The Role Of Entrepreneurship in National Development: The Story of The Dangote Group

has not been successful because of inadequate gas supply. 6) We have also entered into a $5 Billion joint venture agreement with the Black Rhino Group, a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group, the largest Private Equity and Asset Management Company in the world, with assets of $334 billion under management, to develop energy infrastructure in […]

has not been successful because of inadequate gas supply.
6) We have also entered into a $5 Billion joint venture agreement with the Black Rhino Group, a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group, the largest Private Equity and Asset Management Company in the world, with assets of $334 billion under management, to develop energy infrastructure in Africa. I am proud to say that the Chairman of the Black Rhino Group is no other than the Chairman of today’s lecture, His Royal Highness, the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II. Allah ya taimaki Sarki.
Specifically in Nigeria, we are already looking into setting up power plants in Kano and Abuja. Elsewhere on the continent we are already exploring opportunities in Togo and Zimbabwe, and most of these plants will be coal-based, as we have developed expertise and capacity through the provision of captive power to all our factories. This has been a key factor in our success as our cost of power is 4 cents/kWh on average, compared to 15 cents/kWh average for residential users.
In total we will be investing over US$19 Billion across our various businesses as we consolidate in some, grow others and venture into new fields and enterprises.
It is worth noting that as an entrepreneur, I have not limited myself to physical investments only. Due to the scale of the need and the magnitude of the benefits; I also advocate for greater participation by other investors, policy makers, financiers, innovators and communities. In this spirit, I serve on the World Economic Forum’s Global Business Council, Harvard University’s Global Advisory Council as well as the Global Advisory Board of McKinsey, among others. I am a co-founder of the African Energy Leaders Group and inaugural member of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition. Successful entrepreneurs must know how to build partnerships, coalitions and consensus to succeed.
As an entrepreneur, nothing gives me more pleasure than the opportunity to give back to the community. Our companies are at the forefront of corporate social responsibility initiatives. In addition, at a personal level, I set up the Dangote Foundation in 1993 as another platform for philanthropy. Two years ago, I endowed the Foundation to the tune of $1.25 billion and it has been focusing on the areas of education, health, empowerment and emergency relief.
From the foregoing, we can safely conclude that entrepreneurship is the only way to secure Nigeria’s future. We have all the resources – both human and natural – at our disposal to do this and owe it to ourselves.
Is entrepreneurship easy? Certainly not! Throughout my journey I encountered several challenges and obstacles and some failures. But I kept going.
Attempts to solve social problems frequently fail because they require collective action from governments, universities, civil society and the private sector. Producing large-scale, reliable, affordable, and environmentally sustainable goods and services is a key global challenge. But the solutions are within our grasp. Nigeria’s future is bright. And its future lies in its youth. To realize its full potential, we need to build our human talents and resources for the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Institutions like ABU need to move out of the comfort of their traditional environment and work more actively with institutions, groups and individuals in the market place, on the fields and in politics, and business; physically and metaphorically speaking. We must collectively take deliberate steps to nurture our entrepreneurs to enable Nigeria to take her pride of place in the comity of nations. 
Long live the Ahmadu Bello University.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Thank you and God bless you all.