Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Group, has applauded President Bola Tinubu’s policies on subsidy removal and the elimination of multiple foreign exchanges (FX) rates.
Gatekeepers News reports that Tinubu, during his inaugural speech on May 29th, promised to work towards the removal of petrol subsidy and a unified exchange rate system.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), two weeks after Tinubu’s speech, announced the unification of all segments of the FX market.
The development reduced all FX windows into the investors & exporters (I&E) window, allowing the naira to float — a trading system where the FX rate is determined by buyers and sellers.
The new policy caused a ripple effect in the market, leading to further depreciation of Naira.
Aliko Dangote also lost $3.12 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index (BBI). It is believed that the changes in the foreign exchange markets caused by the recent floating of the naira may have contributed to the billionaires’ losses.
But the business mogul, who visited the president on Monday, said Tinubu’s policies will be better for everyone.
“All is great and things are going well and we also congratulated the president on the removal of subsidy,” the billionaire said.
“I think he is doing a great job. I expect that it’s going to be better for everybody. There will be more money now to put into education, health, infrastructure, and other areas and our role is to help support him to make sure he achieves his vision.”
Dangote also explained that he visited Aso Villa with Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to inform him of their plans for Nigeria.
“Our visit was a courtesy call. Bill Gates and I came in to congratulate the president for his successful election and brief him on what Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Aliko Dangote Foundation have been doing in Nigeria,” he said.
“And also to show our commitment to do more and to help Nigerians so that our health sector will be better for everyone.
“Nigerians have been getting quite a lot from both foundations, and we expect more from the government in teams of cooperation and we will also do more from our side.”
