
<p>By Chris Bishop</p>



<p>The laboratory in the front line of fight against the deadly COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria’s remote northern state of Kano has closed down because the disease has struck down a number of its workers.</p>



<p>Kano – the hometown of Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote – has seen a spike in mystery deaths in recent as Nigeria battles the pandemic with scant resources. Former Nigerian aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode tweeted a claim that 150 people had died mysteriously in Kano recently; the official figures say Kano has only 59 cases of COVID-19, but the government health authorities say they will investigated the mystery death claim.</p>



<p>These concerns from Kano were raised with the World Health Organisation at its weekly webinar on Africa. Sani Aliyu, the coordinator for the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 in Abuja, said small teams were struggling, with little money, to test and track data.</p>



<p>“This week the laboratory in Kano was closed in an incident where one or two members acquired COVID-19. We had to disinfect the place and ensure that there are adequate controls for safety. It will take three or four days to reopen it,” says Aliyu &nbsp;</p>



<p>Whatever the outcome of the Kano investigation, officials in Nigeria are clear that the fight against COVID-19 is going to be a tough one.</p>



<p>Nigeria was the first African nation to report a case of COVID-19 and many in the country criticize the government for testing a mere 10,000 people out of a population of 200 million.”</p>



<p>“The truth is we have to work with what we have we did start from scratch the same as South Africa had. We have tested 5,000 people in the last week so we have increase the rate of testing incredibly. Once we have more equipment we will be able to do more tests across the country,” Chikwe Ihekweazu Director General for Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.</p>



<p>“People think of a dipstick test: Is it blue or red? But it is not, it is a very complicated level of extraction  and analysis that takes six to seven hours to complete. It is very complex I would rather go little bit slower and get it right than go at speed and make errors.”</p>



<p>WHO officials agree that more needs to be done to build up equipment and skills to fight the pandemic; when it broke out there were a mere 30 ventilators in Lagos – most at private hospitals – and 360 in the country. WHO officials said another 100 ventilators had been shipped into Nigeria over the last few weeks.</p>



<p>“Everything we do right now is, one, to help us solve the problem and, two, to make for a better tomorrow. We are building people, we are building institutions and we are building to last and we may not get a second chance to do this,” says Ihekweazu. Bold words, in the face of a brutal pandemic.</p>


President Buhari to AfDB President Adesina: “I’ll stand by you”

Mystery deaths as Nigeria tries to hold back an avalanche of COVID-19

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<p>As the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Nigeria reaches eight, the Aliko Dangote Foundation earlier pledged N200 million to support Nigeria’s health authorities to combat the spread of the pandemic. Zouera Youssoufou, Managing Director and CEO of Aliko Dangote Foundation disclosed this while speaking to CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor&#8230;.</p>


Nigeria’s journey to eradicate polio & COVID-19

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<p>As the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Nigeria reaches eight, the Aliko Dangote Foundation earlier pledged N200 million to support Nigeria’s health authorities to combat the spread of the pandemic. Zouera Youssoufou, Managing Director and CEO of Aliko Dangote Foundation disclosed this while speaking to CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor.</p>


Billionaire Aliko Dangote pledges N200mn to aid Nigeria’s fight against COVID-19


<p>LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Africa’s largest oil refinery will not be finished until the end of 2020 due to problems importing steel and other equipment, executives at Dangote, which is building the facility in the Nigerian commercial hub of Lagos, told Reuters.</p>



<p>Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, imports virtually all its fuel due to sclerotic and underutilised refineries, and even the state oil company is looking to the 650,000 barrel per day (bpd) Dangote refinery to help address this. [nL5N1UN5IK]</p>



<p>Price caps force NNPC to import nearly all its gasoline at a significant cost and periodic fuel shortages are common.</p>



<p>Despite the delays at the congested Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos, a Dangote executive said the company could start using the refinery’s tank farms as a depot to warm up operations.</p>



<p>“We will be able to complete the (refinery) project by the end of next year &#8211; mechanical completion,” said Dangote Group Executive Director Devakumar Edwin, who oversees the project.</p>



