Businessman Aliko Dangote has said there is no reason Nigeria should still be generating only about 5,000 megawatts of electricity when his company alone produces over 1,500 megawatts for personal use.
Dangote made this statement during a tour of the Dangote Refinery in Lagos where he also spoke on how the private sector can help solve Nigeria’s power problem.
“Nigeria should not be producing three times what we are doing as a company. The country should be producing about 50,000 to 60,000 megawatts,” he said.
Dangote noted that the refinery project was proof that Nigeria can handle big projects, including in the power sector.
“What we have done here just shows that there’s nothing impossible. All this can be replicated in our power sector. There’s no reason why Nigeria should be doing 5,000 megawatts,” he said.
He said building the refinery was more difficult than raising Nigeria’s power to 30,000 megawatts. He stressed that fixing power is not just the duty of the government but requires private sector investment.
He said, “What we have done here is much more difficult than making Nigeria 25,000 or 30,000 megawatts of power, with transmission and distribution. But it’s not the work of government alone.”
Dangote reminded the public that the power sector has been privatised. He urged rich Nigerians to stop taking money abroad and invest locally instead.
“We, the private sector, Nigerians, most especially us, should stop taking our money abroad and invest the money here to make sure that we develop our own country and continent,” he said.
He criticised those who steal public funds and hide them overseas instead of growing the Nigerian economy.
He said, “There are lots of countries that have more corruption than we do, but they are growing. Our biggest problem and challenge is that people who have stolen money have taken the money abroad.”
Dangote also shared that in the next 40 months, he plans to become the world’s largest fertiliser producer with about 12 million tonnes in production.
