Aliko Dangote, the president of the Dangote Group, announced that the conglomerate will invest more than $10 billion in Africa’s power sector over the next three to four years. The statement was made in an interview with Al Jazeera that was uploaded on Monday, in which Dangote described electricity as essential to the continent’s economic transformation.
Dangote said the group plans to redirect funds earmarked for other projects, including a proposed steel venture, toward electricity generation. “We are going to invest in power… we might cancel one or two businesses, like steel, and we will put the money into power,” he explained.
The billionaire highlighted Africa’s electricity deficit as a major development challenge, noting that more than 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity. “It is something that we Africans should not really allow – over 600 million of our people to remain in darkness,” he said.
According to Dangote, expanding reliable electricity access will benefit not only households but also industrial activity, investment and broader economic growth across the continent.
The proposed $10 billion injection is intended to support what Dangote expects to be a “major transformation” in Africa’s power landscape within the coming years.
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>
