By Abubakar Yunusa
Africa’s foremost industrialist and President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has disclosed plans to invest more than $10bn in the power sector across Africa.
Dangote made the disclosure during an interview with Al Jazeera on Monday.
The billionaire industrialist said the investment was part of efforts to drive economic growth and transform the continent’s power sector.
He said the group was also focused on bringing more people into business while strengthening corporate governance.
“It’s about getting more people in the business. It’s also about corporate governance.
“So that’s the direction and that’s what we are looking for,” Dangote said.
The industrialist said he expected significant changes across Africa within the next three to four years.
“And I’m telling you, in the next three, four years, there will be a major transformation in Africa,” he said.
Dangote said the power sector would be central to the transformation.
“That’s why we’re looking at power, for example,” he stated.
Asked about the scale of the planned investment, Dangote said the group was prepared to commit more than $10bn to electricity generation and related investments.
“We want to invest over, like, ten billion dollars alone in power,” he said.
He explained that some businesses under consideration could be cancelled so that funds could be redirected into the power sector.
“Actually, there is one or two businesses that we might cancel, and we will put in the money,” he said.
Dangote expressed concern over the number of Africans without access to electricity.
“It is something that we Africans should not really allow — over 600 million of our people to remain in darkness,” he said.
The industrialist also linked reliable electricity to economic development and governance.
He argued that political leaders who deliver dependable electricity would have less need to rely on campaign promises during re-election bids.
“So power is key. We will never ever create growth without power,” Dangote said.
“When I say power, I mean electricity is growth.”
Dangote identified the power deficit as one of the major challenges confronting Africa’s economic development.
He said addressing the electricity gap would be critical to unlocking sustained growth and driving the continent’s transformation.
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