STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

                PRESIDENT KOROMA TO HOST RICHEST WEST AFRICAN

President Ernest Bai Koroma will be hosting West Africa’s richest man on Sunday 6^th and Monday 7^th April 2008. The special guest, Nigerian-born business tycoon Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is coming to explore the possibility of investing in Sierra Leone, while Sierra Leonean businessmen would have an opportunity to learn from his experience.

There will be a dinner hosted by the President in honour of Alhaji Dangote on Sunday evening at the Country Lodge in Freetown.

Owner of the Dangote Group, with large operations in Nigeria and other countries in West Africa, Aliko Dangote has a current net worth of about three billion three million US dollars ( US$ 3.3 billion), making him the second richest black person in the world after Ethiopian-born Mohammed Al Amoudi (US$9.0). Dangote controls much of Nigeria’s commodities trade. The Group’s interests are diverse, the most significant of which are the manufacture of fast-moving consumer goods like sugar, flour, salt and spaghetti/macaroni. It has also made huge investments in the Nigerian cement industry. Other interests include commercial real estate complexes and a fleet of over 1,500 trucks. Furthermore, the Group has ventured into telecommunication as well as fertilizer processing.

The Dangote Group has established a philanthropic organisation called the Dangote Foundation, dedicated to providing assistance to less-privileged Nigerians in the areas of education, health, water supply, sports, and poverty alleviation generally.

In recognition of his achievements and philanthropy, Aliko Dangote has been conferred with many awards, including but not limited to the Zik Award for Excellence, Officer of the Order of the Niger, Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science, Entrepreneur of the Year, CEO of the Year, and Corporate Citizen of the Year.

President Koroma is delighted to welcome Aliko Dangote to Sierra Leone.

Journalists and business people will be invited to the dinner.

Meanwhile, President Koroma and entourage will leave Freetown this afternoon for Kenema to make his first visit to the eastern region headquarters after his election as President of Sierra Leone. He will meet paramount chiefs, community elders, and the local people to thank them for reposing confidence in him for the running of the country.

Sheka Tarawalie

PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SECRETARY

03 April 2008