Aliko Dangote has stressed the importance of reliable electricity to the growth of businesses and industries, urging entrepreneurs to identify opportunities created by major investments in the power and industrial sectors.
Dangote said the challenges confronting businesses, particularly the high cost and reliability of electricity, require entrepreneurs to carefully assess their operations and make decisions based on commercial realities.
He advised business owners against spending profits they were only expecting to make, saying entrepreneurs must know when to continue investing in a venture and when to cut their losses.
“Give it your best effort, but when you do the numbers and they are not adding up, you must be willing to leave,” he said.
The industrialist, however, said the difficulties facing the business environment would not stop his group from investing in Nigeria.
“People like us will continue investing. People like you can build businesses around those investments—as suppliers, producers and service providers,” he said.
Dangote encouraged smaller businesses to position themselves around major industrial projects, saying large investments could create opportunities for entrepreneurs in areas such as production, supply and services.
His comments underline the importance of electricity and other critical infrastructure to the viability of industrial investments, as businesses require dependable and affordable power to control operating costs and remain competitive.
He said entrepreneurs should therefore look beyond the challenges and consider how they could build sustainable businesses around large-scale industrial investments while keeping a close watch on their costs and revenues.
