The President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has warned the Federal Government that Nigeria will be the loser in the controversy involving it and Alhaji Aliko Dangote and his refinery.
Business mogul Femi Otedola on his X carried Adesina’s warning on Tuesday.
The former Minister of Agriculture said FG’s criticism would discourage foreign investors from coming to Nigeria
Adesina, who dismissed the labelling of Dangote as a monopoly of the country’s manufacturing sector, said he was shocked over the controversy, adding that it was creating bad waves for Nigeria globally.
The statement read in part, “Monopoly often exists where there are high barriers to entry or high capital costs. How many individuals or companies can do railways? How many can do refineries of the scale of Dangote Refineries? In a nation that has been importing refined petroleum products for several decades, the abnormal simply became very normal.
“No smart investor would make a $19.5 billion investment and want it to be undermined by importers. To manufacture is extremely expensive and risky. This is even more so in Nigeria, given the very challenging business and economic environment, fraught with policy uncertainties and policy reversals, and where the self-defeating default mode of ‘simply import it’ is always so easily rationalized and chorused to solve any problem.
“…This whole disparaging of Dangote is uncalled for. It is self-defeating. And it is very bad for Nigeria. Who will want to come and invest in a country that disparages and undermines its own largest investor? Investing is tough. Pettiness is easy. It sadly sends a signal that the price for sacrificing for
A disagreement has been raging between Dangote and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) as well as Nigerian petroleum regulatory authorities over the alleged substandard quality of diesel produced by Dangote Refinery, among other issues.
