COLUMN

DOING BUSINESS IN NIGERIA, SOMETHING TO LEARN FROM ALIKO DANGOTE

During my service year in Sokoto in 2010, my good friend, David Paul Esezeabor ( I hope I got the last name spelled correctly), and few other Corps members close to me kept wondering how Aliko Dangote managed to rise to the peak in the business, taking a leading position Africa. Their bewilderment, as I understood, was not unconnected to the common belief that the Igbos were ahead always business-wise. It was the popular belief for as far as I can remember. To this day, many people across Nigeria hold onto the same notion. 

Years after, the secret behind Dangote's growth is revealing itself. He knows his onions. He is prepared for the challenges that comes with doing business anywhere he invests, including Nigeria, a very complext country deeply rooted in pursuing and sustaining self-interest, even by public officials, at the expense of the overall population. In one occasion I attended, His Excellency, Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule, the Nasarawa State Governor, narrated how good his erstwhile boss, Aliko Dangote, was, with risk taking. He alluded the growth of Dangote Sugar Refinery in Lagos, where he served as Managing Director to this rare attribute.

Beyond that, we have seen how the most accomplished businessman in Africa has been battling for the survival of his Refinery, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, since it started production sometime last year. 

Efforts were made to demarket the Refinery, frustrate him and keep him out of business by the oil blocks whom he once described as more dangerous than the drugs cartel. He stood firm in defence of his investment, demystifying the many false narratives and proving that not only did the Refinery produced the best PMS in terms of quality, it did had the capacity to meet daily consumption, with surplus as reserve or left for exportation. He personally took to the Media to do so, having decipher the scheme going on at the time.

Realizing the lingering conspiracy aimed at dissuading potential customers from lifting his product, he did not relent in marketing the said product elsewhere. Dangote Refinery was patronized by countries outside Nigeria. While NNPCL and Independent Markers were busy importing PMS, a product that was very much available locally, at lower price, and of better quality, Dangote was exporting. He was not dettered by the  scheming against him. 

The recent steps he made that caught my attention, and indeed many other's, is partnering with MRS, Hyde Energy and Ardova PLC (AP) to to deliver his product nationwide. This plan, I must say, is well thought-out, and has the potential of working for him and Nigerians who stand tye chance of getting better quality petrol readily available, rendering his detractors ineffective, even going as far as compelling them to do his bidding. Yes, he got them to reduce pump price twice, following announcement of his reduction. 

They are now working tirelessly to put Warri Refinery and Port Harcourt Refinery back to shape in order to break monopoly and create competition, which is healthy for the country. That Nigerians do not trust NNPCL and the Federal Government to get it right, is not the subject of this article. Notwithstanding, we must appreciate Dangote for his shocking revelations, including one that had to do with the Malta Blending Plant. And for waking up NNPCL as well as the Federal Government from their sleep. 

Whoever is interested in doing business in Nigeria should learn from the Dangote experience. You cannot survive politics surrounding the business realm unless you understand how it operates, and you are willing to stand your ground. If you do, like Dangote, I predict your survival, even your evsgutal growth against all odds. 

Yahaya Abdulrahman writes from Nasarawa, Nasarawa State, Nigeria and can be reached on ibnyahya02@gmail.com