<p>The company expects fuel production within two months of completion of the refinery, which could transform Africa’s biggest crude producer from a fuel importer into a net exporter, upending global trade patterns.</p>



<p>Billionaire Aliko Dangote, who built his fortune on cement, first announced a smaller refinery in 2013, to be finished in 2016. Dangote then moved the site to Lekki, in Lagos, upgraded the size and said production would start in early 2020.</p>



<p>Industry sources told Reuters last year that fuel output was unlikely before 2022.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">TRADING PLAN</h3>



<p>Edwin also said during an interview at his office in Lagos that Dangote is setting up its own trading desk, with a senior team of three people and a staff of roughly 30 who will monitor international commodity prices.</p>



<p>“We are setting up a complete trading desk here with us. In the next three months the full desk will be set up,” he said.</p>



<p>Giuseppe Surace, the refinery’s chief operations officer, said the refinery’s tank farms will be finished this year and could be used as a warm-up for operations.</p>



<p>The tanks will be connected to five “single point mooring buoys” (SPMs), which will allow the refinery complex to pump crude straight into tanks from large ships at sea and pump products back out onto boats of any size.</p>



<p>The SPMs will be the primary method of supplying oil products from the refinery, Surace said, adding that the team were considering using the tanks as training or as a depot before the refinery’s production starts.</p>



<p>“We might do that. We will be ready to do that,” he said, though he added that no decision had been taken yet.</p>



<p>The team is in talks with NNPC, two other international oil companies and two large oil traders, all of whom are interested in supplying crude and buying products, Edwin said.[nL8N2539DB]</p>



<p>Edwin said the crude unit for the refinery, which set sail from China last month, would arrive by the end of October.</p>



<p>The trains at a fertilizer plant on the same site will start up by the end of this year, the executives said.</p>



<p>Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; editing by Libby George and Alexander Smith</p>


Here’s why Nigeria’s huge Dangote oil refinery has been delayed until the end of 2020

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<p>Executive Director of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, Halima Dangote says the Dangote group has a mandate to have 50 percent of women across its boards. She joined CNBC Africa’s Christy Cole to discuss the need for gender parity in Africa’s work place on the side-lines of the Women Corporate Directors&#8217; Forum in Lagos.</p>


Halima Dangote: Aliko pushes me to rise above social limitations

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<p>On the side-lines of the Women Corporate Directors forum, Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group noted that women are not well represented in the scheme of affairs. He discussed this and more with CNBC Africa’s Christy Cole.</p>


Aliko Dangote: We need a bill to promote better representation of women

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<p>Africans need to stop looking at putting money into healthcare as a cost and start looking at it as an investment. This is according to Halima Dangote, Executive Director of the Aliko Dangote Foundation who spoke to CNBC Africa&#8217;s Wole Famurewa on the side-lines of the just concluded African Union Summit in Addis Ababa.</p>


Healthcare is not a cost it’s an investment – Halima Dangote

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<p>Top African leaders and the private sector will converge on the side-lines of the 32nd African Union Summit for the inaugural Africa Business Health Forum in Addis Ababa, where they will be exploring ways to catalyse growth in Africa&#8217;s health sector. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Wole Famurewa caught up with President of Dangote Group Aliko Dangote, to discuss how this forum plans to change the face of healthcare in Africa.</p>


