Forbes described him as “the face of new Nigeria”. In reality, this doesn’t even begin to sum up the essence of the Dangote phenomenon. “The spine of industrial Africa” would be a more fitting description, but even this tag is only a starting point.
It may seem like the Aliko Dangote story happened by some stroke of good fortune, but there was nothing fortuitous about this remarkable African success story. Even as a teenager, Aliko was very clear about his mission and travelled abroad to acquire university education in entrepreneurship, returning to Nigeria to establish his own private venture at a very young age.
Starting with N500,000 he borrowed from his uncle, Aliko’s brainchild would transform into a sprawling $22 billion (valued by Africa Business Magazine in 2014) international conglomerate spanning 18 African countries. This valuation was worth more than the GDP of Zambia, Cyprus, Georgia, and even oil-rich Gabon.
Four of his companies listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of N3.8 trillion reportedly constituted almost half of the stock exchange in March 2016.
Aliko may come across as a man who is not just obsessed with making money, but making lots of it. In truth, the man’s heart is as large as his purse. Looking closely, you get the impression that making deals is simply his day’s job, while making society better is his life’s obsession. In a TIME Magazine tribute in 2014, Bill Gates described Dangote as “Africa’s richest man who does good in addition to doing well”.
For all his achievements, what strikes you most about the man is his unassuming personality.
