Exclusive: Recession hits Dangote hard, unable to pay workers’ salaries

Aliko Dangote, President Dangote Group

The current economic situation in the country certainly affects everybody and everything, even Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is groaning.

Investigations at one of Dangote’s companies, Dansa Foods Nig. Ltd off Lagos-Badagry expressway revealed that workers have not been paid their salaries for the past six months.

The company which produces Dansa juice and other goods, it was learnt, has laid off more than half of the workforce following dwindling sales and high cost of production caused by high exchange rate of the Naira.

The company, it was learnt, has suspended the production of Dansa juice and other products. ”We are only producing Mowa bottle water now,” a source at the company revealed.

But the workers are not taking it kindly with the management of the company and have insisted that their six months unpaid salaries be paid to them.

To this end, the workers have embarked on strike to press home their demand.

One of the workers who did not want his name mentioned said he and his colleagues decided to go on strike to force the management to pay their salaries.

”We are being owed six months. The company has refused to pay us so we are embarking on strike,” the worker added.

Efforts to speak with the management of the company proved unsuccessful as one of the managers refused to pick his phone calls.

Bloomberg in its latest Billionaire Index reports revealed that Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, lost $ 5.4 billion in his fortune this year.

The loss was occasioned by the massive fall of the Naira as the Central Bank of Nigeria rations the dollar to stem huge capital outflow in the wake of Nigeria’s worst economic crisis.