President and Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has commended President Bola Tinubu’s historic state visit to the United Kingdom, saying it is poised to unlock significant economic opportunities for Nigeria and deepen bilateral engagements with other countries.
Speaking to journalists after visiting President Tinubu at his Lagos residence on Monday, Dangote said he came to extend Eid greetings, check on the President, and pay his respects.
“I think it has opened ways. Today, diplomacy without the economic part of it is not complete. So I believe his visit will open quite a lot of doors, and you can see the agreement that was signed for actually improving our infrastructure, especially in the ports and other areas, which is almost £746 million, that’s quite a lot,” he said.
Dangote noted that the development signals growing international confidence in Nigeria’s economic outlook and could attract similar investments from other countries.
“So the moment they do that, there will be other countries that will follow suit… Germany will come, others… so they will line up and start coming now. This is supposed to be a win-win situation,” he added.
He urged Nigerian investors to take advantage of emerging opportunities, particularly access to international credit facilities. “It means that the agency now is open for business for Nigerians, and we will go as private people to look for support. So I think with what has happened now, it shows that there is capacity for them to fund some of our projects,” Dangote said.
On global instability, particularly in the oil and energy sectors, Dangote warned that Nigeria and Africa could feel its effects.
“It means quite a lot… it definitely will affect us, unfortunately. But we pray this situation will be sorted out, it’s not going to escalate. If it doesn’t de-escalate, we’ll end up paying big prices,” he said.
Highlighting the impact on everyday Nigerians, Dangote added: “If they don’t work that day, they won’t eat. So I think really, we just need all hands on deck to pray that this thing comes to an end.”
He concluded by reiterating that his visit was primarily to convey greetings and respect. “I just came to see His Excellency, Mr President, just to wish him Eid Mubarak and to check on him… That’s what the visit is all about,” Dangote said.
