Suspending Steel Investment to Avoid Monopoly Claims; Dangote

Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa and the chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, has announced that his company will no longer pursue plans to enter Nigeria’s steel industry. This decision comes just two months after the company revealed its intentions to invest in the sector to expand the economy.

Addressing journalists at his refinery in Lagos on Saturday, the billionaire explained that the board of Dangote Industries decided to halt the steel investment to prevent accusations of creating a monopoly.

“You know, about doing a new business which we announced, that is, steel. Actually, our board has decided that we shouldn’t do the steel because if we do the steel business, we will be called all sorts of names like monopoly,” Dangote stated.

He further clarified that his group of companies does not enjoy monopoly privileges, despite some claims to the contrary. “We have never consciously or unconsciously stopped anybody from doing the same business that we are doing. When we first came into cement production, it was only Lafarge that was operating here in Nigeria… Nobody ever called Lafarge a monopoly,” he said.

Dangote emphasized that labelling his group of companies as monopolistic is disheartening and inaccurate. “Monopoly is when you stop people, you block them through legal means. No, it is a level playing field whereby whatever Dangote was given in cement, for example, other people were given because some of them even got more than us,” he added.

Despite stepping back from the steel industry, Dangote encouraged other Nigerians to invest in the sector to help boost the country’s economy. “Let other Nigerians go and do it. We are not the only Nigerians here. There are some Nigerians with more cash than us,” he remarked, urging people to bring their investments back to Nigeria.

This development follows ongoing discussions about the role of Dangote's enterprises in the Nigerian economy and their impact on competition within various industries.