| Dangote |
Africa’s richest man, Aliko
Dangote, has stated that the challenge of electricity was adversely affecting
the growth of the continent’s economy.
Speaking at the Africa CEO
forum in Abidjan, the President of Dangote group also disclosed what has made
his conglomerate successful.
“Where I come from, which is
Kano in Nigeria, we have over 20 million people and we are sharing 35 megawatts
only,” Dangote said.
“So when we started business as
a group, we said that we would not go into the national grid. Every single
country that we are operating in, we would create, generate our own power and
that is why we have been very, very successful.”
In his remark, President of the
African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, said Africa must seek ways to light
up the continent.
“If you walk in the dark,
you’ll stumble and you will fall. But if you walk in the light, you will
constantly see thing ahead of you,” he said.
“The problem is, in Africa, you
have today 645 million people without electricity. You have the GDP in which
the cost of not having electricity is about four to five percent shaved off.
“We cannot be competitive when
it comes to value adding. We cannot industrialise because we have no
electricity. The kids cannot go to school because we have no electricity.
“Vaccines can’t be in hospitals
because we have no electricity, and business are operating at very high cost,
using diesel. In other words, what is the emergency power supply system has
become the normal power supply system – no way!
“And as Africa Development
Bank, I know that the very blood of Africa’s transmission and life is what we
do.”
Nigeria’s electricity
generation currently fluctuates around 4,000MW, a meagre capacity for a country
of over 170million.
Africa’s richest man, Aliko
Dangote, has stated that the challenge of electricity was adversely affecting
the growth of the continent’s economy.
Speaking at the Africa CEO
forum in Abidjan, the President of Dangote group also disclosed what has made
his conglomerate successful.
“Where I come from, which is
Kano in Nigeria, we have over 20 million people and we are sharing 35 megawatts
only,” Dangote said.
“So when we started business as
a group, we said that we would not go into the national grid. Every single
country that we are operating in, we would create, generate our own power and
that is why we have been very, very successful.”
In his remark, President of the
African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, said Africa must seek ways to light
up the continent.
“If you walk in the dark,
you’ll stumble and you will fall. But if you walk in the light, you will
constantly see thing ahead of you,” he said.
“The problem is, in Africa, you
have today 645 million people without electricity. You have the GDP in which
the cost of not having electricity is about four to five percent shaved off.
“We cannot be competitive when
it comes to value adding. We cannot industrialise because we have no
electricity. The kids cannot go to school because we have no electricity.
“Vaccines can’t be in hospitals
because we have no electricity, and business are operating at very high cost,
using diesel. In other words, what is the emergency power supply system has
become the normal power supply system – no way!
“And as Africa Development
Bank, I know that the very blood of Africa’s transmission and life is what we
do.”
Nigeria’s electricity
generation currently fluctuates around 4,000 MW, a meagre capacity for a country
of over 170 million.