Aliko Dangote, the chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, has explained his reasons for investing in the newly opened Dangote Sinotruk West Africa, a fully knocked-down CKD truck assembly plant in Lagos.

In his speech at the inauguration of the plant, Dangote emphasized the joint venture’s substantial investment of over $100 million, with Dangote Industries holding a 60% stake, Sinotruk China owning 30%, and Anders controlling 5%.

Dangote stated that the decision to venture into truck assembly was motivated by the urgent demand for vehicles in Nigeria’s construction, food and beverage, and logistics sectors.

He stated, “Our aim is to meet the expected current demand of this segment of automobiles required for logistics, construction, food, and beverage industries in Nigeria.”

He also emphasised the company’s commitment to contributing to the country’s shift towards Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles, saying, “I am sure we are going to fully participate in the new CNG, which I think the government is driving.

“But we in Dangote, we are actually committed to buy 10,000 of the CNG trucks.”

The opening ceremony, held on June 9, was attended by notable figures, including Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Hikmat Thapa, the group’s general manager for projects, provided further insights into the plant’s operations, noting that the facility handles welding, painting, and other major tasks.

Thapa also mentioned that with the launch of the plant, their production capacity is expected to increase to 30,000 trucks annually.