Today, the Dangote Brand has not only succeeded in creating unique and differentiating products, it has struck an emotional chord with consumers and clients; has cultivated an enduring identity, a mutual attachment, a trust that is inspirational and innovation that is desirable and friendly
By Daily Review Online
No matter who you are, as long as you live in Nigeria, there is the likelihood that the Dangote brand must have impacted and is still impacting on your life in very many positive ways. This is no exaggeration.
If the house you are living in is not built with Dangote Cement; the street you walk on or the road you take to work every day must have been built with Dangote Cement. If the tea you drink or the confectionaries you eat do not contain the Dangote Sugar or Dangote Flour, chances are that the soup or stew you eat in your house or out there in the restaurant, is cooked with a Dangote Salt. Somehow, you may have come in contact with Dangote’s environmental friendly packs. And soon, very soon every Nigerian home will be eating Dangote Rice.
Such is the global testimony and story of the positive impingement of the Dangote Iconic brand; a brand built on the principles of utilitarianism: the greatest good for the commonest man. Like a good name, Dangote Brand is worth more than Silver and Gold.
Today, the Dangote Brand has not only succeeded in creating unique and differentiating products, it has struck an emotional chord with consumers and clients; has cultivated an enduring identity, a mutual attachment, a trust that is inspirational and innovation that is desirable and friendly.
Leading the pack of this Iconic Brand is the Dangote Cement, a fully integrated cement company with investments in Nigeria and 14 other African countries. Dangote Cement’s current total production capacity in Nigeria from its three cement plants in Obajana, Ibese and Gboko is 20.25MMTPA.
The Obajana Cement Plant located in Kogi State is reputed to be one of the single largest cement plants in the world. It is not only the largest in terms of capacity, but in efficiency and service delivery. Dangote Cement is also the biggest quoted company in West Africa and the only Nigerian company on the Forbes Global 2000 Companies.
There is also the Dangote Sugar. The Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC commenced business in March 2000 as the sugar division of Dangote Industries Limited. Commissioned in 2001 with an initial installed capacity to process 600,000 MT of raw sugar per annum, the refinery has since undergone two expansions increasing the production capacity to about 1.44 million MT per annum, making it the largest sugar refinery in sub Saharan Africa and second largest in the world.
The Dangote Pasta Brand (Spaghetti and Macaroni plant) started business with a single production line, churning out two million cases of spaghetti of 10kg per case. The factory currently has five lines with an installed capacity of 30,000MT per annum producing several variants of macaroni and spaghetti, according to information from the group.
There is also the Dangote Flour. The Flour Mills commenced operations in 1999. It was however restructured in 2006 when the Federal High Court sanctioned a scheme of Arrangement wherein all the assets, liabilities and undertakings of the erstwhile flour division of DIL was transferred to Dangote Flour Mills. Today, the installed capacity stands at 5,000 MT per day.
From the Dangote salt, to the environmentally-friendly polypropylene bags; the Agro sacks to the Dansa Juice, it is safe to conclude that the Dangote brand is the seen hand in every home and office.
Not too long ago, the Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), to invest $1 Billion (N165 billion), for the establishment of fully integrated rice production and processing operations across Nigeria.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who presided over the signing of the MOU, noted that it was a timely response to the ongoing reforms of his Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) launched in 2011. Following the launch, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, had worked with various stakeholders to catalyse increased investments for agriculture with a particular emphasis on private sector investments. Farmlands in Edo, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, and Niger states totaling 150,000 hectares to be used for the commercial production of rice paddy have been acquired and the project is now on it completion stage.
As part of the project, Dangote will also establish two state-of-the-art large-scale rice mills each with a capacity to mill 120,000 metric tonnes of rice paddy, bringing total capacity to 240,000 metric tonnes, with plans to double capacity within two years. With this installed capacity, the project will become the largest single investment ever made in rice production in Africa. The rice plant is estimated to produce 960,000 metric tonnes of mill rice, representing 46 per cent of rice imported.
On this, Aliko Dangote said: “Our goal of making Nigeria a net exporter of rice will be achieved faster by this significant investment, and I congratulate the Minister of Agriculture and his team for the very strong demonstration of public-private sector partnerships and collaboration to drive significant transformation in Nigeria’s agriculture sector”.
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, Minister of Agriculture, also testified: “This investment by Dangote Industries Limited is transformational for Nigeria and the rest of Africa. The 150,000 hectares of rice farms and the planned 240,000 metric tonnes processing capacity of international quality grade rice is guaranteed to turn Nigeria away from being a rice importing country to a major rice exporter. Through this billion dollar commitment, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s leading business man, has clearly attested to the policies and approach that the Federal Government has undertaken to transform the nation’s agricultural sector”.
But more heartwarming, is the recent revelation by the management of Dangote Group that it is now focused on developing its multi-billion dollars new businesses this year to meet its completion timelines.
According to Dangote Group’s Executive Director for Strategy, Potfolio Development and Special Project, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, said the company was launching all out to ensure that the businesses come on stream as planned.
He revealed that a few of the new businesses have been redesigned for increased capacity. Edwin said the Dangote Group business models were develop to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest in the world, and that new technologies employed by the company gives it advantage over others.
“We are building 650,000 barrels per day oil refinery which will be the largest in the world, and our planned rice production would also be the largest in the world,” Edwin said.
“We do all these because we believe in Nigeria, we believe in her potential and we believe in her economy. We draw our business model with exportation in mind. We believe Nigeria can be self-sufficient and even produce for foreign market.
“Nigeria has a large population, so do many other African countries, and that is why we build all our business model with exportation in mind. We had to review the capacity of our planned refinery and increase it. We have never hesitated to have big plants and that is why we deploy latest technologies in their set up.”
Restating his faith in Nigeria recently and urging other investors not to be wearied by the seeming swing-high-swing-low economic challenges, Dangote enthused encouragingly: “I have always said it that Nigeria is a good place to invest. God has given us in Nigeria what many other countries don’t have and they keep searching for it.”
“We have got fertile land for agriculture, we have the minerals resources and we have oil. All we need to do is to harness them for our good. The present challenge we are facing should not deter us from growing our economy. It shouldn’t stop us from investing; it’s just a passing phase.”
This shred of optimism must be appreciated by all, given that not too long ago Dangote lost $7.8 billion after the naira was devalued in December 2014, reducing his net worth from $25billon to $17.2 billion.
Sterner stuffs are made of resilience. And only brand made of such mien and mettle would still have the faith of investing in a country that cost it such loss. Only a Dangote Brand is made of such stuff. “Other countries referred to as developed started from somewhere; they all experienced some of these challenges in the past. So I want us to see these challenges as obstacles towards attaining greatness,” he said. “If Nigerians do not invest in their country, other people would not come. They will want to see our success story before they can come.” Dangote said.
The good news is that the group is about to complete its petroleum refinery in Lagos. Edwin noted: “We are building 650,000 barrels per day oil refinery which will be the largest in the world, and our planned rice production would also be the largest in the world.
“We do all these because we believe in Nigeria, we believe in her potential and we believe in her economy. We draw our business model with exportation in mind. We believe Nigeria can be self-sufficient and even produce for foreign markets.”
Yes! Indeed, the abiding faith and belief in the Nigerian dream is perhaps the motivating factor in the Dangote Brand being fully involved in Corporate Social Responsibility activities that are transforming the lives of Nigerians and complementing Government’s initiatives in that regard. Truly, the Dangote Brand is “a testimony of successful and rewarding private entrepreneurship”.
Like the Dangote Iconic brand, it is rewarding to believe in Nigeria, even if it is for the purpose of service.