How we can improve Africa’s health systems – Dangote

<p>LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; A huge oil refinery being built in Nigeria by Africa’s richest man is unlikely to start production until 2022, two years later than the target date, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.</p>
<p>The 650,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery near Lagos, set to be Africa’s biggest, is expected to boost Nigeria’s growth and turn the country from an importer of refined products into an exporter, transforming global trade patterns.</p>
<p>Billionaire Aliko Dangote, who built his fortune on cement, told Reuters last month he hoped to finish building the refinery in 2019 and to start production in early 2020.</p>
<p>However, the sources, who have been on the site many times, said they do not expect gasoline or diesel output before early 2022 and even then, many units at the refinery and accompanying petrochemical plant would not be complete.</p>
<p>Dangote Group Executive Director Devakumar Edwin, who oversees the project, described the suggestion that the refinery is unlikely to start production until 2022 as the product of “someone’s wild imagination”.</p>
<p>“Ninety-five percent of engineering has been completed, 90 percent of procurement has been completed.”</p>
<p>“We started civil works in July last year and we have scheduled 2-1/2 years for mechanical completion,” he said, referring to the point where a plant is ready to be handed over for commissioning.</p>
<p>Dangote, who expects the project to cost $12-14 billion, said in July he has raised more than $4.5 billion.</p>
<p>“I’ve never seen a refinery of that scale built in two years. It’s highly improbable due to the sequence of events that need to happen, it cannot be fast-tracked safely,” a source advising the Nigerian government said.</p>
<p>The sources said a refinery on such a scale would likely need five years to complete and the piling underpinning the plant had only started in the second half of last year and would take some more months to complete.</p>
<p>Extra piling was needed to support the plant’s units in the swampy area, causing an unforeseen delay, the sources said.</p>
<div>
<div class="DPSlot_container StandardArticleBody_dp-slot-inline" data-ad-type="other">
<div id="dpslot_canvas_14665487_AFKBN1KV0X2-OZABS" class="DPSlot_ad-container" data-google-query-id="CKupjbyl4twCFcTU7Qod8wUKCQ">Analysts also anticipate delays owing to the scale of the project in an area with limited infrastructure.</div>
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<p>“In our forecast, we are putting late 2021 at the earliest for some gasoline production but it may slip to 2022,” said Gary Still, executive director of CITAC, a specialist consulting company focused on African downstream energy.</p>
<p>Fuel shortages are common in Nigeria, despite the country of 180 million people being Africa’s biggest oil producer.</p>
<p>The existing 445,000 bpd refining system operates well below capacity due to corruption and lack of investment, leaving the state oil firm to import the bulk of its gasoline and gasoil needs paid for with cargoes of crude oil.</p>
<p>Edwin told Reuters last month that more than half the plant’s output could be exported after covering domestic needs.</p>
<h3>TRICKY LOGISTICS</h3>
<p>The plant will be the world’s largest single-train refinery, meaning it will have only one crude distillation unit (CDU).</p>
<p>The government adviser said the CDU would not be ready for commissioning until the third or fourth quarter of 2021 at the earliest, and that process would take about six months.</p>
<p>Major pieces of equipment have yet to arrive or are still being constructed overseas.</p>
<p>A lack of infrastructure to transport and install oversized equipment and risks from rainy season storms could add unforeseen delays, the government adviser said.</p>
<p>The refinery project was first announced in 2013 as a smaller plant to be finished in 2016. A site move to Lekki in Lagos state and a currency crisis caused initial delays.</p>
<p>The first producing unit of the fertilizer plant at the same site is complete but the pipeline that was supposed to bring its key input, natural gas, is not finished, meaning that the end-year start would also be missed, two of the sources said.</p>
<div class="Attribution_container">
<div class="Attribution_attribution">
<p class="Attribution_content">Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar in London and Lagos newsroom; Editing by Adrian Croft</p>
</div>
</div>


