ABUJA/Nigeria: Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has said he will not be running for Nigeria’s presidency in 2019 general elections or in the near future.
According to Bloomberg Markets Magazine, Dangote declared that he was not cut out for politics, stressing that he was more comfortable with business.
He, however, said there was need for cooperation with politicians.
He told the magazine: “No, I’m not interested in active politics. There’s quite a lot we can do from the business side. I enjoy a lot of what I am doing and I also love my freedom and I don’t have too much.
“The little (freedom) I have, politics would take away. I am not ready to give that up. There are businessmen who are interested in politics. I’m not one of them.
“Well, in Africa, yes, I do think you need politicians. But at the same time, we cannot get things right unless there is good cooperation between politicians and businessmen. It’s a win-win. When you look at it today, in Nigeria, over 85 per cent of the GDP is from the private sector.”
On whether he is under pressure to make political donations, he said: “Well, you know the political donation depends on who you are dealing with and who you are donating money to. But the issue is we don’t go and give people in politics money for favours.
“I’ve told presidents of countries, ‘I’m a contractor, I’m running a business, I don’t need any favours.’
“And really, when you look at it today, in all our businesses, we don’t need any favour. We’ve done our numbers. We think this business will work and we don’t need government support.”
