Aliko Dangote, The Richest Man In Africa

“When you are raised by an entrepreneurial parent or grandparent you pick that aspiration,” he told Forbes in 2015. “It makes you be much more aggressive — to think anything is possible.”

Africa’s richest person controls Dangote Industries, a closely held conglomerate. The Lagos, Nigeria-based company owns sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest cement producer, Dangote Cement. It also has interests in sugar, salt, oil, fertilizer, and packaged food.

Today, Dangote Group’s main publicly traded businesses — Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, and Nascon Allied Industries — make up about one-third of the market capitalization of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Who is Aliko Dangote?

Alhaji Aliko Dangote is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist. He’s the founder and CEO of the Dangote Group conglomerate.

Dangote, of the Hausa ethnic group in Nigeria, was born to Mariya Sanusi Dantata and Mohammed Dangote. He was raised in the Islamic faith and a practicing Muslim. His maternal ancestors were prosperous caravan traders under British colonial rule. And his grandfather Alhaji Sanusi Dantata was a commodities trader.

His grandfather was heavily involved in Dangote’s upbringing and helped inspire the entrepreneurial spirit in him. When Dangote was eight years old, he began selling candies with the pocket money given to him by his grandfather. 

Aliko Dangote Biography

Africa’s richest person was born in Kano, Nigeria, in 1957. His great-grandfather became one of the richest men in West Africa trading kola and ground nuts. Dangote’s father died when he was eight, leaving him to be raised by his maternal grandfather, who was a building materials trader.

Dangote’s entrepreneurial interests followed him into adulthood. In 1977, he graduated with a business degree from Egypt’s Al-Azhar University. When he returned to Nigeria, Dangote moved to Lagos, one of Africa’s wealthiest cities and the country’s largest financial center.

Using a $500,000 loan from his uncle Dantata, Dangote began trading in commodities such as bagged cement and agricultural goods like rice and sugar. These business ventures became so successful that he was able to repay his uncle within three months of starting the operation.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Dangote diversified his operation to include trading sugar, flour, fish, rice, milk, and iron. After traveling to Brazil to study manufacturing in 1996, Dangote shifted the company’s focus from trading to manufacturing. Believing there was an opportunity to create a local operation that would profit from meeting the basic consumer needs of Nigeria’s growing population.

Dangote began building salt and sugar refineries, flour mills and a pasta factory in 1999. A year later, he bought the Benue Cement Co. from the Nigerian government. He later commissioned the Obajana Cement Plant, currently the largest cement facility in sub-Saharan Africa.

Aliko Dangote Net Worth

According to Bloomberg, Aliko Dangote is worth $16.9B

• Cash: $2.93B
• Free zoon land: $100M (Private asset)
• Lagos real estate: $200M (Private asset)
• Private plane: $45.0M (Private asset)
• OML 71 and 72: $575M (Private asset)
• Fertilizer plant: $5.15B (Private asset)
• Dangote industries companies: $263M (private asset)
• DANGCEM NL Equity: $7.04B (Public asset)
• DANGSUGA NL Equity: $335M (Public asset)
• NASCON NL Equity: $70.2M (Public asset)
• UBA NL Equity: $284K (Public asset)

The majority of Dangote’s fortune is derived from his 86% stake in publicly traded Dangote Cement. He holds the shares in the company directly and through his conglomerate, Dangote Industries.

Other assets

Dangote’s other publicly traded assets include stakes in Dangote Sugar, Nascon Allied Industries, and United Bank for Africa. His stakes in the publicly traded companies are held directly and through Dangote Industries. He also owns closely held businesses operating in food manufacturing, fertilizer, oil, and other industries.

His most valuable closely held asset is a fertilizer plant with the capacity to produce up to 2.8 million tonnes of urea annually. Its net value is based on a discounted cash flow analysis by KPMG. The valuation was confirmed by outside analysts.

A $19 billion oil refinery was currently built in Nigeria and isn’t included in the valuation because it’s not yet operational.

The billionaire owns six residential and commercial properties in Lagos. They are valued using the capitalization method. This is based on the rental income provided by Dangote’s spokesman, Anthony Chiejina, and capitalization rates from CBRE Broll Nigeria. His cash holdings are based on an analysis of dividends, taxes, insider transactions, and other expenditures.

How Did Aliko Dangote Start His Business?

From the loan given to him by his uncle, Dangote started a business. He traded commodities and business supplies, primarily cement. By 1981 his business was so successful that he had incorporated other businesses and established the Dangote Group.

