By Ray Echebiri
Certainly, Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa and the world’s wealthiest black individual, embodies both entrepreneurial success and philanthropic spirits. A peep into Dangote’s remarkable business journey eloquently attests that he is a different kind of capitalist, a capitalist who is probably more interested in the impact that he makes on society -immediate and beyond – than profit maximization. Hear him: “Our priority is to deliver positive impact on the economy”. And he is doing just that. About 52 per cent of every N1 his conglomerate turns around is paid as tax to government, and the group generates about N900 million daily in Value Added Tax (VAT). And for some years now, Dangote Group has been ranked astop tax payer to government. Dangote Group is also the largest private employer of labour in the country. The group is also contributing immensely in reducing the infrastructure deficit in the country. Currently, the group is building 10 major roads across the country.
Dangote’s business empire, the Dangote Group, is a successful conglomerate with investments across various sectors, including oil and gas, consumer goods, agriculture, and manufacturing. The key member-companies of the Dangote Group are Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Salt (NASCON), Dangote Rice, Dangote Fertilizer and Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals.
One of the things that makes Dangote a different kind of capitalist is that he ensures that the wealth he creates is well-distributed among the people. One of the ways he has achieved this is by quoting his companies on the stock exchange. With this, the profits that the companies make are distributed to the millions of shareholders of these companies in Nigeria and in different parts of the world as dividend.
Dangote Cement was listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) in October 2010, and as at August 2014, it accounted for 20 per cent of the total market capitalisation of the NGX.Dangote Sugar Refinery has been listed on the NGX since March 8, 2007. Until when it was sold to Olam, an agribusiness conglomerate, Dangote Flour was also listed on the Nigerian Exchange. Dangote Salt (NASCON) is also quoted on the NGX and has been paying dividend to its shareholders over the years. But for SEC’s (Securities and Exchange Commission) non-approval of its application, Dangote Rice would have been quoted on the NGX by now. Dangote had last year applied to the SEC to combine its food businesses – Sugar, Salt and Rice – and list them as Dangote Foods, but the apex capital market regulator turned down the application on the grounds that Dangote Rice was not fully operational. It is therefore expected that Dangote Rice will be brought to the stock market before long because it is starting full operations soon. Dangote is not going to pocket the money made by Dangote Fertilizer and Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals all alone. To ensure that the money made by these companies goes round, he will be bringing them to the stock market for listing in the first quarter of 2025. With this, many Nigerians will become part-owners of these companies and will benefit directly from the money they make by way of dividend.
Another thing that sets Dangote apart is his commitment to philanthropy. In 1994, he established the Dangote Foundation, which later became the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) in 2018. The foundation focuses on addressing childhood malnutrition, which is a key problem in Nigeria and in the whole of Africa. Also, Dangote collaborates with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to combat polio in Africa. This effort has resulted in a drastic reduction in the incidence of polio in many parts of Africa and total eradication of the health challenge in other parts of the continent.
Theindustrial marvel, Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals,the largest industrial project in Africa, is taking Aliko Dangote’s impact on the economy and his philanthropic endeavours to an entirely different level. The multidimensional 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) crude oil refinery which is located in Dangote Industries Free Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, at the waterfront part of Lagos, Nigeria, superjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, and covering an area of approximately 2,635 hectares, is designed to process large variety of crudes including many of the African crudes, some of the Middle Eastern crudes and the United States Light Tight Oil. The refinery can meet 100 per cent of Nigeria’s requirement of all liquid petroleum products (Gasoline, Diesel, Kerosene and Aviation fuel) and also have surplus of each of these products for export. Nothing compares to the impact that this project will make on Nigeria and Nigerians, given that it will bring to an end the perennial shortage of petroleum products in the country. When the refinery becomes fully operational, it will guarantee regular and adequate supply of especially premium motor spirit(popularly known as petrol), and possibly at a reasonable price.
