Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Group, has unveiled plans to establish what he described as the biggest free trade zone in Olokola, Ondo State. The announcement was made on Monday during a visit to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa in Akure. The industrial zone will include dedicated power, water, and logistics infrastructure to eliminate delays caused by unreliable utilities. Dangote emphasized that investors would be able to "plug in" immediately upon arrival, with all essential services already operational. He identified Nigeria's persistent power deficit as the primary barrier to industrial growth over the past 30 years. The Olokola project aims to overcome this by integrating independent power generation within the zone. A gas infrastructure network, linked to an east-west gas corridor, will also be developed to serve energy-intensive industries. Dangote revealed that previous attempts by the group to invest in Olokola were hindered by operational challenges, without specifying the nature of these constraints. The new plan seeks to resolve such issues through a fully self-contained industrial ecosystem. The project is expected to attract both local and foreign manufacturers seeking stable operating conditions. No timeline or funding details were disclosed. The governor welcomed the initiative, noting its potential to boost industrialization and job creation in the state. Discussions between the Dangote Group and the Ondo State government will continue to finalize implementation frameworks.
Dangote is positioning private infrastructure to fill a gap public institutions have failed to close for three decades. The need for a billionaire to deliver power and gas for basic industrial function reveals the depth of state-level collapse in utility provisioning. If the Olokola zone succeeds, it will be because the government has already failed.
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