Lafia: The Dangote Group has assured that its widening business footprint across Nigeria and the rest of Africa would yield a significant employment opportunity. Fatima Wali-Abdurrahman, Regional Director and Special Adviser to the President of Dangote Group, said this on its Special Day celebration at the just concluded Nasarawa Trade Fair in the state capital Lafia. She highlighted that new jobs and roles are being created as the company expands its investments and scales up its operations across its Strategic Business Units.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Dangote Group is Nigeria’s second largest employer of labour after the Federal Government. Group President and Chief Executive Aliko Dangote noted last week in Lagos that expanding the Dangote Petroleum Refinery from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million could employ as many as 95,000 skilled workers at the peak of construction. Wali-Abdurrahman, represented by Hon. Shuaibu Abdullahi, said Nasarawa State was home to Dangote’s biggest Backward Integration project in the sugar sector, the Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited (NSCL). She added that the project’s completion would unlock new employment opportunities, benefiting the people of Nasarawa State and Nigeria.
According to the Regional Director, the conglomerate is expected to generate thousands of direct and indirect jobs from expansion in its key businesses, which include petroleum, fertilizer, cement, agriculture, sugar, and salt, among others. Speaking on the company’s Vision 2030, she stated that the vision is a commitment to transform Nigeria and Africa from a consumption-based economy into a production-based powerhouse. Nasarawa State occupies a strategic position in the company’s long-term investment plans, being home to Dangote’s Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited (NSCL) in Tunga, which, when completed, will be one of the biggest sugar investments on the African continent.
A Director of Industry and Investment, Ministry of Trade Industry and Investment, Mrs. Catherine Bako, mentioned that the Nasarawa State Government under Gov. Abdullahi Sule has provided the enabling environment for private sector investors. According to her, the government has entrenched ease of doing business as its cardinal objective. The Director of Trade at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment, Dr. Ahmed Agbo, informed the audience at a panel session on the Dangote Special Day that the state has numerous mineral resources that attract potential investors. Agbo expressed that the state would like to partner with the Dangote Group to explore the numerous mineral resources and industrial raw materials.
Furthermore, Nidan Manasseh, Chairman of the Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialist (NASSI), said that the Dangote Vision 2030 is about expansion, scale, and self-sufficiency. Offering support to that vision, Nasarawa is providing a conducive environment where large industries can connect with existing raw materials and an emerging SMEs base, aligning vision with opportunity.