Inauguration of the DANGOTE Cement Congo factory in Yamba

The President of the Republic;

The Prime Minister;

The Minister of State, Chief of Staff of the President of the Republic;

Ladies and Gentlemen, members of Government of the Republic;

The Nigerian Ministers here present;

Messrs. Chairmen of the Economic and Finance Committees of the two Houses of Parliament;

Ladies and gentlemen, members of the diplomatic corps;

Distinguished guests from abroad, Distinguished national guests, in your respective ranks and titles;

Ladies and gentlemen.

If the history of development should be told to us, it could broadly be described as follows.

In the beginning, there have always been men and women and determined to meet their unlimited needs in a context of limited resources.

Along the way, the number of human beings increased because of their good organization to live long and this imposed industrialization; that is a large-scale production of various standardized goods and services for mass consumption.

With the industrialization came development. Do we not say that the seven (7) most industrialized countries in the world are the most developed?

Even if we have to re-think this assertion by stressing that development is much more than mere industrialization, the fact remains that development really starts with industrialization.

The first emerging countries in contemporary history, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan were referred to in the 1980s New Industrialized Countries (NIC).

The main emerging countries, grouped under the acronym BRICS, are also characterized by the high level of industrialization.

All these countries, NPI and BRICS, belong today to the G20, the club of the most developed countries in the world, those who own more than 85% of world GDP.

That being the case, is it still necessary here to affirm that industrialization rhymes with development?

This is what to remember in outline of the history of development, seen from Yamba in Congo, today, November 23, 2017.

The main lesson is that a country that is industrializing is a country that is moving towards development.

DANGOTE Cement, this plant that welcomes us today is an industry, a big industry, in the current context of Congo. It is the largest cement plant in Central Africa.

With its entry into production, Congo will be immediately become an exporter of cement. At full capacity, the national production of cement in 2018 would amount to 3.200.000 tons of which 2.000.000 tons out of the present factory, for a national demand currently estimated at 1.200.000 tons. This will result in a surplus of exportable production of the order of 2.000.000 tons per year.

After crude wood and crude oil, here comes the era of major exports of industrial products, destined to be sustainable.

How then should we not owe immense gratitude to Mr. Aliko DANGOTE, this worthy and prodigious son of Africa, who chose to make one of his biggest investments in our country?

Mr DANGOTE.

So far the President of the Republic of Congo, animated by his vision of African integration, his desire to develop his country, and his trust in men of confidence was the only one supporting you, it will not be the same from now on.

Already, the people of Congo in general, the people of Bouenza and the inhabitants of Yamba in particular, are grateful for the wealth and jobs you create here, on this rocky and generous land that receives this factory.

All are committed to supporting you and facilitating the expansion of this cement plant. In the same way they encourage you to develop other industrial activities, alone or in partnership, here or elsewhere in Congo.

Our country is par excellence a land of investment. It is a statement as well as a message that we send out so that it resonates beyond our borders.

To all of us around the world, we say that the Congo of President Denis SASSOU NGUESSO, Congolese and all the good people who live here, is in no way the one portrayed by some media, inclined to present everything under a sombre image and to cause a stir.

Certainly Congo is going through a difficult financial and economic situation today. Would it be the first or only country in the world to experience such a situation? No! We must face the fact that crisis is part of the economic life of all nations.

No country can boast of having never experienced an economic or financial crisis. According to economists, crises fall under the natural order of things. It is often said that a period of economic expansion in general is always followed by a crisis, prolonged by economic recession. These are economic cycles that punctuate the life of nations.

The same economists tell us that far from being a condemnation, crises can constitute a lever that, while burying bad habits, can give rise to new qualities conducive to progress. On the condition that we can adapt to these new measures.

In other words, leaders and peoples are called upon, in times of crisis, to analyse and understand the new situation and to dominate it by carrying out reforms capable of building new resilience, stronger and more beneficial to all than what obtained in the past.

In Congo, we are at this juncture.

Certainly the Congo is a highly politicized country. As a result it has experienced some moments of turmoil along its history. Somewhere not far from here, there are armed men who disturb the tranquillity of the people in some nearby localities. Information gathered these past days tend to show that things are in the process of resolution.

Be that as it may, Congo remains fundamentally a country of the future, a country where life is good, where it is good to work and where one can easily prosper in business. There is no war of religions, no tribal war, no war of appropriation of wealth, no war of civilization here.

Here in the Congo every investor has a market for more than 170 million inhabitants of the Economic Community of Central African States. Congo is at the heart and develops related infrastructure just as the State is constantly working to improve the business climate. This is the reality of our country. It's the one you have to talk about, not the negative images propagated.

By the way, would it be by chance that the first fortune of Africa decides to establish in Congo? What about the continued presence in Congo, since the early 1960s, of two of the largest oil companies in the world? They, like us, have faith in the future of Congo.

Ladies and gentlemen

Step by step, Congo is industrializing and this is the proof.

However, it is still far from being the industrial country, dreamed of and expected by all of us.

"The longest journey," says the President of the Republic, "always starts with the first step."

The step we are taking here today, in terms of industrialization, is a big step. It follows a few other steps of the past and certainly precedes many other big steps ahead.

Thus is the march of Congo towards development.

Mr. President.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you for your very kind attention.