Billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote said faster industrialisation across Africa is essential to create jobs for the continent’s young population, speaking on the inaugural episode of BBC Africa Enterprise after the groundbreaking of his planned refinery in Lamu, Kenya.
He warned that Africa’s very young and hungry population needs livelihoods and opportunities, adding that failure to provide jobs could increase economic and social pressures.
Dangote urged African governments to move beyond repeated discussions of potential and to turn opportunities into actual production, stating that Africans must drive the transformation themselves rather than rely on foreign investors.
He also called for rapid implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, saying that once signed, growth will follow.
The Lamu refinery is planned with a capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, is designed to serve the wider East African market and could supply petroleum products as far as Egypt, and is expected to be built in less than four years.
The project’s cost is now expected to be up to $16 billion, down from an initial estimate of $17 billion, a reduction he attributed to a shorter construction period and lessons learned from the Lagos refinery.
Financing will consist of 30 per cent equity and 70 per cent debt, and Dangote said the group expects to raise the required funding without difficulty.
He appealed for greater regional cooperation and stakeholder support to facilitate large-scale investments needed to strengthen Africa’s productive capacity.
