Dangote warns investors to stop portraying Africa as ‘gloomy’

Sometimes, the old and existing investors paint a gloomy picture of doing business in Africa to avoid competition and scare away potential investors. You have to act big and bold.

Aliko Dangote

Alihaji Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has enjoined old and existing investors on the continent to stop painting a gloomy picture of doing business in Africa.

He made the call in an address at the ongoing World Economic Forum on Africa in Kigali, Rwanda.

Dangote said that in order to attract more investors into the continent, “We have to get rid of perception risks. The fragility of perception drives away investors. We need to change the mindset because good things are happening in Africa.

“Sometimes, the old and existing investors paint a gloomy picture of doing business in Africa to avoid competition and scare away potential investors. You have to act big and bold.”

He disclosed that the Cement segment of his Group’s businesses has invested over 4 billion dollars in the continent and that the returns are quite good.

“We are bullish about investing in Nigeria, devaluation or no devaluation.”

In response to how African entrepreneurs can have wider access to finance, Dangote advised that there should be a robust policy that encourages bank especially locally owned ones to finance local entrepreneurs.

He pointed out that 90 per cent of Nigerian banks are owned locally and that perhaps correlates with why Nigeria has the highest number of entrepreneurs in Africa.

According to him, one of the biggest challenges to investing in Africa is lack of credible data to work on.