Billionaire Aliko Dangote’s $12bn Dangote oil refinery likely delayed

<p><em>By Momentum Securities </em></p>
<p>According to The Herald, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has renewed his interest in pursuing his USD 1.5bn investment in Zimbabwe and on the 9 April, dispatched an advance team comprising geologists. The team will be in Zimbabwe for 10 days.</p>
<p>The delegation is expected to meet President Mnangagwa and Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando. Mr Dangote visited the country in 2015 and expressed interest in power generation, coal mining and cement production.</p>
<p>He was then frustrated by the previous administration of Mr Robert Mugabe. In an interview at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, Dangote Industries’ senior geologist Dr Norash Kumar said they were interested in mining coal. &#8220;It depends on the mineral potential that we are looking for,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Dangote Industries local representative Josie Mahachi said they were hopeful things would work this time around. &#8220;The technical group is back in the country,&#8221; she said. &#8220;With the new dispensation, things are going to move on smoothly”, she added. This is the team that the president of Dangote Holdings, Dangote, has sent to Zimbabwe to do the groundwork before his major visit in the few weeks to come. &#8220;They are here in the country for 10 days and looking for an investment of USD 1.5bn.&#8221;</p>
<p>Buy Zimbabwe chairperson Dr Anxious Masuka said the visit by the Dangote team presented an opportunity for the country to create market linkages for the creation of wealth and jobs. &#8220;This investment fits into our narrative &#8211; the use of local resources to ensure that there are jobs,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The investment by this group will surely ensure that jobs are created”. He also added: &#8220;We are also looking into export opportunities out of those investments. I urge Zimbabweans to embrace this and (reduce) the bureaucracy to quicken the pace so that we can realise this investment sooner than later.&#8221;</p>
<p>Dangote Industries recently invested UDS 400m in a cement manufacturing plant in Zambia. The firm is importing coal from Zimbabwe. According to the Zimbabwe Investment Authority, a total of 162 investment projects valued at USD 1.52bn were approved in 2017 compared to 164 projects valued at USD 2.3bn in 2016. Zimbabwe expects approved investment proposals to reach a record USD 2.5bn in 2018, on the back of growing positive investor sentiment and interest following political changes that took place in November 2017. Zimbabwe expects to grow its foreign direct investment portfolio to generate more jobs, create wealth and contribute significantly to its GDP as part of efforts to revive the economy. Of course much of this will depend on the assessment of the presidential election due mid-2018, with many using this as a benchmark for whether or not the country has indeed moved into a more democratic and investor friendly phase.</p>


Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote is eyeing Zimbabwe

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<p>President of Dangote group, Aliko Dangote says if the next generation of Nigerians are to thrive as adults and drive economic progress there is a need to invest their health and wellbeing.</p>


Dangote urges Nigeria to invest in employee health and wellbeing

The Forbes Billionaires List: Africa’s Billionaires 2018

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<p>Africa&#8217;s richest man Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group shared his investment plans for the year and more with CNBC Africa&#8217;s Esther Awoniyi at the launch of Nova Merchant Bank.</p>


Aliko Dangote outlines aggressive plans for growth

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<p>CNBC Africa caught up with Africa&#8217;s richest man Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group at the just concluded Edo Investment Summit in Benin City and discussed what this summit means for Edo State.</p>


Dangote speaks about investing in Edo State

<p><em>From APO Group correspondent at UN General Assembly in New York</em></p>
<p>Nigerian business leader Aliko Dangote told investors &#8220;Agriculture, agriculture, agriculture. Africa will become the food basket of the world.&#8221;</p>
<p>In a packed room at the headquarters of global law firm Shearman and Sterling LLC  high level business leaders and international diplomats invited by the Corporate Council for Africa to hear Africa&#8217;s richest man, Aliko Dangote, and Rwandan president Paul Kagame openly converse on Africa&#8217;s opportunities and challenges.</p>
<p>Both leaders underscored the ongoing movement to diversify African economies. In the case of  Nigeria, Africa&#8217;s largest economy, Dangote stated &#8220;we should pray that oil prices remain low. This helps wean us off the dependency on revenues from petroleum. We must take oil to be the icing on the cake. We already have the cake,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>In addition to agriculture Dangote cited Nigeria&#8217;s vast mineral resources and gas as well and the need to manufacture more goods locally for domestic consumption. Both he and President Kagame cited continued need for heavy investments in education and connected the need for young people to be well trained for the jobs of tomorrow.</p>
<p>Dangote predicted that &#8220;five of the twelve million jobs needed in Africa soon must be created in Nigeria.&#8221;</p>
<p>Dangote&#8217;s fortune which stems from cement, sugar, and other household commodities has expanded into fertilizer and other processed high-value goods. &#8220;Technology of course helps us a lot and our factories are state of the art with the use of robotics but we shouldn&#8217;t be overly tech oriented to create wealth,&#8221; he told investors.</p>
<p>Dangote who is often cited as one of the most inspiring business leaders in the world today and a model for young entrepreneurs offered advice to Americans who tend to rely on outdated news and wrong perceptions of Africa, &#8220;Don&#8217;t be lazy. Go there and find the real story for yourself. Things have changed.&#8221;</p>
<p>Dangote noted the Rwanda success story where he has business interests as an example of positive change, good governance and leadership, and where corruption has been cured. He cited a personal experience of offering a $100 US tip for services at the Kigali Airport to staff who refused to take money for work they were paid to do. President Kagame was praised for delivering the environment for growth he promised. &#8220;There is nothing African about corruption,&#8221; the Rwandan president added.</p>
<p>The session was moderated by Rosa Whitaker, former US Trade Representative and author of the AGOA (African Growth Opportunity Act), whose business consultancy is credited for helping both African governments and US companies develop commerce.</p>
<p>Distributed by APO on behalf of APO Group &#8211; Africa Newsroom.</p>


