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Nigeria - Devakumar Edwin, Former Group Managing Director, Dangote Cement Plc and current Executive Director, Strategy, Portfolio Development and Special Projects of Dangote Group, in an interview with Thisday recounted how Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote built his business empire right from the scrap. Excerpts:
Our President, after a trip to Brazil in 1997, made up his mind to enter into the manufacturing activity in a large way since he had seen huge manufacturing complexes, providing massive levels of employment, which encouraged him to decide on the type of legacy he should leave behind in Nigeria. He felt that, as much as it would help him to build up his own business, it would also contribute to the development of the country and its economy.
We started with a strategy of backward integration, investing in manufacturing of the products that were being imported and traded by us. We were the largest importers of Spaghetti and Macaroni (Pasta) from Italy, where a company was manufacturing two brands exclusively for us and hence, we decided to manufacture pasta and, since the raw material for pasta was wheat flour and, since the biggest flour milling company in the country was also manufacturing pasta, we realised that it was not an ideal approach to source our raw materials from a company with whom we were going to compete with in selling our finished products and we decided to go into flour milling too.
We were the largest importers of sugar and hence, we decided to build a sugar refinery. We were importing cement and so, we decided to set up a cement terminal. As importers, we had the customers, the warehouses, the trucks for haulage (i.e.), the entire sales, distribution and logistics network which made it easy for us to enter into manufacturing. In any business, the key is to have a good sales and distribution network.
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#Dangote #Nigeria #EdwinDevakumar
Our President, after a trip to Brazil in 1997, made up his mind to enter into the manufacturing activity in a large way since he had seen huge manufacturing complexes, providing massive levels of employment, which encouraged him to decide on the type of legacy he should leave behind in Nigeria. He felt that, as much as it would help him to build up his own business, it would also contribute to the development of the country and its economy.
We started with a strategy of backward integration, investing in manufacturing of the products that were being imported and traded by us. We were the largest importers of Spaghetti and Macaroni (Pasta) from Italy, where a company was manufacturing two brands exclusively for us and hence, we decided to manufacture pasta and, since the raw material for pasta was wheat flour and, since the biggest flour milling company in the country was also manufacturing pasta, we realised that it was not an ideal approach to source our raw materials from a company with whom we were going to compete with in selling our finished products and we decided to go into flour milling too.
We were the largest importers of sugar and hence, we decided to build a sugar refinery. We were importing cement and so, we decided to set up a cement terminal. As importers, we had the customers, the warehouses, the trucks for haulage (i.e.), the entire sales, distribution and logistics network which made it easy for us to enter into manufacturing. In any business, the key is to have a good sales and distribution network.
click here to read more
#Dangote #Nigeria #EdwinDevakumar