Founder of the Dangote Group and Africa’s richest person, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that by the end of 2024 he expects the total revenue from his businesses to hit over a staggering $30 billion.
Speaking in an interview on CNN, the billionaire businessman stated that the projection will catapult the Dangote Group into the elite group of the biggest 120 companies in the world.
He explained that with the recent restructuring in the company and key persons manning the key segments of the businesses, it will not be too difficult to hit the $30 billion mark by the end of the year.
“We have divided the company now into two. We have myself as group president, then we have the group president, oil and gas and we have the group president of other businesses.
“And all these ones , when you combine, by the end of this year, we will have a group that will have $30 billion of revenues and that is big. It means that we will be among the biggest 120 companies in the world,” he stated.
On the much-talked-about oil refining facility, he described it as a game changer, stressing that as ships from abroad begin to gradually halt movement into the country, since the refinery can supply all Nigeria’s petroleum products, it will reduce carbon emissions by as much as 2 million tonnes.
“This refinery is going to change the game. You know, improvements all over the place. If we take in all the crude from Nigeria, it means that we’ll take about 21 million barrels per month. And that will also help in terms of reducing the CO2 emissions.
“Rather than ships coming all the way from Europe bringing products, or the ships going out of Nigeria, that is 21 ships going out of Nigeria every month. And then you have the products coming into Nigeria. So in totality when you calculate, you are talking about 480 ships of 1 million barrels.
“That actually will save the environment almost 1.5 to 2 million tons of CO2 emissions,” he added.
On whether he had started making money yet from the $19 billion crude oil refinery in Lagos, Dangote assured that he will soon start making money, stressing that although running businesses is about making money, but it gives him great satisfaction that his activities were helping to make Africa great.
Dangote, answering a question on whether he was getting adequate crude oil from producers in the country stated that although the Nigerian National Oil Company Limited (NNPC) was doing its best, the International Oil Companies (IOCs), were used to exporting their crude and were not willing to change immediately.
“We know there are challenges here, and that’s the truth. I have to be very open to you, but, you know, NNPC, they’ve been very, very helpful. They do their own bit.
“But some of the IOCs, are struggling to give us crude, because everybody’s used to exporting, and nobody wants to stop exporting. Why do you think Africa is not growing as it should?
“Because we export raw materials and import finished goods. It doesn’t matter what it is, even if it’s gold or whatever, a raw material is always at a ridiculously priced amount compared to a finished goods,” he pointed out.
Dangote stated that he had never been known for giving up on a good cause, stressing that nothing scares him in business. “I’ve been fighting battles all my life, so, you know, I don’t get scared of anything,” he said .
