Inspiring CEOs

SIAKA MOMOH

Aliko Dangote is a Nigerian business dynast and philanthropist who is the founder and CEO of the Dangote Group conglomerate.

Aliko, born April 10, 1957, in Kano, Nigeria, is of the Hausa ethnic group. He was born to Mariya Sanusi Dantata and Mohammed Dangote. 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 his grandson. Reports have it that  when Dangote was eight years old, he used pocket money given to him by his grandfather to buy sweets, which he had others sell for a profit.

Aliko Dangote read business at Al-Azhar University, an Islamic institution in Cairo.

There are different reports of how Aliko Dangote began developing his business on a bigger scale. According to some accounts, when he was only 21 years old, he borrowed $3,000 from his uncle, planning on importing and selling agricultural goods in Nigeria. In a few months, his venture became a success, and he was able to repay the loan. Another version states it was $2,500, and that he borrowed this money from his grandfather, promising to repay the loan within three years. He settled in Lagos and started his rice and sugar importation from Brazil and Thailand, and selling the goods in Nigeria.

His business quickly reached high demand and became extremely profitable. According to the account,  Aliko paid back the money to his grandfather in three months after starting the venture.

Aliko Dangote founded and chairs Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer. In 2015 Dangote Cement launched new plants in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Zambia and Tanzania. Other companies in the Dangote Group, include publicly-traded salt, sugar and flour manufacturing companies. His real time networth as at April 27, 2016 according to Forbes Magazine is U.S.$16.5. Today, real time networth is $12.2 billion.

Dangote Refinery

But his recently established oil refinery has changed the picture. Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has seen his wealth more than double to $28 billion following the opening of his Nigerian oil refinery, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The refinery is the world’s largest single-train facility, capable of processing a broad range of global crude types. The refinery, that can go for Aliko’s  most ambitious project, is a massive oil refinery in Lagos state. He spearheaded the project in 2013 in an effort to solve the fuel crisis in Nigeria, which, despite being a leading oil-producing country, had to import most of the refined petroleum products it needed.

Fertilizer Plant

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—opened in May 2023, though it was not yet fully operational. It was anticipated that the refinery’s production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day 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.

Established in May 1981 as a trading business with an initial focus on cement, Dangote Group diversified over time into a conglomerate trading cement, sugar, flour, salt and fish. By the early 1990s, Dangote Group had grown into one of the largest trading conglomerates operating in the country and the largest cement plant in sub-Saharan Africa.

Transition to Manufacturing

In 1999, following the transition to civilian rule and after an inspirational visit to Brazil to study the emerging manufacturing sector, the Dangote Group made a strategic decision to transit from a trading based business into a fully fledged manufacturing operation. In a country where imports constitute the vast majority of consumed goods, a clear gap existed for a manufacturing operation that could meet the ‘basic needs’ of a vast and fast growing population.

Aliko Dangote owns 85% of publicly-traded Dangote Cement through a holding company. Dangote Cement produces 45.6 million metric tons annually and has operations in 10 countries across Africa. Aliko Dangote is 66th Most Powerful People in the World 2020 and number 162 Richest Man in the World on Forbe’s list.

Only recently, Dangote pledged $2 million to establish a fellowship programme aimed at grooming young leaders from Africa.

 As a nonpartisan and detribalized businessperson, he is generous to different political parties, religious groups and cultural institutions.

The group today is involved in diverse forms of manufacturing with high turnover. Dangote textile and the Nigeria Textiles Mills Plc., which it acquired, produce over 120,000 meters of finished textiles daily. The group has a ginnery in Kankawa, Katsina State with a capacity of 30,000 metric tons of seeded cotton annually.
The sugar refinery at Apapa port, Lagos is the largest in Africa and in size the third largest in the world with an annual capacity of 700,000 tonnes of refined sugar annually. It also has another 100,000 ton-capacity sugar mill at Hadeija in Jigawa State.

Apart from having substantial investment in the National Salt Company of Nigeria at Ota, Ogun State, the group has salt factories at Apapa and Calabar, a polypropylene bagging factory which produces required bags for its products, over 600 trailers for efficient distribution network and goods meant for export can also efficiently be transported to the ports. A vehicle leasing unit with over 100 fully air-conditioned commuter buses is also part of the Dangote Group.

Philanthropy

Dangote Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the group where yearly he spends millions for worthy causes such as contributions to educational and healthcare institutions, sinking of boreholes and giving of scholarships.

The Dangote Group has nationwide staff strength of 12,000 but on completion of on-going projects, it is expected to hit 22,000.
 

November 2011 was the time Dangote received the award of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger. This is the second highest honour in Nigeria. This award was given to Aliko Dangote by the ex-President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan.

In 2014, the government of Nigeria announced that Aliko Dangote has made a very generous donation towards the prevention of the spread of Ebola virus. According to the government, he donated N150 million. Some of his other awards are Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2014, Clinton Global Citizen Award 2015, and the number six position in the list “100 Most Influential Philanthropists 2018” created by Richtopia, the company from the UK. He also has honorary citizenship of the Arkansas State, which he was been given with six other Nigerians who have done prominent things for the country.

Aliko Dangote’s Home Front

 The successful mogul is a father to three gorgeous daughters. Their names are Halima, Mariya, and Fatima. Not much is known about them, except the fact that they were very studious, and graduated from universities in United Kingdom. Despite the fact that their father is so wealthy, they are leading a very modest way of life.