Nigerian billionaire, Aliko Dangote, has expressed his frustration about the difficulties he encounters while traveling within Africa with his Nigerian passport.
Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, Dangote revealed that he requires 35 separate visas to enter various African countries.
In his words:
“I still complained to President Kagame. I told him that as an investor, I have to now apply for 35 different visas on my passport, and I told Mr. President, I really don’t have the time to go and be dropping my passports in embassies to get a visa.”
Dangote who is Africa’s wealthiest man lamented that even as an investor, he do not have the time to apply for these visas.
Dangote contrasted his experience with that of Patrick Pouyanne, the chairman of Total Energies, who enjoys greater freedom of movement with his French passport.
“You don’t need 35 visas on your French passport. This means you have a freer movement than myself in Africa”, he said.
Dangote emphasized the need for Africans to drive the continent’s development, particularly by improving regional markets and intra-trade rates, which currently stand at less than 16%.
“We cannot have a very promising continent and our intra-trade rate is less than 16 percent. Okay, so we Africans will have to do it. If we are waiting for foreigners to come and do it, both the development of Africa, it’s not going to happen.”
He added, “So it can only happen to us Africans. We must risk our sources and make sure that we lead, then we will have people who actually trust and believe in Africa like Patrick to come and help us to push to the next level.”
He further announced that the Dangote refinery will commence petrol production by June, eliminating the need for Nigeria to import petrol.
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