Aliko Dangote, this name will probably not sound even a whistle in your mind. But let me tell you that he is the richest man in Africa. His net worth is estimated at around $14 billion. He was born in Kano. His family was wealthy. His father was Mohammed Dangote and his mother was Mariya Sanusi Dantata.
Putting some light on his current personal life, he has been married and divorced twice. Right now, he has three daughters and an adopted son.
His company, the Dangote Group was established in the year 1977 as a small trading firm. Currently, it is the largest company on African Continent. Its main operational centre is in the areas of Togo, Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia. His company has various fields of interest. It ranges from cement to refinery of sugar and many other businesses. His company is the largest cement producing company in Africa. The Dangote company is also a giant in the sugar sector in Nigeria and also provides it to various companies for soft drinks and confectioners in the country. In its early days, the Dangote group was a trading company, but it is a big company today. It serves in various sectors for the benefit of the people and the economy. Some of its subsidiaries are Dangote Flour and Dangote Cement.
In the early 2010s, he approached the Nigerian Port Authority to sanction him an abandoned piece of land. His request was approved. Later on, he started his flour company on that piece of land. He was also permitted to provide bus service for the employees of the Bank of Nigeria.
As a charity and welfare of the people, he also donated money to the sports body of Nigeria. This was done by him to improve the condition of Abuja, the national stadium. He also donated money during the Ebola crisis and the COVID pandemic.
The Dangote Group is the third-largest refinery in the world. It produces around 700,000 tonnes of sugar annually. Along with that it also has salt factories. It also imports several other things like rice, fish, pasta and fertiliser. Not only import, but the company also exports various things. Some of them are cashew nuts, oil, gas, cotton and sesame seeds. It has also invested heavily in many other sectors like banking, textiles, real estate, etc.
It also has a workforce of 11000 employees. It was also honoured for being the largest employer in the country in the construction sector.
Presently, it is working in the field of telecommunication. It has pledged to lay down 14000 km of optical fibres cables. It is planning to provide internet service to entire Nigeria.
He is also working on a project which will result in the creation of the world’s largest refinery. It will be done at a projected cost of $19 billion. It is being done in the Lekki Free Zone area of Lagos in Nigeria.
Recently, he also announced the completion of the construction of the Peugeot assembly plant in Nigeria.
He has also been awarded in various fields. He has been awarded the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, which is the second-highest honour in Nigeria. He has also been honoured with being declared the Forbes Africa Person of the year in 2014. He has also been declared as the “Most Powerful Man in Africa” for 6 consecutive years – 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. He was also declared as one of the Top 25 Businessmen in the World in the year 2014 by CNBC. In the same year, he was on the list of the top 100 most influential people in the world of Time magazine. In the next year, he was also on the list of 50 most influential people in the world according to Bloomberg Markets.
He has also won the guardian man of the year in the same year. In the year 2016, the African American Institute also bestowed upon him the honour of being the African Business Leader of the year. The New African magazine also ranked him as one of the top 100 most influential Africans for three years – 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019
He also has various memberships. Some of them are: –
He is a member of the board for the Corporate Council of Africa.
He is also a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative and the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum.
He is also a board member of Clinton Health Access Initiative and One Campaign.
Ultimately, we can conclude that he has been the backbone of the African continent for quite some time now. He has also tried to improve the lives of the people of his country Nigeria to some extent. He has tried to solve the problem of unemployment in his country. He has the motto that the people of Nigeria can improve their lives and progress if they work together as a team.
