President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has asserted that Africa is currently the only continent experiencing true economic growth, emphasising that Europe's future progress is now closely linked to Africa's continued development.
Dangote made the remarks on Friday during the 32nd Annual Meeting of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), which was being held in Abuja.
The event, themed
"Building the Future on Decades of Resilience", drew over 6,000 delegates from across the continent and around the world.
"Let us make our continent a productive continent. We're the only continent that has actually had growth. If you look at it today, Europe, with respect to them, there is no growth in Europe. They've reached a certain point ... they need Africa to grow," Dangote stated.
Calling on African governments to prioritise local investors, Dangote stressed that the key to attracting international investors lies in supporting domestic ones first.
"The majority of African countries keep going around looking for foreign investors. But foreign investors don't come that easily. You need to encourage domestic investors when they are doing well. That becomes the invitation for international investors," he said.
The industrialist, widely regarded as Africa's richest man, emphasised that the responsibility of transforming the continent lies with Africans themselves.
"We African champions should know that we are the only people who can make Africa great. Nobody will do that for us. The job of people like us is not about amassing wealth. It's about creating wealth. We can actually turn Africa into a heaven in the next five years. It doesn't take time. Like I keep saying: You need to think big, and then you grow big," he said.
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