President and Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has called for more contribution of manufacturers to the country’s GDP. He decried the low input the manufacturing sector contributes to the economy which currently stands at 9% unlike what is obtainable in Asian countries which is about 30%.
Dangote made this observation during the plenary session at the ongoing 25th edition of the Nigerian Economic Summit with the title: “Competing with giants” where he was represented by Dangote Group’s Executive Director, Government and Stakeholder Relations, Ahmed Mansur.
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The billionaire advocated that urgent steps should be taken to reverse the trend if the economy was to record appreciable growth. While proffering ways he thought the government should push the economy, Dangote urged the government to encourage more investments from local entrepreneurs.
According to him, if that is done, the country could learn from the Korean experience where a number of conglomerates are supported. Dangote also said government must, among other things, decongest the ports, expand rail network, tackle smuggling, implement gas master plan and entrench responsive bureaucracy.
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In line with the theme of the Economic Summit tagged “Nigeria 2050: Shifting Gears”, Dangote said that Nigeria needed to drive on the fast lane of industrialisation. While stating that his company was already leading Nigeria into the 4th industrial revolution, he said,
“Once we catch up with 2nd industrial revolution, our entrepreneurial youth can help us leapfrog to the 3rd and 4th. This is what happened with the IT revolution in India. The 4th industrial revolution is global in nature. Solutions are being developed by global companies for a global market. Skilled people from all over the world are participating in the development of these solutions.”
“At Dangote, we set up a training Academy several years ago primarily to provide a talent pipeline to our group. Plans are ongoing to take our passion for talent development a step further by setting up a world-class university within the next few years,” he said.
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