… Warns African investors risk missing the continent’s industrial boom
By Mary Onyia
Africa’s richest man and President of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, warned the continent’s wealthy individuals and institutional investors that they risk becoming mere spectators in Africa’s emerging industrial revolution unless they shift more investment from overseas markets to productive enterprises at home.
He cautioned that unless indigenous investors demonstrate greater commitment in their own economies, the prosperity of the industrial landscape could increasingly benefit foreign capital at the expense of local wealth creators.
Dangote gave the admonition during a conversation with the Financial Times in London, where he outlined his ambition to expand the group’s industrial investments across Africa.
He said the continent needed a stronger commitment from its own investors to finance businesses capable of transforming its economies, arguing that African capital should play a greater role in building globally competitive companies.
Dangote decried the gap between Africa’s investment potential and the willingness of its own investors to commit capital to businesses operating on the continent, describing what he sees as a weakness in Africa’s approach to financing its development.
“We are doing it in reverse, where we take our own money to their banks, strengthen their banks, and we don’t really keep our money on our own continent”, he said.
He noted that the challenge is not simply attracting foreign investment but ensuring that African investors participate in the businesses being built around them.
He argued that local capital should help establish industries, create jobs and retain a greater share of the value generated from the continent’s resources.
He also raised questions about the role of African capital markets in financing large businesses. Stock exchanges across the continent provide a channel through which companies can raise equity from investors, while allowing individuals and institutions to share in their growth.
Dangote argued that African businesses should be willing to list on the continent rather than look first to foreign markets for public capital.
Such an approach, he believes, would give African investors greater access to major companies while helping businesses mobilise funds for expansion.
The industrialist’s intervention comes against the backdrop of Africa’s enormous infrastructure financing requirements, dependence on imported manufactured goods and persistent difficulties confronting indigenous businesses seeking long-term investment capital.
His own multibillion-dollar refinery and petrochemical investments in Nigeria offer a practical illustration of the scale of industrial development possible through sustained private-sector commitment.
Dangote’s warning brings into sharp focus one of Africa’s enduring economic contradictions: a continent desperately seeking foreign direct investment to finance its industrialisation while substantial private African wealth continues to seek opportunities in developed economies.