Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, has called on Nigerians to stop seeking medical treatment abroad and instead focus on producing drugs locally.
Speaking at the Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers event on Wednesday in Lagos, Dangote emphasised the need for partnerships, particularly with Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation, to achieve this goal.
Dangote’s call for local drug production comes amid Nigeria’s heavy reliance on imported active pharmaceutical ingredients.
He stressed the need for every Nigerian including the rich to be able to treat themselves in Nigeria when they fall sick,
Dangote hinted that it was important to partner with Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation to achieve this.
“We should now make sure that when we are sick, we don’t have to travel abroad, all of us, but we need to do a partnership with Bill (Gates).
“We need to stop this health tourism and start producing our own drugs,” Dangote said during a panel discussion.
“When we’re sick, we shouldn’t have to travel abroad; we need to partner with Bill Gates to make this possible, ” he said during panel of discussion.
Dangote recalled that the Dangote Foundation through partnership with the Gates Foundation has helped to end Polio in Nigeria and did quite a lot in improving nutrition.
Dangote highlighted the successes of his company’s investments in various sectors, including cement production.
He noted that Nigeria has been transformed from the world’s second-largest cement importer to Africa’s leading exporter.
He also said that the Dangote Group has built the world’s second-largest fertilizer plant, meeting domestic demand and exporting 37 per cent of its fertilizer to the United States.
He added that the 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery has ended Nigeria’s dependency on imported petrol, with 400,000 metric tons of petrol exported in May 2025 alone.
The event hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the first time in Lagos, brought together global leaders, policymakers, and changemakers to assess progress toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Other notable dignitaries at the event included Bill Gates Dangote; the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and the Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya, among others.
