Anwenwillie Fru Ndenge (Dr.-Ing.)’s Post

I said exactly the same in my prior post. Federal Government of Nigeria is destroying investors confidence with the Dangote Refinery issue. See 👇 This whole issue on Dangote Industries Limited is shocking and creating bad waves for Nigeria globally - Akinwunmi Adesina of African Development Bank Group Monopoly often exists where there are high barriers to entry or high capital costs. How many individuals or companies can do railways? How many can do refineries of the scale of Dangote Refineries? In a nation that has been importing refined petroleum products for several decades, the abnormal simply became very normal. No smart investor would make a $19.5 billion investment and want it to be undermined by importers. To manufacture is extremely expensive and risky. This is even more so in Nigeria, given the very challenging business and economic environment, fraught with policy uncertainties and policy reversals, and where the self-defeating default mode of "simply import it" is always so easily rationalized and chorused to solve any problem. Competition is good for everyone. But is Dangote refineries anti-competitive? What is the evidence? Has Dangote refineries prevented any other company from setting up refineries? Why have others not done so? How come they have not done so for several decades? Was it Dangote that held them back? But Dangote refineries surely cannot be asked to 'compete' with importers of petroleum products. That is not competition. Let the importers set up local refineries and compete by refining in Nigeria. That is fair and justified competition.

In case you missed it from numerous media outlet, This is What Akinwunmi Adeshina said about the ongoing Dangote - NNPCL drama. “In a nation that has been importing refined petroleum products for several decades, the abnormal simply became very normal. No smart investor would make a $19.5 billion investment and want it to be undermined by importers. “To manufacture is extremely expensive and risky. This is even more so in Nigeria, given the very challenging business and economic environment, fraught with policy uncertainties and policy reversals, and where the self-defeating default mode of “simply import it” is always so easily rationalized and chorused to solve any problem. “Competition is good for everyone. But is Dangote refineries anti-competitive? What is the evidence? Has Dangote refineries prevented any other company from setting up refineries? Why have others not done so? How come they have not done so for several decades? Was it Dangote that held them back? But Dangote refineries surely cannot be asked to ‘compete’ with importers of petroleum products. “That is not competition. Let the importers set up local refineries and compete by refining in Nigeria. That is fair and justified competition. We cannot and must not undermine, disparage or kill local industries, talk less of one that is of this scale — a jewel of industrialisation in Nigeria,” my thoughts are in the comment section!

The Nigerian government seems just to have a way of ensuring that the Nigerian Economics is strictly 'Nigerian'. Still on this Dangote refinery issue, honestly I'd hoped that it was going to cause fall in prices of petrol and related products even if it's not going to be as significant as many hoped. But when I realized that NNPC was to be the exclusive buyer of the fuel from Dangote, I suspected an an unusual play. Apparently, Dangote has relinquished the power to fix its own oil price to NNPC. Why can't oil marketers carry fuel directly from the refinery instead of going through NNPC as the middleman? NNPC is likely becoming a big monopsonist. My thought is that Nigerians will likely end up paying the same price as if they fuel was being imported. So having the refinery around may not make much difference in the lives of the average Nigerian citizen. It might be the case that Dangote just got 'settled' so he will cry no more and protect or at least benefit from his investment.🥲 I'm open to different views though especially if you have the facts.

Talk about a smart chess move ♟️🙌🏾👏🏾

🌟 Why is Dangote backing out of his future steel investment plan? 🌟 Dangote Industries Limited, led by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is shifting gears. Despite successfully launching the 650,000 barrel per day refinery in May 2023, Dangote has decided to step back from local steel production. 🏭 While attending the Afreximbank Afro-Caribbean Trade & Investment Forum in The Bahamas, Dangote mentioned his vision to fully equip Nigeria for Industry 4.0. Yet, he now encourages other notable entrepreneurs to take on transforming the steel industry. 💡 📍Read the full article for more insights: https://lnkd.in/dnBV5Mef #Dangote #SteelIndustry #Nigeria #Investment #Industry40 #BusinessNews #MeizaNigeria

The Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, briefed the press on Tuesday afternoon following a meeting with President Tinubu, highlighting the progress of Nigeria’s transformative initiative to sell crude oil to local refiners, who then sell refined products in Naira. With Dangote’s 650,000 bpd refinery setting the pace, this approach ensures market-driven pricing for both petroleum and foreign exchange, fuelling private investment, economic growth and job creation. Nigeria is now taking important steps along the path to industrialisation and modernisation.

