Dangote to Create 3,000 Jobs From Construction of $100m Truck Production Plant in Lagos

Dangote to Create 3,000 Jobs From Construction of $100m Truck Production Plant in Lagos

One of Nigeria’s leading business conglomerates, the Dangote Group, owned by Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is adding a new line of business, truck production, to its existing portfolio.

The Nation reports that Dangote is establishing a multi-million dollar truck assembly plant in Lagos in partnership with a leading Chinese firm, National Heavy Duty Truck Group Company Limited, SINOTRUK.

The collaboration is expected to see up to 10,000 trucks to be used mainly for haulage business, being assembled yearly at the new plant in the Ikeja area of Lagos.

The deal for the truck production is believed to be worth $100 million and was signed in May 2014 in China, making it the eighth of Shandong, China (SINOTRUK), to be built abroad.

Under the venture, the Dangote Group owns 60 per cent leaving SINOTRUK with the remaining 40 per cent equity stake.

The Group’s Chief Corporate Communication Officer, Anthony Chiejina, said the project when fully operational would spare the nation the huge amount of forex spent on importation. He added that the truck production plant would create at least 3,000 jobs.

With Dangote’s foray into truck production, he joins another Nigerian, Innocent Chukwuma, founder of Innoson as an indigenous vehicle manufacturer.