Happy Birthday, Aliko Dangote Clocks 60

Alhaji Aliko Dangote was born into a prominent business family of Kano, on April 10, 1957. He is the grandson of Alhaji Alhassan Dantata,one of the richest Africans of his time. With an eye for business since childhood, he engaged himself in buying and selling early in life. According to him: ” 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 to make money. I was so interested in business, even at that time”.

With a startup loan of 5,000:00 (Five thousand Naira only) in 1977 from his uncle, Alhaji Dantata, he established his business, which today has grown to become, the Dangote Group. The Dangote Group is today arguably the largest and most established conglomerate of African origin. The Dangote Group operates in areas that include, but not limited to, farming and food processing, cement manufacturing, freight, transportation and general merchandising. The Dangote Group is also an industrial complex with active participation in sugar and salt, refineries, pasta and flour mills as well as petroleum and petrol-chemical refinery. The Group with headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, has presence in other countries like Benin Republic, Ghana, Togo, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa.

Alhaji Aliko Dangote is rated by Forbes as African’s richest man and among the world’s 100 richest men with a networth of over S4.5 billion. He has received several honours and recognition across the world, including from Forbes. The Nigerian government, in appreciation of his contribution to economic, industrial and social cultural development of the nation, awarded him the Grand Commander of the order of the Niger, GCON, the highest honour for a civilian in the land. He is also a recipient of honorary doctorate degrees from several higher institutions, including Nigeria’s premier university, the University of Ibadan ,UI.