Africa’s richest man, billionaire Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Group, has announced plans to build Nigeria’s largest seaport in Ogun State.
Dangote made the announcement last week during a courtesy visit to the state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun. He said the company was planning to build the port in the Olokola Free Trade Zone (OKFTZ).
“We earlier on abandoned our vision of investing in the Olokola Free Trade Zone but because of Governor Dapo Abiodun’s policies and investor-friendly environment we are back and are going to work with the government,” he said.
“Plans are under way to construct the largest port in the country,” Dangote said.
During his visit, he updated the government on his resumption of construction of the $800-million, six million metric tonnes per annum cement factory in Itori, which is located in the Ewekoro Local Government Area. Construction of the factory is expected to be completed by November 2026.
Dangote said it was unfortunate that construction of the cement factory, which should have been completed and commissioned earlier, had been delayed following opposition to the project by a former governor.
Currently, Dangote Cement Plant in Ibese produces 12 million metric tonnes of cement a year and the commissioning of the new factory will increase the state’s total production capacity to 18 million metric tons per annum, making it the largest cement-producing region in Africa.