Nigerians may have to resort to remote work due to Middle East unrest, warns Dangote

Aliko Dangote, Chairman and CEO of Dangote Group, has sounded a warning that the ongoing Middle East crisis could lead to a revival of COVID-era work-from-home restrictions in Nigeria and other African countries if the conflict fails to de-escalate.

n

Dangote issued this warning after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at his Ikoyi residence in Lagos on Monday, where he expressed deep concern about the economic impact of oil price volatility on the debt-burdened continent.

n

The industrialist noted that Africans typically lack savings and rely on daily earnings, saying, "If this thing doesn’t de-escalate, you know, normally we in Africa, we don’t have any reserves in terms of savings, and people normally go out and look for money for the next day or for the same day."

n

Dangote cited Indonesia's response to energy crisis pressures, where workers have been asked to operate only four days a week, and full work-from-home arrangements are being considered, similar to those implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.

n

He explained that some countries have already asked workers to operate from home due to the unaffordability of commuting, and Indonesia has limited work to four days a week, with plans to reassess the situation and potentially adopt full work-from-home arrangements.

n

Dangote warned that Africa would bear a disproportionate cost for a crisis in which the continent has no involvement, and the impact would extend beyond energy, affecting people's ability to make a living.

n

The billionaire businessman emphasized that the crisis would hit hardest at ordinary Africans operating small businesses, such as barbers, bread sellers, and industries dependent on generators for power, saying, "People who are now doing barbers, people who are doing bread, people who have industries who have to pay their own generator, you know, I mean, you can see what is happening."

n

Dangote called for urgent prayers and international intervention to bring an end to the conflict, stating, "We just need all hands on deck to pray that this thing comes to an end."

n

Dangote praised President Tinubu's recent state visit to the United Kingdom, highlighting the £746 million infrastructure agreement signed during the visit as a significant development that goes beyond its monetary value.

n

He described the agreement as a confidence booster, saying, "It has not been easy dealing with the British, getting this kind of money out of them, but I think this is to show confidence—it’s not about the money, it’s about the confidence in Nigeria."

n

Dangote predicted that the UK agreement would encourage other countries to follow suit, saying, "The moment that they do that, there will be other countries that will follow suit, Germany will come, others will line up and start coming up."

n

He revealed that Nigerian investors can now access the UK Export Finance agency, a credit resource that has remained largely untapped for years, explaining, "For Nigerian investors, it has shown that we can also go to the same agency and tap the resources."

n

The infrastructure agreement signed during Tinubu’s UK visit focuses on port development and other critical areas, with funding from UK Export Finance, and Dangote visited the President to extend Eid-el-Fitr greetings and pay his respects following Tinubu’s return from the two-day state visit to the United Kingdom.

n

The Middle East crisis has triggered concerns about oil price volatility globally, with potential impacts on inflation, transportation costs, and energy-dependent sectors across Africa, and Nigeria, despite being an oil-producing nation, remains vulnerable to global oil price fluctuations due to its dependence on imported refined petroleum products.