Who is Aliko Dangote - Richest Billionaire in Nigeria: Biography, Personal Life And Net Worth

Who is the Richest Person in Nigeria Today?

• Richest Person: Aliko Dangote

• Age: 66

• Net Worth: $13.4 Billion

• Rank: 144

• Source of Wealth: Cement, sugar

• Residencez: Lagos, Nigeria

• Marital Status: Divorced

• Children: 3

• Education: Bachelor of Arts/Science, Al-Azhar University

Aliko Dangote

The 38th edition of Forbes Magazine's World Billionaires List for 2024 was published. The only Nigerians included on the list were Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Abdulsamad Rabiu, and Femi Otedola.

Aliko Dangote, whose estimated net worth in 2024 was approximately $13.4 billion, is the richest man in Africa and the richest Black man globally.

Aliko Dangote: Early Life and Education

Dangote was born in 1957 in Kano(northern Nigeria). Since 1999, Kano as well as 11 other states (out of a total of 36 states in Nigeria) have local rule of law systems built based on Shariah law.

Not to mention this is the homeland of the terrorist group Boko Haram, which resolutely opposes any expression of Western culture as well as civilized education. Members of this group often attack Christians, especially police and soldiers, and organize kidnappings and murders of innocent people. That's why Nigeria is still considered one of the most unsafe countries for foreigners.

Dangote's parents are Muslims with quite successful business activities, always creating conditions for their son to have a high level of education to facilitate his future life.

Accordingly, the future billionaire was admitted to the Islamic University in Egypt, majoring in economics and management. After graduating, Dangote worked in his uncle's company for a while, before moving on to his own business with an initial capital of only $3,500 in interest-free loans from relatives.

The young man quickly had initial success with the trade of food and textiles mainly imported from abroad - such as rice from Taiwan, sugar from Brazil. Dangote's daily revenue at that time reached several thousand dollars, thanks to the fact that he had successfully built a closed product purchasing and distribution network, helping his goods reach consumers faster. competitors.

Aliko Dangote: Career

Many entrepreneurs will always find inspiration in the story of how the wealthiest Black man in the world founded his business from the ground up. Shortly after graduating from college at age 21, he borrowed $3,000 from his uncle to import and sell food products in Nigeria.

Dangote's success is also attributed to luck according to the motto "right place and right time". When he began building his business empire in the 1970s, Nigeria was in the midst of an oil-related economic boom.

The Nigerian National Fuel Corporation (NNPC) became a monopoly in the field of oil exploitation and export. The NNCP benefited greatly during the 1973 global energy crisis, when Arab countries refused to sell oil to the US and a series of other countries because of their support for Israel. Nigeria thus jumped into the US oil market share of 10% and maintains this ratio to this day.

Huge income from oil has become a rich source of investment, helping Nigerian companies in all fields easily invest to make profits, creating many new jobs with high salaries.

Dangote at that time was in no hurry to switch to oil - he decided to temporarily benefit from the rapid growth of the Nigerian economy, continuing to invest in other business areas within the framework of Dangote Group. At the same time, this businessman also did not forget to invest in politics - establishing relationships with famous politicians, providing finance for their election campaigns, especially candidates running for election. elect president.

Dangote is very skillful in changing business strategies depending on the generations of Nigerian leaders. After former NNPC chairman Muhammadu Buhari became president, he promptly followed the import substitution industrialization policy at a time when income from oil exports was seriously reduced, deploying a series of production products such as textiles, calico and cotton.

10 years later, under the direction of new president Sani Abacha, he promoted rice imports and massively reduced prices, thereby helping to eliminate all competitors. By 1990, after an agreement with the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dangote Group was assigned to manage the country's transportation sector.

But Dangote has the closest relationship with President Olusegun Obasanjo, who ruled Nigeria for two terms from 1976-1979 and 1999-2007.

During Obasanjo's second term, Dangote made a fortune by investing in a series of cement factories in anticipation of his import restriction policy. Dangote's cement products were provided free of charge for the construction of the headquarters of Obasanjo's People's Democratic Party.

