Dangote says Africa Needs to Develop Strong Institutions to Combat Corruption and Attract Investment

Aliko Dangote, CEO of the Dangote Group, believes that Africa needs to have strong institutions to combat corruption.  Dangote advised, “One of the greatest obstacles apart from corruption is the lack of understanding in the sense that today, somebody can say ‘I don’t want to go to Africa’, you ask why, he says he has heard that there is corruption in Africa but really almost every single country in the world has corruption. The thing is for us to have strong institutions that will deal with that.”

He continued, “Even here in the States, you have corruption but when you cross the line, there are strong institutions that will deal with that situation. With us, the majority of our governments have tried to stop corruption and I think doing that on a continuous basis will end up eliminating corruption entirely.”

Dangote, speaking after it was announced that he made CNBC’s First 25, a global list of individuals who have had a profound impact on business and finance since 1989, also emphasized the progress that is taking place in Africa.  He went on to say, “Africa is a continent with 54 countries.  At the moment, we have a one billion population, GDP is 1.85 trillion.  We’ve been growing at about 5.5 percent GDP year-on-year for the last 11, 12 years and it’s been doing quite well.”

He also stated, “When you really look at the numbers, things are happening.  A lot of people don’t believe that because they have archaic information of the 1970s.  We’re being consistent in terms of the growth.  If you look at it, the projection that in 2050, which means in 36 to 37 years, if we keep growing at about 5.5 percent, Africa will be a two billion population and we’ll have about 15 trillion GDP.”

As a result of this growth, Africa has received increased foreign investment in recent times and Dangote indicated that China is just one of the nations interested in the continent’s growth.

Source: CNBC Africa