By Danlami Nasir Isah
Aliko Dangote is a Nigerian mega industrialist, the founder, Dangote Group of companies, an industrial conglomerate that deals in almost all household consumables. He was rated by Forbes as the wealthiest person in Africa, with an estimated net worth of US$13.6 billion as of January 2022.
Dangote was educated at the Sheikh Ali Kumasi Madrasa and at Capital High School, Kano. In 1978, he graduated from Government College, Birnin Kudu and, thereafter, he received a bachelor’s degree in Business Studies and Administration from Al-Azhar University, Cairo.
Dangote Group was established as a small trading firm in 1977, the year Dangote relocated to Lagos to expand his business. Today, Dangote Group is one of the largest conglomerates in Africa, with its operations in many African countries. The company which started cement trading in 1977, has expanded to cover food processing, cement manufacturing and freight. It is also the major dominant supplier of edible and industrial sugar in the Nigerian market. Dangote Group in the last four decades has moved from being a trading company to a world class conglomerate that also deals in flour, noodles, beverages, automobiles, tomato processing, salt, and petrochemicals among other businesses.
Dangote added another feather to his business portfolio when he decided to build the world’s largest private refinery in Nigeria with capacity to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Reputed as the largest single train refinery in the world, with an estimated cost of $19 billion, it is located within the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos.
Dangote unveiled early plans for the refinery in September 2013, when he announced that he had secured about $3.3 billion in financing for the project. At the time, the refinery was estimated to cost about $9 billion, of which $3 billion would be invested by the Dangote Group and the remainder via commercial loan. The refinery was initially expected to begin production in 2016. Due to some construction delays the new giant refinery is now expected to commence operations in the third quarter of 2022. Furthermore, the refinery which also has a petrochemical plant, has the capacity of churning out over 12000 metric tones of fertilizer per day.
Aliko Dangote is a recipient of Nigeria’s second-highest honour – the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), bestowed on him by former President, Goodluck Jonathan. He was named the Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2014. Also, for six consecutive years, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Forbes listed him as the “Most Powerful Man in Africa”. In 2014, he was listed CNBC’s “Top 25 Businessmen in the World” who changed and shaped the century. Similarly, In April 2014, Time magazine listed him among its 100 most influential people in the world. In October 2015, Dangote was listed among “50 Most Influential Individuals in the World” by Bloomberg Markets.
In 2015, The Guardian Newspaper named him Man of the Year. He also won the “2016 African Business Leader Award”, organized by the Africa-America Institute (AAI). Certainly, he remains one of the most decorated Nigerians in the world.
A businessman and philanthropist whose influence transcends the shores of Africa and beyond, Aliko Dangote through his foundation, in collaboration with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, made history by eradicating polio in Nigeria, a task originally viewed as impossible. The foundation’s recent major interventions was during the Covid-19 Pandemic, when they donated the sum of N2 billion. In addition, the foundation engaged 54Gene, a molecular diagnostics company specialized in research and diagnostics, to conduct 1000 Covid-19 tests per day in Kano State, one of the states with the highest infection rate in the country.