Dangote: In the Eye of the Global Market

Recently, Dangote Group, Nigeria’s manufacturing giant with heavy presence in sub-Saharan Africa, re-branded as part of the process of launching themselves into the global market. In this piece, Ndubuisi Eluwa, takes a look at the group’s achievements so far and raises some pertinent questions.

As part of efforts to sustain its leadership position in the household commodities manufacturing industry and also reposition itself to compete effectively in the global market, the manufacturing conglomerate, Dangote Group, recently embarked on the rebranding of their corporate identity to reflect the direction the Group in upholding their over 30 years heritage in business.
The new logo, which is not too different from the old one, was designed by Brand Union, a South African brand agency and has the image of an Eagle which symbolizes strength, focus, elegance, clear vision and dynamism of the Group; sitting atop a Red blazing Sun (Horizon) which symbolizes rebirth and breakthrough and, in some way, announces the emergence of the Group to the world stage. The name DANGOTE is inscribed in bold letters in royal blue colour which stands for credibility, humanism, care and royalty.
The unveiling the new logo and claim of readiness to play at the world stage however throws up some issues bothering on whether the group really has what it takes to compete effectively with bigger global brands, or if it is just making another bogus statement without any real depth, especially when it is weighed against the background that Nigeria as a nation has not been able to produce any real globally accepted brand.
The Expansion
The group was founded in 1977 as AL CO Int’l Ltd and has over the years experienced a remarkable growth since inception, which the organization says is a result of its commitment to quality goods, services and efficiency of its human capital. Over the years also, the group has expanded to include Dangote Nigeria Limited, Dangote Transport Limited, Dangote Cement Plc, Dangote Salt Plc, Dangote Flour Mills Plc, Dangote Sugar Plc., Dansa Foods Limited, among others. Speaking of the Group’s heritage at the logo unveiling event, the Chief Marketing and Communication Officer, Folakemi Ani-Mumuney, assured that the new logo will not in any way change the Group’s age-long heritage, but will rather echo it as they project into the future. Indeed, the group is not relenting in its expansion moves. During his speech at the AGM of Dangote Sugar Refinery earlier on in the year, Alhaji Aliko Dangote indicated the readiness of the company to diversify into ethanol production since it is produced from a by product of refined sugar called molasses, which is produced in the refinery.
Contributions
Notably, the Group, in its over 30 years of existence has been committed to economic empowerment, creating employment opportunities while contributing to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In addition, Dangote Group is said to presently have over 13,000 employees in its employment. It was in recognition of this achievement that the President and Chief Executive of the Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, was recently honoured with an award by the Federation of Construction Industry (FOCI).
In his speech at the recent logo unveiling ceremony, delivered by Engr. Joe Makanju, the COO of Dangote Cement Ltd, Aliko Dangote, who was unavoidably absent, said: “Today we are redoubling our commitment to these values…we are set more than ever before to deliver world-class services not just to Nigerians but to the world at large.” The business mogul, who stated that they are proud of their achievements in the past 30 years and declared their intention to be the leading employer of labour, not only in Nigeria, but also in sub Saharan Africa, admitted that doing business in Africa is quite challenging, adding, however, that “our experience has put us in good stead to surmount these challenges, and we are confident that we shall continue to grow and contribute to the well being of the African economy.”
Achievements
Dangote Group has already distinguished itself as a major producer of such household commodities as sugar, beverages, salt, spaghetti and flour, as well as cement, with operations cutting across Nigeria, Benin, Ghana and Algeria. In addition, the Group has two terminals in Port Harcourt and another two in Lagos through which it imports quality cement. They also operate the Benue Cement Company Plc, Gboko and the Kano Flour factory, Kano. In 2003, in line with its commitment to economic growth, the group invested more than $1 billion to set up another cement factory in Obajana village of Kogi Sate, the largest in sub-Saharan Africa. The plant is said to have a 35 mega watts gas power a 94km gas pipeline, a 13m high dam, with total storage capacity of 5.1 million metric tons and a 328 housing unit.
Earlier the year, Dangote’s sugar refinery became the first in the sugar refinery sub sector to be awarded the ISO 9001:2000 quality standard certificate when it received the NIS/ISO 9001:2000 International Quality Management Award from Standard Organization of Nigeria.
What Can Dangote Offer To The Global Community?
Considering Dangote’s their track record within Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa, one would be tempted to conclude that the Nigerian manufacturing giant would be able to compete effectively in the global market. But, will the different brands on the Dangote stable be able to stand tall in the highly competitive global market, given the fact that they will be emanating from a third world country with its numerous encumbrances? Does the group have any world-class brand in food, beverages or textile that can stand out in the global terrain? Can Dangote break the jinx and produce the much awaited global brand from Nigeria, or is the ‘emergence to the world stage’ just a hoax that will lead no where? Only time will tell.