By Yusuf Olukokun
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited says the biggest mess in 2023 was the devaluation of Nigerian Naira, which has directly affected the company.
Dangote made this statement on Tuesday at the annual meeting of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc.
According to Aliko Dangote, the company is putting in extra efforts in order to ensure it pays dividends this year.
He also spoke further by saying that the devaluation has affected a lot of food and beverages businesses as majority of them will be unable to pay dividends.
“We are doing whatever it takes to make sure that at the end of the day, we will be paying dividends because if you look at our dividends last year, it was almost 50 percent more so we will try and get out of the mess,” Dangote said.
“The biggest mess created was actually the devaluation of the naira from N460 to N1,400.
“You can see almost 97 percent of the companies, especially in food and beverages businesses, none of them will pay dividends this year for sure but, we will try and get out of it as soon as possible.
“We want to see that at the end of the day, no matter how small, we will be able to pay some dividends, especially if there is a rebound of the naira.”