The Sunday Mail
Dangote
FACTBOX
Unlike the feel-good Hollywood scripts, which often talk of rugs to riches, Aliko Mohammed Dangote was born on April 10, 1957 to a rich Muslim family in the city of Kano, a traditional commercial centre.
His maternal great grandfather Alhassan Abdullahi Dantata was a thriving entrepreneur who by 1913 was believed to be the largest exporter of kolanuts in West Africa.
At one time, he became the sole distributor for Lever Brothers, now Unilever.
He died in 1955.
While Dangote was named after his father, his maternal grandfather Sanusi Dantata named him Aliko, which means “The Victorious One Who Defends Humanity”.
Aliko Dangote once said of his maternal grandfather: “All my business acumen and instincts I inherited from my maternal grandfather. As his first grandson, he poured his business wizardry into me. I would not have been where I am today without him; a very great man, loving and caring.”
He holds a degree in business and administration from Al Azhar University based in Cairo, Egypt.
During the oil boom period of 1977, the then 20-year-old formed a small trading business that mainly traded in cement.
When General Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 1983, he clamped down on most of the deals, which forced Dangote to Dangote General Textiles Products Enterprises
Over time he built his huge empire.
The Dangote Group includes Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Cement and Dangote Flour.
It is his cement business that has however proved to be successful
Cement plants commissioned across Africa so far include:
1) On April 1, 2015; a US$310 million plant in Senegal was opened.
2) June 5, 2015; a $480 million plant was commissioned in Ethiopia.
3) August 4, 2015; the US$400 million cement plant in Zambia was opened.
4) August 27, 2015; he commissioned a US$140 million plant in Cameroon.
