Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has raised concerns about the high cost of trading within Africa, saying it is often cheaper to ship goods from Europe to Nigeria than between neighbouring African countries.
Speaking in an interview, Dangote pointed to major structural challenges including poor transport systems and inefficient trade routes that continue to slow regional trade.
“It costs more to ship from Lagos port to Accra than from Spain to Lagos,” he said, highlighting the unusually high cost of moving goods within Africa.
“There’s no way you can do trade with your neighbours like this,” he added.
“When we look at the transportation sector, most of the people who own ships that move goods around are not Africans.”
Dangote said limited movement of goods, services, and people remains a major obstacle to Africa’s economic integration.
“Somebody like me needs 38 visas to move around. How do I invest now if I’m not able to move around? It doesn’t make sense. Nobody has time to keep applying for visas.”
“Without this, there’s no way we are going to have a very prosperous Africa,” he said. “I cannot move my goods from Lagos to the Republic of Benin, and when you try to cross the border, you can be there for a week if you are lucky.”
Dangote Group operates across industries including cement, fertiliser, and oil refining, with operations in 17 African countries.
Its cement subsidiary, Dangote Cement operates in 11 African countries and generated more than $3 billion in revenue in 2025.
The company is currently pursuing a $1 billion expansion plan aimed at increasing production capacity from about 55.17 million tonnes to 80 million tonnes over the next four years.
Dangote’s industrial investments also include the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, a $20 billion facility regarded as one of the world’s largest single-train refineries.
The refinery currently processes 650,000 barrels of oil per day and is being expanded to approximately 1.4 million barrels daily to strengthen Nigeria’s fuel supply and support regional energy needs.
He also oversees the Dangote Fertiliser Complex, one of Africa’s largest fertiliser plants, built to reduce reliance on imported fertiliser and improve agricultural productivity across the continent.
Dangote stressed that such large-scale investments can only deliver full benefits if Africa removes trade and movement barriers.
“Free movement of people, free movement of goods and services, these are critical areas,” he said.
