AFRICA'S RICHEST MAN

Aliko Dangote-

CREATED BY CHINEDUM AZUH

International Gospel Preacher, CEO The Learning Lab, Self-Publisher, Radio/TV Personality and a Syndicated Columnist with Over 500 Articles. +2348032069925

THE MAN ALIKO DANGOTE

FORBE'S BILLIONAIRE

A decade ago most people outside Nigeria would have said, "Aliko who?"

Not anymore. In 2008 he became the first Nigerian to make it onto Forbes' rich list. In 2011 the magazine disclosed: "The Nigerian businessman's fortune surged 557 percent in the past year, making him the world's biggest gainer in percentage terms and Africa's richest individual for the first time." (According to Forbes, as of March 2012 he was the second richest black man in the world, having recently been displaced by Saudi/Ethiopian Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi)

Now everyone else is paying attention.

EARLY LIFE

• Alhaji Aliko Dangote, a northerner from Kano State, Nigeria, was born on 10 April 1957 into a wealthy Muslim family. From the time he was young Dangote had an eye on business. He said, "I can remember when I was in primary school, I would go and buy cartons of sweets [sugar boxes] and I would start selling them just to make money. I was so interested in business, even at that time."[this quote needs a citation] He studied business at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt and thereafter returned to Nigeria to borrow from his uncle Sanusi Abdulkadir Dantata, who would eventually provide him a loan of ₦500,000 (Naira, NGN) when he was just 21 years old to start a business.

BUSINESS CAREER

The Dangote Group was established as a small trading firm in 1977. Today, it is a multi-trillion naira conglomerate with many of its operations in Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo. At present, Dangote has enlarged his line of businesses to also cover food processing, cement manufacturing, and freight. The Dangote Group also dominates the sugar market in Nigeria and is a major sugar supplier to the country's soft drink companies, breweries, and confectioners. The Dangote Group has moved from being a trading company to being the largest industrial group in Nigeria and these include: Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Cement, and Dangote Flour, just to mention a few.

DANGOTE GROUPThe Dangote Group is a diversified conglomerate, headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, with interests across a range of sectors in Africa. Current interests include cement, sugar, flour, salt, pasta, beverages and real estate, with new projects in development in the oil and Natural gas, telecommunications, fertilizer[2] and steel. The Group focuses on provision of local, value-added products and services that meet the needs of the African population. Dangote Cement, the largest cement production company in Africa, with a market capitalization of almost US$14 billion on the Nigeria Stock Exchange, has subsidiaries in Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia.[3] In December 2010, the group signed an agreement with the Government of Zambia to construct a US$400 million cement plant in Zambia.

MEET THE AFRICA'S RICHEST MAN

This is the inspiring story of how Aliko Dangote, a man from the third world rose from a humble beginning to become not only the richest black man in the world but also the richest black person in the world.

• This mentor of man controls over 60% of Nigeria’s sugar market and over 42% of the country’s cement market. I am talking of a country with over 150 million citizens. I bring to you, Aliko Dangote; the richest black man in the world.

TOP BUSINESS SECRET

Dangote believes one of the main prerequisite to building a successful business and ultimately becoming rich is developing a firm belief in your country. Dangote is a firm believer in his country Nigeria. He believes opportunities abound everywhere but it just takes a smart eye to see them. He encourages everyone to seek opportunities in their own country instead of seeking greener pastures in other countries.

START SMALL AND DREAM BIG - CONCLUSION

“I built a conglomerate and emerged the richest black man in the world in 2008 but it didn’t happen overnight. It took me thirty years to get to where I am today. Youths of today aspire to be like me but they want to achieve it overnight. It’s not going to work. To build a successful business, you must start small and dream big. In the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is supreme.” – Aliko Dangote