Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has denied monopoly accusations, stating that his company has never stopped anyone from venturing into the business he is into.
Speaking with journalists at a recent press briefing, the famous industrialist recalled his foray into cement manufacturing. He added that Lafarge was the only brand doing the same thing in the country.
Dangote disclosed that when he started production, many accused him of monopoly, something that he said is only done when you block the competition through legal or other means.
“Nobody ever called Lafarge monopoly. But we, Dangote, the first plant we set up was 45 million tonnes. That was the first one; less than two million of local production.
“But when we got in there, people now started saying monopoly. And this is really very disheartening when people keep talking about this monopoly.
“Monopoly, you know, is only when you stop people, you block them through legal means or whatever.
“No, it’s a level playing field where whatever Dangote was given, cement for example, other people were given. In fact, some of them, maybe they even got more than us”, he stated.