Nairobi — Billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote has called for faster industrialisation across Africa, saying the continent must create jobs and economic opportunities to absorb its growing young population.
Speaking on the inaugural episode of BBC Africa Enterprise shortly after the groundbreaking of his planned refinery in Lamu, Kenya, Dangote said African countries must shift from discussing their economic potential to building productive capacity.
“You cannot imagine, you have one quarter of the world’s population… and you are not producing anything. If you are not productive, how do you create prosperity? You have to create, you know, jobs,” Dangote said.
He said Africa’s young population requires livelihoods and opportunities, warning that failure to create jobs could worsen economic and social pressures.
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“We have a very young population. This population that we have, the younger ones, they are very, very hungry. They are very aggressive, and you know, so you need to make sure that you calm them by providing a livelihood for them, for providing opportunities for them, and that’s our job,” he said.
Dangote said African economies should move beyond repeated discussions about the continent’s potential and focus on turning available opportunities into actual production.
“We must make sure that we lead the prospects that you have, the opportunities that you have. We attended so many conferences and people say yes, the potential, potential. But you have to put that potential into reality,” he said.
He added that Africans must take the lead in driving the continent’s economic transformation rather than relying on foreign investors to do so.
“The only way that you are going to do that is by us Africans to drive it. Nobody, and I repeat, nobody will come and drive it for us,” Dangote said.
He also called for faster implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), saying greater integration would help expand markets for African-produced goods.
“Once we are able to sign it, the growth will be there. It will happen,” he said.
Dangote said his planned Lamu refinery, with a capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, is part of efforts to increase Africa’s capacity to produce refined petroleum products locally.
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The facility, whose groundbreaking has already taken place, is expected to take less than four years to construct, according to Dangote.
He said the refinery is designed to serve the wider East African market and could supply petroleum products to markets as far away as Egypt.
Dangote said the broader objective is to improve Africa’s self-sufficiency in energy, fertiliser and other essential products by reducing reliance on imports.
On the cost of the Lamu project, Dangote said the refinery is now expected to cost up to $16 billion, down from the initial estimate of $17 billion.
He attributed the lower projected cost to a shorter construction period, which will reduce financing costs, and lessons learned during the construction of his refinery in Lagos, Nigeria.
“We are wiser… because we are just learning when we built the one here [in Lagos],” he said.
The project will be financed through a capital structure comprising 30 percent equity and 70 percent debt.
Dangote said the group expects to raise the required financing for the project.
“We know we don’t have any problem raising the money,” he said.
He called for greater regional cooperation and support from stakeholders to facilitate large-scale investments needed to strengthen Africa’s productive capacity.
“Whether we are already there, we need to make sure we rally the rest of the people to support us, so that we can actually provide all these things for the continent,” Dangote said.