Dangote Breaks Secret: ‘Why foreign investor are running away from Nigeria’

The richest black man in the world, Aliko Dangote, has said many foreign investors in the agro-business sub-sector are shunning Nigeria because of the insecurity situation in the country, particularly the rising cases of kidnapping, Owojela’s Blog reports.

He made this known while speaking on ‘Challenges Facing Agribusiness Investors in Nigeria.’ at the ongoing Agric Expo and Conference, organised by Nigeria Agribusiness Group in collaboration with other private and public sector agencies.

Represented by Mosul Ahmed, an Executive Director in Dangote Group, the billionaire lamented the spate of kidnapping on the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, which he said has made investors, who own commercial farms to practically abandon them for fear of being attacked or kidnapped.

Dangote said: “The security situation in the country is discouraging agribusiness investors. Most of the people that own large farms on the Kaduna-Abuja Road have abandoned their farms due to the menace of kidnapping.”

He also lamented bottlenecks in access to land by agribusiness investors, which he traced to the Land Use Act, and cautioned that if the Act was not revisited, it will impede the expected and desired diversification of the economy.

He, therefore, advised that government at all levels should begin to work together, where necessary, on proactive approach, particularly on securing land for commercialized agriculture.

He also accused governments at all levels of lack of cooperation and protection of investors in the agricultural sector, noting that there is no synergy on inter-governmental relationship for better performance and productivity by the sector.

“Agriculture cannot thrive in this country, except there is cooperation between all the agencies of government. Inter-governmental cooperation is lacking in terms of galvanizing the kind of support that investors need in the sector,” he stated.