Dangote inducts youths in skills acquisition, says merger of food subsidiaries will benefit stakeholders

*JV Gungune, Plant Director of Dangote Cement Plant, Obajana, in Kogi State of Nigeria, says the Technical Skills Acquisition programme is aimed at empowering the youths and developing entrepreneurial skills around its catchment areas in the country

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

As part of the company’s commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Dangote Cement Plc, Obajana Plant, in Kogi State of Nigeria, has commenced the training of youth in technical skills under the tutelage of technical units of Dangote Cement Transport, Obajana.

ConsumerConnect reports the conglomerate disclosed the participating youths were selected from the host communities of Oyo, Iwaa, Apata, and Obajana in the state.

JV Gungune, Plant Director of Dangote Cement Plant, Obajana, told reporters that the Technical Skills Acquisition programme was aimed at empowering the youth and developing entrepreneurial skills around its catchment areas.

Gungune noted that the youths, including female trainees, are mostly secondary school leavers.

Speaking at the inauguration of the scheme, Mr. Ademola Adeyemi, General Manager, Community Affairs/Special Duties, said the trainees are being paid monthly stipends while the training lasts.   “When completed, the youth will add great value to their communities, Kogi State, and Nigeria,” Mr. Adeyemi said.

In his remarks on the development, Mr. Ajay Singh, Divisional Director Transport of the Dangote Cement Plc, said some of the areas of training included auto mechanic, auto electrical, welding and panel beating/fabrication.

Engr. Alfa Adamu, Workshop Manager, also stated the trainees were shared into different engineering sections, based on their strengths and interest, and the trainees have spent three months thus far.

Merger of Dangote food subsidiaries to yield benefits: Singhvi

In a related development, Ravindra Singhvi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, assured stakeholders that the proposed merger between Dangote Sugar Refinery, NASCON Allied Industries, and Dangote Rice to form Dangote Foods Plc is expected to yield many benefits, solely for the growth of the business and high returns to all the key stakeholders.

Speaking on a Channels TV programme recently, Ravindra was quoted to have said that the merger, when completed, would bring economies of scale to the business.

The CEO maintained that the merger would lead to cost reduction as the evolved company will gain with an increase in production.

The cost, according to him, will now be spread over many goods.

According to him, Dangote Foods will have operational efficiencies, as there would be a reduction in the time needed to obtain raw materials, fuel, manpower, etc., for production.

Husk and biomass from Rice and Sugar Units will be useful to generate power for the running of the plants, said he.

Besides, it is expected that the merger will result in improvement in the supply side of the food industry as many products will roll out of the one-stop food company.

The Dangote Sugar Refinery helmsman further opined that the merger would advance the backward integration strategy of the Group as resources, machinery, and skilled manpower are to be harnessed to drive the process.

Dangote Foods Plc, he stated, will have the potential for more geographical spread than the legacy companies as the products will be readily available in all the niche markets of the former and even more given the combined assets in terms of manpower, product range, transport, and warehouses.

The company will have a stronger business case for access to capital as the combined business will be bigger and more attractive to lenders, he added.

In respect of the impact of deregulation of the foreign exchange market, he lamented that several manufacturing companies had sustained Forex-linked losses in the period as they made provisions for the slump in the value of the Naira against the dollar.

Manufacturers, he noted are making provisions monthly to take care of the fluctuations in the value of the Naira.

“The headwinds are really there. So, we have to be careful in provisioning for changes in the value of the local currency.

“The floating of the Naira led to a massive fall in its value. This has affected our operations in the sugar industry,” stated Ravindra.