Have you ever wondered who the richest man in Nigeria is? If you have, then you’re about to know a lot more about him. Aliko Dangote is not only the richest man in Nigeria and not only the richest man in Africa. He is presently the richest black man walking on the surface of the earth and proudly, he’s Nigerian. Aliko Dangote (GCON) is the richest person in Nigeria but how does that come about? What is he into? How does he make his money? What exactly is his net worth? Let’s have an up, close and personal with the richest man in Nigeria.
Aliko Dangote is a grandnephew to Alhaji Alhassan Dantata, who was the richest person in Africa as the time of his death in 1955. Dangote’s uncle noticed his interest in business at a very young age and trained him on how to go about business management, after which he made him a marketer for his groundnut business. Dangote worked with Dantata for over a decade before deciding to go start his own business. 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.
Dangote Group has the largest business conglomerate in West Africa and arguably the largest workforce in West Africa, with an employment base over 11,000 workers. The company 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 seed and ginger to several countries. It also has major investments in real estate, banking, transport, textiles and oil and gas. The Dangote Group has moved from being a trading company to being the largest industrial group in Nigeria including Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Cement, and Dangote Flour.
Dangote Cement production facility is the largest in West Africa, with over 25,000 metric tons of cement produced annually and distributed across Africa; and also the third largest sugar refinery in the world with over 800,000 tons produced annually. In Nigeria today, Dangote is the dominating sugar supplier in the market. Dongote is the main supplier to the country’s soft drinks companies, breweries and confectioners, supplying 70% of the market.
The billionaire who stated his intent to purchase a 16 percent stake in Premiership side Arsenal belonging to Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith in 2011 has decided to diversify into the telecommunications sector by building 14,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables to supply the whole Nigeria and has eye on other sectors to invest that would be of benefit to the Nigerian economy. In 2013 alone, according to Forbes, Dangote added a whopping $9.2 Billion to his wealth, making him the richest person in not only Nigeria, but Africa.
Dangote doesn’t only earn, he gives. He donated around N50 Million naira to the national mosque; and in 2014, the Nigerian government said Dangote had donated 150 million Naira to halt the spread of ebola. The father of three girls is worth a monstrous sum of $21 Billion.
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