Dangote disclosed this in an interview with Al Jazeera published on Monday, saying reliable electricity was critical to Africa’s economic and industrial development.
He said the planned investment would be part of a broader transformation he expected to see across the continent in the coming years.
“I’m telling you, in the next three, four years, there will be a major transformation in Africa. And that’s why we’re looking at power, for example,” he said.
Dangote said the group could redirect funds from some proposed businesses to the power sector, including a possible decision to shelve plans for a steel business.
“We are going to invest in power. We want to, actually, there is one or two businesses that we might cancel, like steel, and we will put in the money. We want to invest over $10 billion alone in power,” he said.
He said Africa’s electricity shortage remained a major constraint on development, noting that more than 600 million Africans still lacked access to electricity.
“It is something that we Africans should not really allow. Over 600 million of our people to remain in darkness,” Dangote said.
He also linked reliable electricity supply to economic growth and governance, arguing that improved power delivery would have a direct impact on citizens’ lives.
“You know, as some politicians, if they work hard, they have a plan; when you deliver power, you don’t need to go for campaign when you’re going for the election,” he said.
Dangote said electricity remained essential to industrialisation and sustained economic growth across Africa.
“So power is key. We will never, ever create growth without power,” he said.
“So that’s why they say, power is growth,” he added.
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