Beyond guaranteeing adequate and regular supply of petroleum products, Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals will create sustainable jobs, especially for the youth in the country. One remarkable thing about Dangote Refinery is that it is employing mostly young people. A recent facility tour of the refinery revealed that most of the engineers in the employ of the company are very young, but quite knowledgeable.
Generally, Dangote Refinery is going to generate huge employment for the country. There is expected to be over 100,000 indirect employments at retail outlets with ease of availability of product which will help open up service stations and with expected 16,000 trucks for transport that will create additional jobs. Over 30,000 people are working at the refinery project site through various contractors with temporary housing units on the premises that can house 33,000 persons. When fully operational, the refinery is going to generate over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs for Nigerian youths. The refinery has already trained over 400 artisans selected from host communities in the areas of Masonry, Carpentry, AC Electricals, Plumbing, Welding, Iron-bending and Auto Mechanics in collaboration with the Nigerian Directorate of Employment and Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board. This flows into manpower development and training of 900 young engineers in refinery operations outside the country. Part of this includes another six Mechanical Engineers trained in the GE University in Italy,and 50 Process Engineers trained by Honeywell/UOP for six months; 50 Management Trainees; secondment for succession.
Community Development Programmes
Dangote Refinery is the company to beat in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). One of the lasting values of therefinery is its absolute commitment to the development and welfare of its host community of Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos State. This commitment involves striving to make a huge difference in the social lives of the host communities through investments that simultaneously provide lasting community benefits and direct business value.The refinery has put in place mobile clinics in collaboration with the local government council for free consultation, diagnosis, and provision of drugs for ailments like malaria, fever, etc. It runs other health programmes such as eye treatment and health awareness campaigns. As part of its corporate social responsibility, the refinery runs a micro credit scheme which provides credits to members of its host community who desire to venture into business.
In the area of education, the refinery has a robust educational development programme which includes award of scholarships to meritorious candidates and building of schools in which children of its host community can enroll and get the best of teaching in a convivial atmosphere. What is more, the refinery has an enviable youth empowerment and vocational training programme, including enhancement of infrastructure in host community primary schools involving building of computer training centre for indigenous youth. The youth empowerment programme also includes development and training of youth entrepreneurs in partnership with the Lagos State government and Siemens in the skills development of the local community for employment at the construction site.
Environmental Protection Programmes
Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals embraces the entire ecosystem of health, safety and environment for its operations. It maintains high standards for all its business practices, valuing health, safety, environment and rights of its employees, complying with all applicable local and international laws, and being a committed partner to host communities, governments and also environment-friendly. All units and utilities of the refinery conform to world-class safety standards and codes such as API, AFPM, etc.
The environmental-friendly operations of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals include air emission control measures. Units are designed to meet EU and USEPA Standards with ambient air quality monitoring stations and mobile monitoring stations. This also includes waste water treatment and reuse. Liquid effluent streams generated within the refinery are treated in a central effluent treatment plant. Part of the treated effluent is reused for DM water generation/fresh water makeup within the refinery. This central effluent treatment plant comprises OWS/Process Effluent Chain, Contaminated Rain Water Treatment Chain, Sanitary Effluent Treatment Chain and Spent Caustic Treatment Chain.
Dangote Refinery came from the background of an environment that has hitherto been untouched by human activities as 70 per cent of the site was hitherto swampy, necessitating reclamation. The reclamation process involved 65 million cubic metres of sand filling costing approximately 300 million Euros, elevating the height by 1.5 metres to insure against any potential impact of increase in mean sea level due to global warming.
Clearly, Aliko Dangote emphasizes social impact and sustainable development. He exemplifies both business acumen and humanitarian commitment, making him a humane capitalist who is leaving a lasting legacy in Africa and beyond by solving Africa’s key problems, creating jobs and making real impact on the African continent.
- Ray Echebiri, PhD, is the CEO of Centre for Financial Journalism and Editor-in-Chief of NextMoney