Policy Flip-Flops, Power Crisis Behind North’s Stunted Growth—Dangote

Africa’s richest man and President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has blamed the North’s slow economic growth and worsening insecurity on decades of policy inconsistency and chronic electricity shortages

He warned that the region risks deeper social and economic collapse unless its leaders urgently recalibrate its development agenda.

Speaking at the Silver Jubilee Dinner and Award Night of the Arewa Consultative Forum in Kaduna on Friday, Dangote said many of the region’s once-promising industries collapsed because successive governments failed to maintain stable and predictable policies that could support long-term investment.

He recalled commissioning Arthur Andersen, now part of KPMG, to study why some of the North’s most successful entrepreneurs, including top textile industrialists, went under despite their ingenuity and capacity.

“The findings pointed clearly at policy inconsistency. Imagine you are about to score a goal and someone suddenly tells you the goalpost is behind your back. That is how unpredictable government policy has been,” he said.

According to him, the second major factor crippling northern development is the persistent power crisis, which he described as incompatible with industrial growth.

Dangote revealed that his conglomerate deliberately avoids connecting its factories in Nigeria to the national grid because the public power supply cannot support industrial operations.

“The only two countries where we connect to public power are South Africa and Ethiopia. Without electricity, you cannot have growth, no matter how hard you try,” he added.

He noted that the current economic environment has further compounded industrial challenges, citing escalating interest rates and the high cost of capital. Manufacturing in Nigeria, he said, had become nearly impossible without substantial personal financing.

Dangote urged northern governors and policymakers to develop a coherent, long-term economic strategy anchored on education, industry and agriculture.

He said the North has the landmass and population to become the food basket of West Africa, but is far from realising its agricultural potential due to poor planning and the absence of sustained investment.

“We have the land and the people, but we don’t have the structured investment. If we plan well, the North can feed the whole of West Africa,” he said.

On insecurity, the industrialist linked the spread of banditry, unemployment and economic displacement to years of neglect in critical sectors.

“All the issues we are facing today would not be happening if we had done the right things. Everyone of us shares the blame, myself included,” he said.

Dangote insisted that industrial expansion must become the region’s priority if it hopes to reduce insecurity and offer meaningful opportunities for its growing youth population.

While acknowledging the symbolic importance of the ACF’s 25th anniversary, he said the milestone should force the North to reflect on its failures and confront the urgent need for coordinated action.

“If we don’t resolve these issues. They will consume every one of us, whether we are guilty or not,” he warned.