Nigeria’s business mogul, Aliko Dangote, has decried the difficulties faced by investors travelling across the African continent.
He bemoaned the stringent travel policy among African countries when he spoke recently at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.
According to Dangote, he needs 35 different visas on his Nigerian passport to travel within Africa.
The 67-year-old business mogul said he did not have the time to move around the continent to drop his passport at embassies to get visas, adding that it was a big challenge.
“I still complained to President Kagame. I told him that, as an investor, I have to now apply for 35 different visas on my passport, and I told Mr. President, I really don’t have the time to go and be dropping my passports in embassies to get a visa.
“But you see, the most annoying thing is that yes, if you are treating everybody the same, then I can understand,” he said.
According to Dangote , Patrick Pouyanne, chairman of Total Energies, he does not need 35 visas on his French passport to gain access to African countries.
“You don’t need 35 visas on your French passport. This means you have a freer movement than myself in Africa,” he asserted.
In his submission about businesses within Africa, he called for more collaboration, stressing that foreigners would not assist the continent in achieving its goals.
Dangote averred, “Our main job is to make sure the regional markets all work. Once they work, we can now go to the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement. But then, for AfCFTA as well, we need to make sure that it works.
“We cannot have a very promising continent, and our intra-trade rate is less than 16 percent. Okay, so we Africans will have to do it. If we are waiting for foreigners to come and do it, it’s not going to happen
“So, it can only happen to us Africans. We must risk our sources and make sure that we lead, and then we will have people who actually trust and believe in Africa, like Patrick, to come and help us push to the next level.”
Also, at the event, the business mogul announced that Nigeria would not have to import petrol into the country by June, when Dangote refinery commences production of the product.
“Right now, Nigeria has no cause to import anything apart from gasoline, and by sometime in June, within the next four or five weeks, Nigeria shouldn’t import anything like gasoline—not one drop of a litre,” he assured.
Consequently, Dangote stated that the shortfall in the supply of petrol would be addressed not only in Nigeria but in other West African countries.
“We have enough gasoline to give to at least the entire West Africa. We have enough diesel to give to West Africa and Central Africa,” he added.
