Africa’s richest man and investment guru, Aliko Dangote announced that Dangote Group plans to generate $30 billion in the next 2 years. This revenue will be raised through the company’s recent ventures in oil, fertilizers, and petrochemicals. Already, the group generates $4 billion annually.
Upon the completion of the Dangote refinery in 2022, it will be operating at a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day making it one of the largest refineries in Africa. Furthermore, Dangote already signed a contract covering the supply of crude oil to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
To strengthen its revenue stream, the group will also capitalize on its market potential in Nigeria and West Africa. The strategy looks to augment the current market, discover new markets and maximize profits.
Dangote Group will also be expanding its capacity of cement production to generate more revenue in Nigeria and Africa. The group is targeting an expansion of cement capacity in Africa by 29 percent to 62 million tons. This aims at making the group Africa’s biggest producer of the construction material, coupled with investment opportunities in Ivory Coast and Niger.
To counter challenges like currency instability and devaluation which might hinder profit maximization, Dangote will also invest some profit in the US and UK.
“Sometimes in Africa, you have issues of devaluation. We want to really preserve some of the family’s wealth,” Dangote said.
Currently, Dangote Cement Plc (DANGCEM) is the largest company trading on the Nigerian stock exchange – with a market capitalization of almost N3 trillion – ahead of telecoms giants MTN and Airtel as well as cement maker BUA Cement. Its market cap accounts for a substantial percentage of the total market capitalization of the bourse. The proposed expansion will be pivotal in retaining its spot ranks in the Nigeria stock exchange
Following the accomplishment of these planned expansion goals, Aliko Dangote will pursue his dream of owning Arsenal football club in England. Initially, Dangote was set to acquire the football club in 2020. However, he postponed to 2021, due to the volume of projects and investments he is currently managing.
“It is a team that yes I would like to buy someday, but what I keep saying is we have $20billion worth of projects and that’s what I really want to concentrate on. I’m trying to finish building the company and then after we finish, maybe sometime in 2021 we can. “I’m not buying Arsenal right now, I’m buying Arsenal when I finish all these projects because I’m trying to take the company to the next level,” Dangote said.
Recently there has been a trend of billionaires owning sports teams. This has led to social arguments on why billionaires acquire sports club with some holding the notion that it’s a splurge for the billionaire’s status. Others believe investment in sports is a profitable venture, while many believe it’s a new strategy that opens grounds in foreign markets, particularly the western world.
Dangote has admitted to being a fan of the club. His intention to include sports in his investment portfolio might be backed by passion or possibly an expansion of his business pedigree. Such an investment will put him in a category of billionaires from emerging economies that have a high stake in sports teams. The growing list includes Nasser bin Ghanim of PSG, Sheikh Sheikh Mansour of Man city and, Peter Lim of Valencia.
In a report by UBS and PwC. John Mathews, one of the co-authors stated that “One billionaire told us that you do not really buy sports clubs for financial returns Instead it opens the door to amazing people – you sit at the table with ‘stars, sheikhs, famous businessmen and regular guys from around the world, all in the same room, all talking only about the ball.’’
