Dangote is the founder and current Chairman and CEO of the Dangote Group, the largest industrial conglomerate in West Africa. He is reputed to be the wealthiest person in Africa, with an estimated net worth of US$20 billion.
1957
Nigeria
Nigerian
Dangote was awarded Nigeria’s second highest honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) by the former President, Goodluck Jonathan.
Dangote was named as the Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2014.
For six consecutive years, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Forbes listed him as the `Most Powerful Man in Africa’.
In 2014, he was listed in CNBC’s `Top 25 Businessmen in the World’ who changed and shaped the century.
In April 2014, Time magazine listed him among its 100 most influential people in the world.
In October 2015, Dangote was listed among the 50 most influential individuals in the world’ by Bloomberg Markets.
He won The Guardian Man of the Year 2015.
He won the 2016 African Business Leader Award, organized by the Africa America Institute (AAI).
Dangote was cited as one of the top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Dangote sits on the board of the Corporate Council on Africa, and is a member of the steering committee of the United Nations Secretary General’s Global Education First Initiative, the Clinton Global Initiative and the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum.
In September 2016he was named co-chair of the US-Africa Business Centre by the US Chamber of Commerce.
In April 2017, he joined the board of directors of the Clinton Health Access Initiative. He is also on the board of One Campaign.
Dangote’s mother, Mariya Sanusi Dantata, was the daughter of businessman Sanusi Dantata. Aliko Dangote’s father, Mohammed Dangote, was a business associate of Sanusi Dantata. Through his mother, Dangote is the great-grandson of Alhassan Dantata, the richest West African at the time of his death in 1955.
Dangote was educated at the Sheikh Ali Kumasi Madrasa, followed by Capital High School, Kano. In 1978, he graduated from the Government College, Birnin Kudu. He received a Bachelor’s degree in business studies and administration from Al-Azhar University, Cairo.
The Dangote Group was established as a small trading firm in 1977, the same year Dangote relocated to Lagos to expand the company. Dangote received a $500,000 loan from his uncle to begin trading in commodities including bagged cement as well as agricultural goods like rice and sugar. In the 1990s, he approached the Central Bank of Nigeria 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.
Today, the Dangote Group is one of the largest conglomerates in Africa, with international operations in Benin, Ghana, Zambia and Togo. The Dangote Group has 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. Dangote Group dominates the sugar market in Nigeria, with its refinery business is the main supplier (70 percent of the market) to the country’s soft drink companies, breweries and confectioners. The company employs more than 11,000 people in West Africa.
In July 2012, Dangote approached the Nigerian Ports Authority to lease an abandoned piece of land at the Apapa Port, which was approved. He later built facilities for his flour company there. It is the largest refinery in Africa and the third largest in the world, producing 800,000 tonnes of sugar annually. The Dangote Group owns salt factories and flour mills and is a major importer of rice, fish, pasta, cement, and fertiliser. The company exports cotton, cashew nuts, cocoa, sesame seeds, and ginger to several countries. Additionally, it has major investments in real estate, banking, transport, textiles, oil, and gas.
In February 2022, Dangote announced the completion of Peugeot assembling facility in Nigeria following his partnership with Stellantis Group, the parent company of Peugeot, the Kano and Kaduna state government. The new automobile company, Dangote Peugeot Automobiles Nigeria Limited (DPAN) factory which is based in Kaduna commenced operations with the roll-out of Peugeot 301, Peugeot 5008, 3008, 508 and Land Trek.
Dangote became Nigeria’s first billionaire in 2007. Dangote reportedly added $9.2 billion to his personal wealth in 2013, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him the thirtieth-richest person in the world at the time, and the richest person in Africa. As of June 2022, Dangote is the wealthiest person in Africa, with an estimated net worth of US$20 billion
Parents – Mohammed Dangote, Hajia Mariya Sanusi Dantata
Wife – He has been married and divorced twice
Children – Fatima Dangote, Abdulrahman Fasasi, Halima Dangote, Mariya Dangote
Brother – Sani Dangote
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliko_Dangote accessed 15/06/2022
https://time.com/5432947/aliko-dangote-richest-man-africa/ accessed 15/06/2022
https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/leaders/africas-richest-man-aliko-dangote-seeks-to-raise-an-additional-dollar11-billion-to/g51nnly accessed 15/06/2022
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/05/how-nigerian-aliko-dangote-became-the-worlds-richest-black-person.html accessed 15/06/2022
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliko_Dangote accessed 15/06/2022
https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/aliko-dangote-quotes accessed 15/06/2022
