Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote says he will go into steel production in the near future, with West Africa as his target market.
The plan, according to him, is to ensure that every steel used in West Africa comes from Nigeria.
He made this known in an interview at the ongoing Afreximbank Afro-Caribbean Trade & Investment Forum in Nassau, The Bahamas.
Dangote said now that the refinery project was almost done, his next venture would be steel manufacturing.
Nigeria has significant amounts of iron-ore deposit, particularly in states like Kogi.
According to the National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency (NSRMEA), total steel consumption in the country averages around 10 million metric tonnes of which 70 per cent is imported. Nigeria is reported to spend around $4 billion on steel imports annually, despite having around 74 steel plants and fabricators across the country.
Dangote also advised African leaders to take agriculture and solid mineral development seriously lamenting the fact that food imports cost the continent dearly by increasing unemployment and poverty.
“I don’t like people coming to take our solid minerals to process and bring the finished product. We should try and industrialise our continent and take it to the next level.”
“I told somebody we are not going to take any break. What we are trying to do is to make sure at least in West Africa, we want to make sure that every single steel that we use will come from Nigeria.”
