Encomium
No matter how gifted and blessed you are, you sometimes lose and get kicked in the teeth!
And despite the extraordinary success of Dangote Group, its textile business was disadvantaged through policies that encouraged dumping of cheaper imported products – and it had to concede defeat after losing billions and packed up.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote painted the painful scenario that led to closing the textile subsidiary (with 6,080 workers) of the business.
The textile industry which used to be the largest employers of labour (after the federal government) suffered many set backs, especially the neglect of protecting domestic industries by the government. Companies couldn’t compete with the avalanche of Indian and Chinese imports (with cheaper prices), and had to struggle and eventually close.
In 1995 the subsidiary paid N982 million in gratuity and pension to workers of the Nigerian Textile Mill (set up by Chief Obafemi Awolowo). They eventually had to cut their losses and close.
Another venture which the group exited was flour milling. Because there was no value addition in the milling, they decided to leave.
“We had a strategic decision to exit businesses that we weren’t adding any value to Nigerians. Once you are not adding value, it is not industrialisation. You only import wheat and process to flour. We thought we could grow the wheat, many were only interested in importing. We decided to leave and stay in sugar refining.”
The businessman enjoined good people in developing countries to change the import mentality because “when you import things into your country, you are importing poverty and exporting jobs out.
“Domestic investors are the only ones that can help a country industrialize and grow. They are the ones that eventually attract foreign investors. The country’s domestic market should be protected first.”
