NEW
YORK, United States of America, -- Nigerian
business leader Aliko Dangote told investors "Agriculture, agriculture,
agriculture. Africa will become the food basket of the world."
In
a packed room at the headquarters of global law firm Shearman and
Sterling LLC high level business leaders and international diplomats
invited by the Corporate Council for Africa to hear Africa's richest
man, Aliko Dangote, and Rwandan president Paul Kagame openly converse on
Africa's opportunities and challenges.
Both leaders underscored
the ongoing movement to diversify African economies. In the case of
Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, Dangote stated "we should pray that
oil prices remain low. This helps wean us off the dependency on revenues
from petroleum. We must take oil to be the icing on the cake. We
already have the cake," he added.
In addition to agriculture
Dangote cited Nigeria's vast mineral resources and gas as well and the
need to manufacture more goods locally for domestic consumption. Both he
and President Kagame cited continued need for heavy investments in
education and connected the need for young people to be well trained for
the jobs of tomorrow.
Dangote predicted that "five of the twelve million jobs needed in Africa soon must be created in Nigeria."
Dangote's
fortune which stems from cement, sugar, and other household commodities
has expanded into fertilizer and other processed high-value goods.
"Technology of course helps us a lot and our factories are state of the
art with the use of robotics but we shouldn't be overly tech oriented to
create wealth," he told investors.
Mr. Dangote who is often
cited as one of the most inspiring business leaders in the world today
and a model for young entrepreneurs offered advice to Americans who tend
to rely on outdated news and wrong perceptions of Africa, "Don't be
lazy. Go there and find the real story for yourself. Things have
changed."
Dangote noted the Rwanda success story where he has
business interests as an example of positive change, good governance and
leadership, and where corruption has been cured. He cited a personal
experience of offering a $100 US tip for services at the Kigali Airport
to staff who refused to take money for work they were paid to do.
President Kagame was praised for delivering the environment for growth
he promised. "There is nothing African about corruption," the Rwandan
president added.
The session was moderated by Rosa Whitaker,
former US Trade Representative and author of the AGOA (African Growth
Opportunity Act), whose business consultancy is credited for helping
both African governments and US companies develop commerce.
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