“Africa will become the food basket of the world” – Dangote

<p>JOHANNESBURG, Sept 14 (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria’s Dangote Cement has approached South African cement producer PPC about a tie-up, but talks are at the preliminary stage, it said.</p>
<p><strong>READ: </strong><a href="http://cnbc.africa/featured/2017/06/27/inside-billionaire-aliko-dangotes-12bn-dangote-oil-refinery/">Inside billionaire Aliko Dangote’s $12bn Dangote Oil Refinery</a></p>
<p>PPC is already considering a bid by local rival AfriSam, which launched a new all-share bid that values PPC at about 9.2 billion rand ($700.47 million) ($1 = 13.1340 rand) (Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng)</p>


Africa’s richest man’s Dangote seeks tie up with cement producer PPC

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<p>Africa&#8217;s richest man Aliko Dangote has been linked among those considering making a bid for South Africa&#8217;s largest cement maker PPC group. Ifeoluwa Falade, Investment Research analyst at Meristem Securities joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Aliko Dangote

Mystery deaths as Nigeria tries to hold back an avalanche of COVID-19

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Billionaire Aliko Dangote pledges N200mn to aid Nigeria’s fight against COVID-19

Here’s why Nigeria’s huge Dangote oil refinery has been delayed until the end of 2020

Halima Dangote: Aliko pushes me to rise above social limitations

Aliko Dangote: We need a bill to promote better representation of women

Healthcare is not a cost it’s an investment – Halima Dangote

How we can improve Africa’s health systems – Dangote

Billionaire Aliko Dangote’s $12bn Dangote oil refinery likely delayed

Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote is eyeing Zimbabwe

Dangote urges Nigeria to invest in employee health and wellbeing

The Forbes Billionaires List: Africa’s Billionaires 2018

Aliko Dangote outlines aggressive plans for growth

Dangote speaks about investing in Edo State

“Africa will become the food basket of the world” – Dangote

Africa’s richest man’s Dangote seeks tie up with cement producer PPC

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Aliko Dangote

Mystery deaths as Nigeria tries to hold back an avalanche of COVID-19

Nigeria’s journey to eradicate polio & COVID-19

Billionaire Aliko Dangote pledges N200mn to aid Nigeria’s fight against COVID-19

Here’s why Nigeria’s huge Dangote oil refinery has been delayed until the end of 2020

Halima Dangote: Aliko pushes me to rise above social limitations

Aliko Dangote: We need a bill to promote better representation of women

Healthcare is not a cost it’s an investment – Halima Dangote

How we can improve Africa’s health systems – Dangote

Billionaire Aliko Dangote’s $12bn Dangote oil refinery likely delayed

Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote is eyeing Zimbabwe

Dangote urges Nigeria to invest in employee health and wellbeing

The Forbes Billionaires List: Africa’s Billionaires 2018

Aliko Dangote outlines aggressive plans for growth

Dangote speaks about investing in Edo State

“Africa will become the food basket of the world” – Dangote

Africa’s richest man’s Dangote seeks tie up with cement producer PPC

Dangote mulls bid for South Africa’s cement maker

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