CARIBBEAN countries have expressed interest in partnering with the Dangote Group to produce cement, fertilisers and petroleum products.
The Prime Minister of Grenada and the chairman of the Caribbean Community, Dickon Mitchell, hinted at this during his tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals complex in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos on Thursday, October 10.
According to Mitchell, the Caribbean community, a political and economic union of 15 member states and five associated members in the Americas, is seeking a potential partnership with the Dangote Group.
He said the partnership would offer the Caribbean community the opportunities to enhance its economy.
“One of the reasons I am here is to pursue synergies and partnerships between the diaspora and Africa, particularly in areas such as the refinery, cement, and fertiliser.
“We believe there are fantastic opportunities to develop partnerships between the Caribbean and Africa,” Mitchell said.
He urged Nigeria and other African countries to discontinue exporting raw materials to the developed world and importing back the finished products.
“We need to reverse that cycle; it is the only way to grow the wealth of Africa and the developing world. Additionally, we need to support this with training and invest in job opportunities,” Mitchell said.
The chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, corroborated that the company was looking forward to partnerships with the Caribbean not only in petroleum products but also in cement and fertiliser production.
The billionaire businessman hinted that there were discussions about importing crude from the Caribbean while supplying the countries with refined products.
“We are exploring collaboration in areas such as cement and petroleum, including the possibility of buying crude from them while selling some of our petroleum products to them.
“We already export to the U.S., Mexico, and other regions, so there is significant collaboration we are looking to develop between us and them,” Dangote said.
In July, the President of Gabon, Brice Oligui Nguema, invited the chairman of Dangote Group to invest in cement and fertiliser production in his country.
The ICIR reported that the Gabonese President sought Dangote’s exploration of potential investment opportunities in the country’s cement and fertiliser, specifically urea and phosphate production.
While the Dangote Group is getting invitations to invest in other countries, on the homefront, there are many challenges facing the group.
Since its 650,000 nameplate refinery came on stream, the company has faced challenges getting crude oil supply.
The dramas that have ensued have led to the Nigerian government setting up a technical sub-committee to mediate the crisis between the Dangote Refinery and the state-owned oil company – the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).