By Ayomide Otitoju
President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has called on African entrepreneurs and business leaders to invest boldly in projects that will transform the continent and address long-standing development challenges.
Speaking during a visit by participants of the Global CEO Africa Programme, jointly organised by Lagos Business School and Strathmore Business School in Nairobi, Dangote stressed the importance of local investment in driving economic growth. The visit included a tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals facility in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos—the world’s largest single-train refinery.
“Africa has all it needs to succeed. But we must invest here. If we don’t show confidence in our economies, no one else will,” Dangote said. He warned against capital flight, urging African investors to retain and reinvest wealth within the continent.
Reflecting on the obstacles faced during the refinery’s development, Dangote said perseverance and vision were key to delivering such an ambitious project. “Now that we’ve built this refinery, we believe we can do anything,” he said, revealing plans to make Dangote Fertiliser the largest globally within 40 months.
He also highlighted the need for greater interconnectivity among African nations, lamenting that importing goods from Europe is sometimes cheaper than trading across African borders.
The visit was part of the Global CEO Africa Programme’s three-city module spanning Lagos, Nairobi, and New Haven in the U.S. Academic Director Patrick Akinwuntan said the goal was to inspire leaders to view Africa as a borderless market of immense opportunity.
Executive Dean of Strathmore Business School, Dr. Caesar Mwangi, and Lagos Business School Dean, Prof. Olayinka David-West, commended Dangote’s visionary leadership. They noted that the refinery project serves as a model for leveraging African potential through entrepreneurship and long-term investment.
