Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote is not just the richest in Africa but also the wealthiest black man in the world.
This article would focus on how he made his wealth to become Africa’s richest man, and how he runs his business and his family life affairs.
The Man Aliko Dangote
He is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of the largest industrial conglomerate in West Africa known as the Dangote Group. The Dangote Group is one of the biggest Conglomerates on the African continent.
Aliko Dangote is Africa’s wealthiest man and he has held this position for more than 10 years.
In 2022, he earned the position for the 11th time as Africa’s richest man.
According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote’s net worth is estimated at US$18.7 billion as of January 2023.
Dangote made his first billion in 2007, that was when he became Nigeria’s first billionaire.
Early Life/School
He is a famous business man and his passion for business did not start at his mid ages, but he had been a business minded person right from his childhood, when he was learning to do business through his father.
He was born in Kano state, Northern Nigeria in 1957.
Dangote’s mother is Mariya Sanusi Dantata, the daughter of business mogul Sanusi Dantata.
Dangote’s father Mohammed Dangote was a businessman associated with Sanusi Dantata who is the father of Mariya Dantata.
He obtained his primary education at the Sheikh Ali Kumasi Madrasa, and then proceeded to Capital High School Kano state.
In 1978, he graduated from the Government College, Birnin Kudu and proceeded to Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, where he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Studies.
Dangote’s Business
After he had graduated from the University in Egypt, Dangote came back to Nigeria to begin his business career.
Then, he founded the Dangote Group as a small trading firm in 1977, before which he had collected a loan from his uncle and he used the loan to establish his own cement trading business.
After some years, in 1981, he transformed the company to become the Dangote Group. This company enlarged its operation between 1980 and 1990.
Most of Dangote’s money comes from Dangote Cement, which produces 45.6 million tons of cement per year and operates in more than ten African countries.
In the 1990s, he approached Nigeria’s apex bank, with the idea that it would be cheaper for the bank to allow his transport company to manage their fleet of staff buses, a proposal that was also approved.
The Dangote Group moved from being a trading company to be the largest industrial group in Nigeria, encompassing divisions like Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Cement, and Dangote Flour.
The Company dominates the sugar market in Nigeria, with its refinery business being the main supplier to the country’s soft drink companies, breweries and confectioners.
In 2012, Dangote approached the Nigerian Ports Authority to lease an abandoned piece of land at the Apapa Port in Lagos State, which was approved. He then built facilities for his sugar company and it has become the largest refinery in Africa and the third largest in the world.
The refinery produces about 800,000 tonnes of sugar annually.
The Dangote Group owns salt factories and flour mills and is a major exporter of rice, fish, pasta, cement, and fertiliser.
The company exports cotton, cashew nuts, cocoa, sesame seeds, and ginger to several countries and it has major investments in real estate, banking, transport, textiles, oil, and gas.
Today, the Dangote Group can boast of over eleven thousand employees in west Africa.
Family life/Philanthropy
Aliko Dangote lives in Lagos State, though he travels a lot for business and vacations.
He has been married and divorced twice. The marriage produced three daughters.
In 2014, Dangote donated 150 million naira (US$750,000) to the Nigerian government to halt the spread of Ebola.
He had also given a pledge of $10 million to support Nigerians affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in 2016.
In March 2020, Dangote donated 200 million naira (US$500,000) towards the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
Dangote has also worked alongside the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on public health issues.
From his early life to education and decision not just to venture into business but to keep expanding his economic empire are some of the reasons why he has remain the wealthiest Blackman in the world for more than a decade and for those who wish to accumulate wealth, there is a lot to learn from this colossus, Aliko Dangote
