Nigeria has flipped its position as one of the world's leading cement importers and is now Africa's top exporter, Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, has said.

At the Gates Foundation's Goalkeepers event in Lagos on Wednesday, Dangote gave a speech.

He said that the West African country has made great progress in reducing its reliance on imports in important areas like fertiliser, cement, and petroleum products, and that the same level of success may be attained in the medical field.

“I think you are right. We can make it happen in business and also in health. We have actually done a lot. Let me start with health,” Dangote said.

“In health, through our own partnership with Bill, we have actually ended polio. Also, we have participated and done quite a lot in nutrition. So that’s our partnership.”

“In terms of business, it’s true. We have done quite a lot by reversing a lot of things.”

“Nigeria used to be the second-largest importer of cement in the world, and now, we have reversed it. Nigeria now exports more cement than any other African country.”

“We have also looked at challenges in terms of fertilizer, where our farmers were suffering.”

“We built, from the ground up, the second-largest fertilizer plant in the world. So, Nigeria now not only exports, but we actually export 37% of our fertilizer to the United States of America.”

Nigeria used to import 350,000 tons of polypropylene, according to the billionaire, but that problem has been resolved.

In addition to meeting internal needs, he claimed, the nation will sell 600,000 tonnes to neighbouring African nations.

“We have the largest refinery capacity ever built in the world, by Saudi Aramco, which is 430,000 barrels. We said, ‘Let us do what has never, ever been done before, that is, to do 650,000 barrels per day,’ and we have delivered,” he said.

“In May alone, we actually exported 400,000 metric tonnes of PMS, which is petrol. Nigeria used to import 100%, but right now, no more.”

According to Dangote, the company's successes should be used as a template to change the healthcare industry, especially by reducing Nigeria's dependency on medical tourism.

He emphasised that the nation must start producing drugs domestically and ensure that people can get high-quality care without having to go abroad.

Dangote Cement invests $280 million to convert vehicles

Legit.ng reported that by the end of 2026, Dangote Cement PLC (DCP) intends to switch its fleet of more than 7,000 vehicles from using automobile gas oil (AGO), also referred to as diesel, to compressed natural gas (CNG).

This was announced by Arvind Pathak, Group Managing Director of Dangote Cement PLC, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, during the 2025 Dangote Cement Customers Awards & Gala Nite held in Lagos.

The firm also announced the arrival of hundreds of CNG-powered vehicles on Thursday, May 29, 2025. At the 2025 Dangote Cement Customers Awards & Gala Nite, 28 of these trucks were given to its top dealers.