Africa’s richest man firms up plans for investment in Kenya

Arica’s richest man Aliko Dangote has revealed he is in talks about buying into a company with operations in Kenya and Tanzania.

In an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of the New Economy Forum in Singapore, the tycoon, who previously said he put on hold plans to venture into the country following demands for kickbacks that shocked him, however, did not reveal the firm his Dangote Industries is interested in.

Speaking on a local FM station, Citizen TV anchor Jeff Koinange, a close friend of Dangote since his days as a CNN correspondent, revealed him the billionaire whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at $14.1billion ( Ksh 1.4 trillion) shelved his bribes after top officials put greed and personal interest ahead of national interest.

“I asked him, ‘Al Hajj when are you coming back to Kenya?’ and he said ‘Jeff, there are people in that place (Kenya) who put greed and personal interest ahead of national interest. I didn’t think Kenya would be more corrupt that Nigeria,” Koinange narrated on air.

Koinange had met Dangote when he attended the tycoon’s daughter’s wedding in Nigeria in March.

There had been reports that Dangote, who was part of a big delegation that accompanied then President Goodluck Jonathan during his State Visit to Kenya, was interested in setting up a cement factory worth Ksh 100 billion in the country.