Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
Foreign investors will find the Nigerian economy attractive for more foreign direct investments if local investors should increase their level of investments according to President/CE Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
Dangote, in an interview with Euroasia Industry a global leading magazine in the construction sector said that instead of seeking for foreign investors, African and Nigerian investors should take the lead by investing in the local economy.
The success of these investments, he opined, would spur foreign investors to come and partake in the success story.
The business mogul has demonstrated his stance with huge investments in all spheres of the economy; the most recent is the launching of the line 3 at Obajana Cement Plant.
Dangote Cement have expansion projects worth about $2.5bn in additional capacity already on stream, with lines 3 and 4 coming on at Ibese and line 4 at Obajana. Work will soon commence on $1 billion 6 million tons cement plant in Calabar, Cross River State.
He said “It is not all about government. What drives foreign investment is local investment. We in the private sector need to do our bit and we need to invest in our economy.”
However, he called on government to fix power issues in the country as to spur local investment. According to him, “Electricity is the most fundamental tool for change. When you look at it, power alone can create a large middle class.GDP will grow by more than nine per cent if the government fixes the power within the next two years.
“You will see many people come out of the poor segment and into the middle class. That’s why I keep saying that, if there is enough power today, you will see 60 per cent of young graduates who are creative go and build businesses of their own,” he added.
To the foreign investors observing the economy from afar, Dangote said “I can assure you that you can make more money in Africa than you can in Asia, and Nigeria is better than any other part of Africa in terms of return on investment. But you have to actually believe in what you are doing and you have to have a strategy for achieving your vision. Once you have this, the sky is the limit.”