The President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has addressed opinions that he aims to create monopolies in every industry he invests in.
Addressing a cross-section of journalists, Dangote noted that the term “monopoly” is often mentioned only in connection with his brand. He pointed out that before he established his first cement plant, Lafarge was the sole producer of cement, and no one cried monopoly. However, the moment he set up his first plant, people started to label it as a monopoly.
He explained that a monopoly is when one forces others out of business, emphasizing that Dangote’s businesses operate on an equal playing field. Furthermore, he mentioned that any subvention his company receives from the government are also given to other manufacturers, with some even receiving more than Dangote Group.
In his words:
“Well, you know, whatever we do, we add value. We are not an assembly plant; when I say assembly, we are not a packaging plant. If you look at all of our operations at Dangote, we add value. We take local raw materials, turn them into products, and then sell them, which means we practice a circular economy. Everything is here in Nigeria—the farmers, the banks, the people in the mines—everything is local.
“And that is the sole reason why we were number two in flour mills, but we sold it because the wheat was being imported from abroad. The more wheat we used, the more jobs we created overseas, and that was why we canceled it. We remain only in sugar; salt is not really a very big business. That’s what we have done.
“And now, as our Group Vice President Mr. Alake mentioned, we are always the first mover. We always move first, and other people follow. We have never, either consciously or unconsciously, stopped anybody from doing the same business we are doing. On the contrary, when we first entered cement production, it was actually only Lafarge operating here in Nigeria with Ewekoro and the one in Ashaka, Gombe. Nobody ever called Lafarge a monopoly, but when Dangote set up its first plant with five million tonnes against two million tonnes of local production, people started crying monopoly. This is really disheartening. Monopoly is when you stop people or block them through legal means. It’s a level playing field where whatever Dangote was given in cement, other people were given too. In fact, some of them maybe even got more than us.
“We are always very careful. In the refinery, for example, we did not collect a single incentive from the federal government of Nigeria or even Lagos State. Yes, Lagos State maybe gave us a good deal, but we paid $100 million for the land. It wasn’t free land; we paid for it. People are always looking at the other side and not seeing the real picture.”
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