Recent news that Dangote Cement Plc has emerged Africa’s best cement manufacturer with plants in 14 African countries, is a welcome development. It is highly commendable. Apart from its operations in Nigeria, Dangote Cement Plc plants exist in Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa, Congo (Brazzaville), Ethiopia, Cameroun, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ghana and Senegal, among others.
Also, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a United States-based rating agency, has listed the Dangote Group among the top 40 companies of African origin with the potential to rival Fortune 500 Companies. Among the criteria used in making the selection are size, growth and international expansion. In Nigeria, Dangote Group has 13 subsidiaries spread all over the country.
And apart from its operations in 14 African countries, it is also seeking business opportunities in many other African countries. In addition, its investment in Sephaku Cement has made Dangote Group the largest-ever Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by an African company into South Africa.
In Nigeria, Dangote led other cement manufacturers to take on the challenge of ensuring cement availability in the country. Now that the Dangote Group has conquered African cement market, it must keep its promise that by the middle of 2013, all its Group’s factories across Africa will be fully functional, manufacturing cement and making sure that Africa is no longer in short supply of this critical resource for house construction. Housing is very germane to the African for the reason that in Africa, a man is not a man if he has no shelter on his head. This is why housing accommodation is in high demand across the continent. It is also for this reason that an end must be put to cement shortage across the continent.
That Dangote Cement Plc has conquered the cement market across the continent is not a surprise. By cheer determination, good forward planning and doggedness, the President of the Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has steered his cement company to success across Africa. If anything, Dangote, has confirmed that he is Nigeria’s business Ambassador of international repute. He has shown the way forward to other Nigerian entrepreneurs who have the wherewithal to establish multi-million dollar businesses across the continent.
He has also demonstrated that Nigeria has come of age in business and that time has truly come for entrepreneurs in Nigeria to take advantage of business opportunities in other parts of Africa. The Federal Government must therefore support local entrepreneurs who seriously desire to take advantage of the window of opportunity for genuine businesses across the continent. It is by successfully operating in these countries that they can repatriate their profits home in foreign exchange and also boost the country’s reserves. India and China are typical examples of countries that have supported their nationals to move out and excel in the export market. Nigeria’s case must therefore not be different.
Over the years, the international community looked down on Nigerians because of the activities of a few of them who perpetrated fraudulent activities within and outside the country. However, Dangote Group has shown that Nigeria is not a country of fraudulent people. Nigerians can be trusted and they can deliver on their promises too.
It is noteworthy that Dangote Group is one of largest employers of labour in the country as it provides jobs for hundreds of thousands of the workers across the country. At the same time, the Group has also won laurels locally and globally on account of the good quality of its products.
Some critics have opined that Dangote Group has monopolistic tendency anywhere it invests, thus enabling it to dominate the market and also dictate the market price. However, this may not be true. What Dangote operates is an oligopolistic market and it strives to lead the oligopoly of two or more big operators in the market anywhere it goes. However, as a market leader wherever it operates, the Dangote Group must ensure that it makes its cement and other products available in the market at reasonable and affordable prices.
So far, the Group has earned awards for social responsibility in Nigeria. And having cornered Africa’s cement market, Dangote Group must also not forget the social responsibilities of its companies especially because any mistake by its plant in one country can dent the Group’s image across the continent.
Finally, the Dangote Group must not rest on its oars. It must realise that getting to the top is not as difficult as staying there. The Group should stick to global best practices in its operations while ensuring excellent corporate citizenship and maintaining high quality for its products across the continent and even beyond.
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