… Calls For Stronger Institutions, Industrial Policies To Unlock Continent’s Potential
AFRICA‘s ambition to become global industrial powerhouse hinges on its ability to mobilise long-term financing, deliver reliable electricity and adopt policies that turn its vast natural resources into manufactured products, President/Chief Executive, Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has declared.
Dangote, who has outlined a $50 billion investment programme for 2026 to 2030, said the continent must build stronger financial institutions capable of funding large-scale industrial projects, expand electricity infrastructure and establish policies that encourage domestic manufacturing, value addition and economic diversification.
Speaking in London at the Financial Times Africa Summit during a conversation with David Pilling the Africa Editor for the renowned newspaper in London, the industrialist maintained that Africa possessed the natural resources, population and investment opportunities required to become a global manufacturing powerhouse, but needed stronger institutions and infrastructure to translate those advantages into sustainable economic prosperity. Responding to a question on why Africa had produced relatively few industrial enterprises of global scale despite its enormous economic potential, Dangote stressed the need for deliberate policies and institutions capable of supporting long-term industrial investment.
The Africa Summit by the FT is a prestigious platform for Africa’s most influential leaders and this year’s Summit lived up to its billing convening leading policymakers, business leaders, financiers and visionaries to explore how Africa can contribute meaningfully to shape the next era of global development.
Dangote said: “I think the number one thing that the continent has to concentrate on doing is having very strong financial institutions, their own financial institutions, and also to have very strong agricultural policy, and also industrial policy”.
He maintained that infrastructure development was equally important but singled out electricity as perhaps the most urgent requirement for unlocking Africa’s industrial potential, adding; “For Africa, what we need the most today is actually power,” he declared.
Dangote explained that inadequate electricity supply continued to undermine Africa’s ability to process its mineral resources locally, forcing countries to export raw materials rather than capture the greater economic value associated with manufacturing and processing. He cited the mining industry as a particularly striking example, noting that companies frequently identified unreliable electricity supply as a major reason for their inability to establish processing facilities close to extraction sites.
According to him, approximately 650 million Africans remain without access to electricity, a deficit he described as fundamentally incompatible with the continent’s industrial ambitions. He argued that resolving the power crisis would transform Africa’s manufacturing prospects, encourage investment in mineral processing and create substantial employment opportunities.
The industrialist also drew on his experience developing the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos to illustrate how Africa’s financing environment could frustrate even commercially promising projects. He disclosed that the Group had been compelled to finance the refinery against its own balance sheet rather than depend on conventional project financing, which he described as extremely difficult to secure for major African industrial investments. He explained that prolonged financing negotiations could undermine the viability of industrial projects by delaying execution, increasing costs and exposing investors to changing economic conditions.
For the Dangote Group, the decision to proceed with the refinery without conventional project finance involved extraordinary financial risks, compounded by severe currency depreciation and the enormous cost of developing supporting infrastructure. Dangote said the exchange rate moved from approximately ₦136 to the dollar to as high as ₦1,800 during the refinery’s development, while about 90 per cent of the Group’s revenue was denominated in naira.
Dangote said the Group’s proposed $50 billion investment programme was designed partly to encourage other Africans to recognise the opportunities available across the continent.
“The legacy we are trying to set up is how do we industrialise our continent?” he said.
He explained that the Group intended to expand its investments between 2026 and 2030 to demonstrate that African businesses could execute large-scale projects and encourage other investors to participate in developing the continent. The ambition, he stressed, extended beyond the growth of one conglomerate to creating a wider industrial ecosystem capable of supporting businesses, generating employment and retaining more economic value within Africa.
Dangote also challenged African governments to reconsider their approach to industrial protection, warning that allowing cheap imported products to undermine domestic manufacturing could permanently weaken the continent’s productive capacity. He argued that emerging African industries required appropriate policy support to compete against established international manufacturers, particularly where imported products were sold at prices that discouraged investment in local factories.
He, however, distinguished industrial protection from restrictions on trade between African countries, advocating a regional approach that would strengthen manufacturing while preserving the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area. He maintained that African economies should trade more freely among themselves while establishing a common framework to protect their industries against unfair external competition.
The industrialist also questioned why Africa continued to experience widespread poverty despite its extensive agricultural land, mineral resources and youthful population. He cited the continent’s natural endowments as evidence that Africa’s economic challenges were not principally the result of inadequate resources but of insufficient productive investment and industrial capacity. “Why should we remain poor?” he asked.
Dangote expressed confidence that the continent was entering a period in which African governments, entrepreneurs and investors were becoming increasingly determined to develop their own productive capabilities.
