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr Wale Ahmed, Commissioner for Finance, Mr Tokunboh Abiru, the Special Adviser on Environment, Dr Taofeek Folami and the General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr Femi Oke- Osanyintolu while Alhaji Dangote was accompanied by his top management staffers.

Africa’s richest man goes green

Africa’s richest man wants to build the continent’s largest fertiliser plant and help put a dent in food shortages.

The project, by Nigerian Aliko Dangote, is set to start production in three years, and may also serve as an example of how Nigeria can put its often-squandered natural resources to good use. The country is the continent’s largest oil producer with massive untapped gas reserves.

Of course, the Nigeria-based Dangote Group, headed by Mr Dangote, once referred by Forbes as Africa’s richest man, stands to rake in yet another small fortune along the way.

The company’s fertiliser factory will be located in the south of Nigeria in Edo state and will be built by Italian firm Saipem. The cost has not been made public.

It would employ some 7,000 people, directly and indirectly, according to Dangote, and allow Nigeria to stop importing fertiliser and use its wealth of natural gas reserves as part of the manufacturing process.

The plant would also produce enough to export, the company says, while describing it as Africa’s biggest.

“There is no reason why Nigeria should be importing fertiliser,” Mr Dangote said in a statement.

“When our plant is completed, the country will become self-sufficient in fertiliser production and even have some for export to other African countries.”

The Nigerian programme officer for the International Fund for Agricultural Development, a UN agency, welcomed the plan.

“Whatever happens here will have a multiplier effect on the rest of Africa,” said Mr Benjamin Odoemena. “Once there is food sufficiency in Nigeria, other African countries, including the famine-ravaged Horn of Africa, will benefit,” he said. (AFP)

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