Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, has called on Nigerians to end their reliance on foreign healthcare services and emphasized the importance of establishing local drug manufacturing systems.
He shared this view during the Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers event held in Lagos on Wednesday.
While addressing the audience during a panel session, Dangote stressed that every Nigerian, regardless of social or financial status, should be able to access effective healthcare services within the country.
He underlined the urgency of halting the outflow of citizens seeking medical care abroad and called for stronger collaboration with Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation to make healthcare delivery more effective and accessible locally.
“What we need to do is to make sure we stop this health tourism and we should now get in to start producing our own drugs,” he remarked. Dangote further emphasized, “We should now make sure that when we are sick, we don’t have to travel abroad, all of us, but we need to do partnership with Bill (Gates).”
He also referenced the successful collaboration between the Dangote Foundation and the Gates Foundation in eradicating polio in Nigeria and improving nutritional standards, showcasing what such partnerships can achieve in the public health sector.
Turning to business accomplishments, the industrialist spoke proudly about the impact of his conglomerate in reversing Nigeria’s previous economic dependencies. He noted that the country, once the world’s second-largest importer of cement, is now the leading cement exporter in Africa—a shift largely credited to the investments made by the Dangote Group.
He went on to describe how Nigerian farmers once faced serious challenges accessing fertilizer. In response, he revealed, the Dangote Group built the second-largest fertilizer plant in the world, starting from the ground up.
Today, this facility supplies 37% of its output to the United States, signaling Nigeria’s growing influence in global agricultural input supply.
On the issue of petroleum, Dangote spoke about a groundbreaking achievement: the construction of a 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery—an undertaking he described as unprecedented. He disclosed that in May 2025 alone, the refinery exported 400,000 metric tons of petrol. According to him, this development has eliminated Nigeria’s dependence on petrol imports, effectively transforming the nation into a self-reliant energy producer.
What you should know
Aliko Dangote has advocated for a complete halt to medical tourism in Nigeria and pushed for the local production of medicines. Speaking at the Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers event, he emphasized healthcare self-sufficiency and highlighted how his company’s ventures have reduced Nigeria’s dependence on foreign cement, fertilizer, and petroleum.