It is utterly disgusting, disgraceful and annoying at the same time! How can a oil producing country without a single functional refinery in 2024 be frustrating (pressing the neck) one of its largest indigenous investor this way? This sometimes makes me wonder if we are really interested in the "ease of doing" mantra like we claim in this country. Dangote isn't saying NO to healthy competition. This seem like an unseen hand in play to frustrate the refinery from being operational. As of now, the nation does not have any functional refinery, which means that there is no competition to start with. More so, Dangote has given a very clear option, which is for NNPC to buy out the refinery and run it, so that there won't be any need for the "inexistent" competition, just like the Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri refineries are operational without any competition. If the government could be doing this to an indigent business, how then will the foreign investors look at us? This is a clear indication that the government isn't interested in the growth of the real sector. So many young people will be discouraged with this drama, because if with the economic and political clout of Dangote, he is being treated this way. I wonder what becomes of young people with no connection and financial war chest. I read an article of how an entrepreneur that's into car assembling, never got the support needed to locally manufacture tyres in the country due to the bureaucracy in the government, despite having a good business plan that shows feasibility and viability of the project. I don't know why everything that works in other countries always fail in Nigeria.

Thank you to our dear 'Mai kudi', 'Mai arziki', 'Mai jama'a' - Aliko Dangote. He has used his game-changer outfit - Dangote Petroleum Refinery - to progressively crash the price of diesel from N1,600 per litre to N1,200 per litre about three weeks ago, to N1,000 per litre yesterday. On behalf of industries and consumers, thank you very much. Not yet Uhuru though! Before now, big players like Dangote and BUA had recently crashed the price of cement, which sold as high as N15,000 per 50kg bag in January 2024, to between N7,000 and N8,000 now, depending on the brand, location, and other factors. Considering the above and other recent improvements such as Naira appreciation, thank God for responsible and responsive business leadership. Thank God for the imaginary hand of the #FGN. There's however more room for improvement! You keep asking why government after government in #Nigeria have always favoured Aliko Dangote in a big way but you never ask yourself what you do with your little space in your little corner. You keep wondering how God has been blessing and increasingly blessing Dangote but you never wonder about kingdom principles concerning being good and faithful or being wicked and slothful over a few things. While Dangote has crashed the price of diesel and has led others to crash the price of cement, you in your little corner are still hanging on to your high old prices even though your #dollar #forex rate justification has seriously gone down. You often forget that enormous profit, by hook or by crook, may bring you wealth but it may not sustain your business or bring you blessing. Each time your costs of production increase, you immediately increase the prices of your products / services and transfer the burden to consumers. But, whenever those costs come down, you either refuse to bring down your prices or drag your feet to do the needful. You shrug your shoulders when you hear consumers sadly saying "Whatever goes up in Nigeria doesn't come down." It's not so in consumer-centric economies. It's not supposed to be so in our economy. And, in all fairness, it's not the practice by all private companies delivering products or services in Nigeria. One of those God-fearing business outfits that have been operating with transparency and integrity particularly in the oil and gas sector is BOVAS Group. Many of their customers have testified to the image the company has built for itself. It has received many awards of excellent service. In 2018, the then Group Managing Director of the #NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Kachalla Baru (RIP), applauded BOVAS Group for transparency, integrity, reliable service delivery, and consistent selling of petroleum products at the official price. We hereby challenge and encourage individual business operators and corporate organizations to begin to do great positive things not only for themselves but also for the people and the society at large. God bless you as you do. #ShunProfiteering Bolaji Oladejo.

5 Real Estate Lessons from Africa's Business Giant, Aliko Dangote! When you think of success, Aliko Dangote is a name that stands out—an empire built across industries like cement, petroleum, and sugar. But did you know his strategies offer powerful lessons for real estate investors too? Here are 5 lessons that can transform your real estate journey. Ready to learn the secrets that can boost your investments? 👉 Click here to read the full article and unlock the knowledge you need to thrive in real estate! https://lnkd.in/eArVjCuy #definitionproperties #therealestateminister #realestateinvestment #dangotelessons #propertydevelopment #nigeriabusiness #realestateinsights #investwisely #diversificationstrategy #longtermvalue

Many people do not understand the enormousity and complexity of what Aliko Dangote has been able to pull off with his Refinery and Petrochemical complex, neither do they have a clue about how critical it is for the growth and development of the Nigerian economy yet they keep on looking for any semblance of negative news to project about this laudable project while being blissfully ignorant of the fact that every single Nigerian will benefit from the success of the refinery. When the refinery and Petrochemical complex becomes fully operational, it will save Nigeria $10 billion annually in foreign exchange used to import petroleum products while it will generate another $6 billion annually from the export of its products there by shifting the country's balance of trade by a whopping $16 billion or approximately 30% in favor of the country. This will eventually go a long way to stabilize and enhance the value of the Naira which will affect all of us personally. And this is apart from the hundreds of thousands of jobs being created down the value chain. You may choose not to like Dangote as a person for whatever reasons but wishing that his refinery project fails is like shooting yourself in the face. That said, government was right to support him and bail him out when he had problems completing the refinery. This is what responsible governments do all over the world because of the potential impact the investment would have on the economy. Kudos once again to Dangote, he has achieved what several governments all over the world and fellow billionaires cannot dream of achieving. His name will certainly be written in gold in Nigeria's economic history.