President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has been inducted as an honorary fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE).
Dangote received the Distinguished Honorary Fellowship at an induction ceremony held in Victoria Island, Lagos, where he was formally conferred with the honour by the academy’s president, Rahamon Bello.
The business magnate was accompanied by his daughters, other family members, and senior management of the Dangote Group.
Speaking after the induction, Dangote reiterated his call for a self-reliant economy, urging Nigeria to prioritise local manufacturing and strengthen power infrastructure as the foundation for sustainable growth.
Africa’s richest man stressed the need for a shift from a consumption-driven economy to one anchored on production.
“True economic independence is impossible without technical sovereignty. We must design, fabricate, and build what we consume,” he said, reinforcing his long-standing advocacy for local content.
He described reliable electricity as critical to industrialisation, calling for urgent investments in power generation and grid expansion.
“We must build power. I keep repeating it, we must build it. Together, let us engineer a Nigeria that works not just for some, but for everyone,” he added.
Dangote cited the scale of the Dangote Refinery as evidence of what is achievable, noting that its capacity exceeds that of many comparable facilities globally.
He said the group’s broader vision remains focused on reducing import dependence and positioning Nigeria and Africa as a hub for large-scale industrial production.
“Our goal has always been clear: to make Nigeria, and by extension Africa, self-sufficient in goods we once imported, and to prove that this ambition is achievable at scale,” he said.
Dangote also cautioned about the growing impact of artificial intelligence on engineering, noting that aspects of design could become increasingly automated.
He urged professionals to adapt and take an active role in shaping how AI is deployed across the industry.
