Aliko Dangote – The Iconoclast Entrepreneur
By Amos Oladele
He obviously does not need an introduction to most, if not all Nigerians and, even, Africans. This is not because every Nigerian or African has a personal physical acquaintance with him. No. It is simply because he has risen from relative obscurity to such a dizzying height that his name, which instructively is also the name which his group of companies and his myriad of products bear, resonates very loudly and very clearly with all and sundry across almost all the shores of the earth. Aliko Dangote, the quintessential entrepreneur and president/ceo of the Dangote Group.
Born on Wednesday, the 10th of April, 1957, Aliko Dangote hails from a very prominent business family, being the great grandson of Alhaji Alhassan Dantata, who was the richest African at the time of his death in 1955.
Perhaps due to his providential descent from a highly successful business family, Aliko developed interest in business quite early in life. Reminiscing on this, he once disclosed, “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.”
It is an eternal testimonial to the entrepreneurial wizardry of this business icon that what is today known globally as the Dangote Group was established as a small trading firm in 1977. But today, it is a multi-trillion naira conglomerate with many of its operations in Nigeria and many countries in Africa. The Group has also moved from being a trading company to being the largest industrial group in Nigeria with subsidiaries including Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Cement, and Dangote Flour.
Inspired by a vision to “be a world-class enterprise that is passionate about the standard of living of the general populace and giving high returns to stakeholders” and a mission to “Touch the lives of people by providing their basic needs”, the group has a hard-earned reputation for excellent business practices and high quality products, achieved through the deployment of state-of-the-art technology and a high caliber human capital.
Dangote Group has also expanded to cover Cement – Manufacturing / Importing; Sugar – Manufacturing & Refining; Salt – Refining; Flour & Semolina – Milling; Pasta – Manufacturing; Noodles – Manufacturing; Poly Products – Manufacturing; Logistics – Port Management and Haulage and Real Estate.
The Dangote Group’s business focus is to provide local, value-added products and services that meet the ‘basic needs’ of the populace. Through the construction and operation of large scale manufacturing facilities in Nigeria and across Africa, the Group is focused on building local manufacturing capacities to regenerate employment, prevent capital flight and provide locally produced goods for the people.
It parades such brands as Dangote Sugar, Dangote Salt, Dangote Cement, Dangote Sacks, Dangote Marcaroni, and Dangote Noodles. Other brands in its portfolio are Petit Tomato Paste, Danvita, Mowa Water, Zika Milk, Dansa Juice, and Dangote Spaghetti.
The Dangote Group has nationwide staff strength of 12,000 but on completion of on-going projects, it is expected to hit 22,000.
To date, several landmark records have hallmarked the almost four decade history of the Dangote Group. For one, the group has since become a dominant player in virtually all the sectors in which it operates. Dangote Cement, in particular has, since 2010, ranked as the top quoted company in Nigeria and also the biggest company in West Africa – at a time the company was still relatively young.
At about the same time at the continental level, Dangote Cement put up a good showing, emerging 15th out of top the top 250 companies in Africa, sequel to its October, 2010 merger with Benue Cement Company, BCC. The company was subsequently listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE.
It is worthy of note that Dangote Cement at the time of its listing on the Exchange had a market value of $14 billion and it instantly accounted for about 30 percent of the market capitalization. The company has since forayed into building new plants in Nigeria and other African countries, notably Zambia and Senegal.
The Group has since established the Dangote Foundation as its Corporate Social Responsibility arm which has given back to the Nigerian and African communities through numerous CSR initiatives and interventions.
In 2008, Alhaji Aliko Dangote ranked first in Nigeria in Forbes Magazine’s 2008 list of the richest people in the world with a fortune estimated at 3.3 billion dollars, a net worth that by June, 2015 had moved up to 18 billion dollars. Also according to Forbes, Dangote moved from No. 67th on Forbes’ list of billionaires in the world in 2015 to No. 51 in 2016! He is the richest man not only in Nigeria but on the entire African continent; and is No. 71 on Forbes’ list of powerful people in the world.
As a self-employed person, with minimum basic education, Aliko Dangote is a living proof of the fact that business success is usually through strength of mind, honesty and perseverance; and not necessarily by obtaining Harvard or Oxford certificates or First-Class academic qualification. His managerial skills and accomplishments are well worth even doctoral theses.
Interestingly, instead of stashing his funds in foreign accounts, a typical feature of fraudulent fronts and public office looters, Dangote invests wisely in the productive sector of the Nigerian and African economies. He is reputed to have once stated, “If you give me today $5 billion, I will not invest any abroad, I will invest everything here in Nigeria. Let us put heads together and work.”
And, using his tried and tested rise to stardom to challenge the youths of this generation, Dangote once declared, “I built a conglomerate and emerged the richest black man in the world in 2008 but it didn’t happen overnight. It took me 30 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”.
Little wonder that Vanguard, a leading Nigerian newspaper in a comment on this living legend, submits that “Alhaji Aliko Dangote represents what African businessmen should be. He is an example for aspiring entrepreneurs across the continent’’, advising aspiring entrepreneurs to “Start small, aim very high, identify and take advantage of opportunities. Do not be discouraged by challenges. Give, and give generously to help others make progress”.
In appreciation and celebration of this prodigious patriot of our time, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has bagged many awards, honours and recognitions. Among such is Nigeria’s second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) which was conferred on him by then President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on November 14, 2011. He had, years earlier, been conferred with the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic, MFR.
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