His empire extended to foodstuffs, including

• Pasta
• Sugar
• Salt
• Wheat
• Cement
• Haulage and other concerns

Among his holdings are:

• Dangote Industries Ltd.
• Dangote-Bail Nigeria, Ltd.
• Dangote Cement PLC
• Benue Cement Company PLC
• Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC
• Dangote Flour Mills PLC
• Nascon Allied Industries PLC

In addition to its holdings in Nigeria, the Dangote Group has operations in several other African countries.

One of the most ambitious projects of Dangote was the construction of a massive oil refinery in Lagos state. He spearheaded the project in 2013 in an effort to solve the fuel crisis in Nigeria. Despite being a leading oil-producing country it had to import most of the refined petroleum products it needed.

At the same site, Dangote also built a fertilizer plant and a power station. After several years of delays, the refinery – the largest in all of Africa was commissioned in May 2023.

It is anticipated that the refinery’s production capacity is 650,000 barrels per day. And would significantly alter Nigeria’s energy sector by eliminating the need for imported fuel while producing excess to export.

In addition, the project generated an enormous number of temporary and permanent jobs during the construction phase and after completion. 

Dangote’s business success brought him great wealth. In 2008 he made his debut on Forbes magazine’s annual list of billionaires in the world.

In 2011, when Forbes launched its annual list of the 40 richest people in Africa, Dangote landed the top spot. Since then he has routinely ranked on both lists as well as in other, similar measures of wealth in Africa and in the world.

In 2016 Dangote faced scrutiny when his name surfaced in the so-called Panama Papers. A document that disclosed the names of individuals who were linked to offshore shell companies. He was personally linked to 4 such companies, and his family and business associates were linked to at least 13.

How Did Aliko Dangote Make His Money?

Aliko Dangote has been the richest man in Africa for ten years in a row, with a net worth of around $16.9 billion according to Bloomberg. Dangote made his money primarily from his company, Dangote Cement. Although, he started his business empire by selling commodities such as sugar, salt, and flour.

Aliko Dangote Wife

A practicing Muslim, Dangote goes by the title “Alhaji”. An honorific granted to a man who has completed the pilgrimage to Mecca. Details about his wife are not known to the public but we found out that Dangote has three daughters and a son.

They are Halima, Mariya, and Fatimah, and his son is Abdulrahman. Halima followed him into the business world and is currently his company’s executive director of commercial operations.

Aliko Dangote House

According to Dangote, all his houses are in Nigeria. He said this at the 2019 Mo Ibrahim Forum where he hinted that he avoids luxury things because they distract and take time.

“I don’t have any holiday homes anywhere. I don’t have a house anywhere but I know people who are working for me…they have houses in London.”

Dangote lives in a $30m house, Abuja. This is according to Africa Cradle who was given access to the mansion in Abuja. The house Dangote has called home for a good twelve years. He also own houses in Lagos and in his state, Kano.

How Did Aliko Dangote Become Rich?

Aliko Dangote made his fortune by importing and selling agricultural commodities. And later through oil and gas, consumer goods, and manufacturing.

The majority of Dangote’s fortune comes from Dangote Cement, which produces 48.6 million metric tons of cement every year and operates in 10 African countries.

What is Aliko Dangote known for?

Aliko Dangote is known as one of Africa’s top industrialists. Dangote’s companies primarily produce cement, oil, and other commodities such as sugar.

Who is the richest black person in the world?

Aliko Dangote is the richest Black person in the world. Overall, he is ranked as the #130 richest people in the world.

Milestones

• 1957: Aliko Dangote is born in Kano, Nigeria.
• 1977: Graduates from Al-Azhar University in Cairo.
• 1977: With a loan from his uncle, starts his own cement trading business.
• 1981: Founded the company that later became Dangote Group.
• 1996: Visits Brazil to study its emerging manufacturing sector.
• 1999: Dangote starts a strategic shift from trading to manufacturing.
• 2003: Commissions what is now Africa’s largest cement plant, Obajana.
• 2010: Dangote Cement debuts on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Conclusion

Aliko Dangote’s journey to wealth is not a rags-to-riches story. He came from a wealthy family that was able to provide the financial assistance he needed to start his business. 

And over the years, Dangote has expanded into new business areas, including telecommunications, oil, real estate, sugar, and steel manufacturing. Today, his holding company, Dangote Group, is the largest conglomerate in West Africa. His title as “richest man in Africa” seems to be one he’ll hold for years to come.

Also Read: The Man Called David Hundeyin & His Biography

References:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliko_Dangote
• Bloomberg, Billionaires Index. “# 94, Aliko Dangote, $17.8B”. www.bloomberg.com
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aliko-Dangote