The monopoly position then helped Dongote sell cement three times higher than the average price on the world market. Moreover, this businessman continued to invest in the field of sugar and flour production, as well as acquiring the steelmaking company Oshogbo Steel Rolling Mills.

By the mid-2000s, President Obasanjo also viewed Dangote as a worthy successor to his presidential position, implying that such a wealthy businessman (whose assets at that time had reached more than $1 billion) would Do not engage in corruption to get rich.

However, Dangote dismissed this suggestion by affirming that business is the most important thing to him. “If I switch to politics, no one can run Dangote Group more effectively than me, and no one dares to take risks because they are not the owner like me” – Dangote explained his decision like that. .

In 2006, Dangote began launching shares on the stock market, even though it was only a few companies in the group. To this day, just four companies of the Dangote Group have a total value equal to one-third of the capital of the Nigerian stock market. Currently, the overall value of Dangote Group (including the value of shares not traded on the stock market) has reached $17 billion.

Starting in 2010, Dangote began to enter the international market by opening branches in Senegal, Zambia, Congo, Ethiopia, Cameroon, etc. The group is taking steps to open a cement factory in Nepal with a total Investment value of 555 million USD, if successful, will become the largest foreign investment in this Asian country.

The next important step in Dangote's development strategy is to build the largest oil processing plant on the continent and expected to be the 5th largest in the world. The establishment of this factory will help fundamentally solve Nigeria's long-standing problem. This country with the 10th largest oil reserves in the world has long had to import most of its petroleum and other petroleum products because domestic processing plants have very low output due to outdated technology.

According to estimates, if the above factory goes into operation, Dangote Group's income will skyrocket from 4 billion to 30 billion dollars per year. Not to mention Dangote also plans to build a fertilizer factory from raw materials from crude oil.

Today, Dangote has become the richest man in Africa as well as the most successful black businessman in the world. His estimated total assets value of $16.5 billion helps him take 72nd place on the list of the 500 richest people in the world (on this list, only 6 people are representatives of the black continent).

In Nigeria, Dangote is considered the only businessman who has achieved such great success from purely manufacturing business activities, not in the service sector like founder Mike Adenuga of Globacom Mobile Phone Company. (with a total asset value of $2.8 billion), or emerging tycoons who mainly get rich through other high-tech digital services.

Aliko Dangote: Personal Life

Aliko Dangote has three marriages overall.

Aliko Dangote presently has a wife. He has two prior divorces and three marriages overall. Three daughters belong to him.

Dangote has another outstanding distinguishing feature related to his lifestyle. If Nigerian presidents and high-ranking officials often like to appear in public in typical national costumes, Dangote always maintains a modern office style with a suit and tie. He always appears very calm during negotiations, never raises his voice, and enjoys serving his partners during meals.

Although the king of Nigeria's leading business empire is called "a quiet and always polite figure", on the contrary he is capable of making very decisive executive decisions. Dangote is often very open, personally taking reporters to visit factories, as well as allowing them into his office, even though he does not like to talk about the past.

The billionaire also follows his Western colleagues and is very active in charity work. The charity fund named after him annually spends an average of hundreds of millions of dollars on building hospitals and anti-poverty projects.

Aliko Dangote: Net Worth

With an estimated net worth of $13.4 billion, Dangote holds the top spot on Forbes' list of Africa's Billionaires. Among other companies, he gets revenue from Dangote Fertilizer, Dangote Refinery, and Dangote Cement, which is the biggest cement manufacturer on the continent.

With his huge assets, Dangote does not forget to enjoy himself - he has a large villa in the capital Abuja, a private Bombardier plane bought for his birthday, and a yacht named after his mother. mine etc...

List of 4 Nigerian Billionaires (Forbes 2024)

1. Aliko Dangote

2. Mike Adenuga

Mike Adenuga became wealthy by producing oil and telecoms. Forbes has highlighted his net worth at $6.9 billion. He runs Globacom, the second-biggest telecom provider in Nigeria.

Adenuga also enjoys exploring for oil. In the Niger Delta, his company, Conoil Producing, manages six oil blocks. At the age of 26, he sold lace and distributed soft drinks to earn his first million.

Adenuga comes in at number five on Forbes' list of billionaires in Africa.