Aliko Dangote
Encyclopedia
Alhaji Aliko Dangote MFR, is a Nigerian businessman based in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

. He is the owner of the Dangote Group
Dangote Group
The Dangote Group is currently the largest industrial conglomerate in West Africa and one of the largest in Africa. It generated revenue in excess of US$1.25 billion 2005. The group is one of the leading diversified business conglomerates in Africa...

, which has operations in his homeland and several other countries in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, including Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...

, Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

. A wealthy supporter of erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo, he serves as a prominent financier of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP)
People's Democratic Party (Nigeria)
The People's Democratic Party is a political party in Nigeria. Its policies generally lie towards the right wing of the political spectrum. It has won every single Presidential elections since 1999, namely: 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011, and is the dominant party in the Fourth Republic.-History:In...

. With an estimated current net worth of around US$13.8 billion as of 2011, he was ranked by Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

 as the richest Nigerian citizen, and 51st richest person in the world. He is also simultaneously the richest person of African descent in the world, surpassing Mohammed Al Amoudi
Mohammed Al Amoudi
Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi (Ge'ez: ሞሓመድ አልአሙዲ, Arabic: محمد حسين العمودي; is a Saudi Arabian/Ethiopian businessman and billionaire who lives in Ethiopia and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As of 2011, his net worth has...

 ($12.3 billion) and Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...

 ($2.7 billion.)

Business career

The Dangote Group, originally a small trading firm founded in 1977, is now a multi-trillion naira conglomerate with operations in Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...

, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, and Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...

. Dangote's businesses include food processing, cement manufacturing, and freight. The Dangote Group dominates the sugar market in Nigeria: it is the major sugar supplier to the country's soft drink
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...

 companies, breweries, and confectioners
Confectionery
Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...

. Dangote Group has moved from being a trading company to Nigeria's largest industrial group, including Dangote Sugar Refinery (the most capitalized company on the Nigeria Stock Exchange, valued at over US$3 billion with Aliko Dangote's equity topping US$2 billion), Africa's largest Cement Production Plant: Obajana Cement, Dangote Flour amongst others.

Dangote played a prominent role in the funding of Obasanjo’s re-election campaign in 2003, to which he contributed over N200 million (US$2M). He gave N50 million (US$0.5M) to the National Mosque under the aegis of "Friends of Obasanjo and Atiku", and contributed N200 million to the Presidential Library. These controversial gifts to members of the ruling People's Democratic Party
People's Democratic Party (Nigeria)
The People's Democratic Party is a political party in Nigeria. Its policies generally lie towards the right wing of the political spectrum. It has won every single Presidential elections since 1999, namely: 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011, and is the dominant party in the Fourth Republic.-History:In...

 have contributed to concerns over continued graft despite highly-publicized anti-corruption drives during Obasanjo's second term.

On 23 May 2010, England's Daily Mirror newspaper reported that Dangote was interested in buying a 16 percent stake in Premiership
Premiership
Premiership may refer to:* The post of Prime Minister or Premier, who is the head of government in many parliamentary systems* Premier League, England's highest-level football league competition...

 side Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 belonging to Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith. Dangote later denied these rumours.

On 14th November, 2011, he was awarded Nigeria's second highest honor, Grand Commander of the Niger (GCON) by President Goodluck Jonathan
Goodluck Jonathan
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, GCFR, BNER, GCON is the 14th Head of State and current President of Nigeria.He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the...

.

External links

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