President Bola Tinubu has commended the Dangote Group for its role in driving Nigeria’s economic growth, crediting the conglomerate’s investments with creating jobs, boosting local production and reducing the country’s reliance on imported goods.

The praise came on Monday, October 26, at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES32) at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, where the president was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima.

According to reports, the commendation was made during a visit to the Dangote Group pavilion at the summit. Tinubu said the group’s strategic investments across key sectors were helping to deepen local value addition, build domestic supply chains and conserve foreign exchange, while strengthening the country’s industrial base.

He also noted that Dangote Group is the second-biggest employer of labour in Nigeria after the federal government, and said his administration was working to create conditions in which the public and private sectors can invest, expand and generate productive employment.

The summit, themed “Growth That Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity and Shared Prosperity”, was declared open on the president’s behalf with a firm defence of the government’s reform agenda. The message said the reforms were dismantling structural barriers and restoring investor confidence, and stressed that the administration’s ambition goes beyond favourable statistics to quality jobs and better livelihoods.

It put Nigeria’s inflation-adjusted GDP growth at 3.89 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, up from 3.13 per cent in 2025, and said crude oil and condensate output reached 1.735 million barrels per day in June, the fourth straight month of growth.

Other officials at the event echoed the focus on delivery. Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele presented a proposed Nigerian Economic Policy Framework as a national guide for economic decision-making, and urged the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and private-sector experts to scrutinise the draft and submit evidence-based recommendations.

Budget and Economic Planning Minister Abubakar Bagudu reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to sustaining the reforms, with investment in agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital technology and human capital. NESG Chairman Olaniyi Yusuf said the summit must move the country from policy agreements to practical solutions that create jobs and deliver inclusive growth.

The endorsement of Dangote’s investments follows similar remarks by the president at last year’s summit, where he urged Nigerians to support the industrialist and acknowledged that growth had not yet fully translated into enough jobs.