It is my pleasure to open this year’s Dangote Group Sustainability Week discussion on a subject that is critically important, not just to Dangote Industries Limited (“Dangote” or “The Company”), but for the future of humanity.

As one of Africa’s largest conglomerates, Dangote is responsible for leading the way in sustainable business practices. The world is facing an urgent climate crisis, and businesses must be at the forefront of the transition to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction and energy efficiency. Hence, the theme for this year’s commemoration of the sustainability week is Business Optimisation for NetZero – The Dangote Journey.

This theme conveys our support for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s goal to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will curb human-induced interference with the climate system.

This must happen within a timeframe sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened, and to enable sustainable economic development.

At Dangote, we started this journey with a strategic focus on the 7 Dangote Sustainability Pillars (cultural, economic, operational, social, environmental, financial, and institutional) which drive how we do business, and named – The Dangote Way.

As Africa grapples with the reality of energy security and the attendant effects of poverty in many communities, our effort towards a cleaner planet requires strategic investment. As a business, we have aligned our energy efficiency goals with National Determined Contributions (NDC) in our countries and international needs, in a way that touches the lives of people.

An example is our investment in the Fertiliser Industry which utilises natural gas as feedstock for Fertiliser used in the agriculture space and thereby reducing the need to flare such gas. Furthermore, the localisation of petroleum refining by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Plant reduces the CO2 emissions of shipping crude and refined products around the world.

To help reduce GHG emissions, we have promoted a circular economy by finding innovative ways to reuse and recycle materials. We are not only reducing waste but also creating new revenue streams and driving innovation across our business units. In our Cement Business, we increasingly use more alternative fuels of renewable sources (about 50% more in 2 years) and reduce the use of hydrocarbon fuel (59.5% less of diesel, 20% less of gas in 2 years) thereby reducing our emissions by about 7.5% in 2 years despite the commissioning of new plants.

In our Sugar Business, we now generate steam, using bagasse in a very optimal way (49,232 tonnes of bagasse was used to generate 49,211 tonnes of steam) for plant operations and thereby reducing the use of hydrocarbon-based fuel for steam generation. In our efforts to contribute to emission removals, we have planted thousands of tree seedlings in Nigeria and Pan Africa since 2017.

This year, we will be planting more trees across all our locations. Furthermore, we have deployed training across the various business units on GHG Assessment and Management to increase internal skills and competencies towards driving business optimisation for Net Zero.

In our ongoing journey towards Net Zero, we embrace this Week both as an opportunity and a challenge. It requires us to rethink the way we do business, to be willing to take risks, and to collaborate with partners across industries.

One major way to show commitment is for all the Business Units to use the opportunity of this week to internally strategise in order to identify ways to reduce emissions through process optimisation and document it as part of their Decarbonisation Plan.

I invite you all to join me on this challenging but exciting cause, participate actively in the various programmes planned in our various business locations, and contribute your quota towards achieving a Sustainable Earth. Happy 2024 Sustainability