The billionaire told Bloomberg that his success in cement, sugar and oil came from early investment and risk-taking, not from special treatment. He argued that government import bans came after he had already built his businesses.
On his $20 billion refinery, Dangote admitted the project was extremely challenging due to Nigeria’s poor infrastructure, saying he had to provide nearly everything himself. He noted that the refinery has now turned Nigeria into a net exporter of petroleum for the first time in 30 years.
Dangote’s fortune has grown by about $1 billion in the past three months, lifting his net worth to $28 billion. He maintained that his wealth was earned cleanly and insisted, “We are not part of the corruption. We are solving problems.”
