Hello Displorers, Welcome back another inspirational video and thanks for watching, in this video, we shall be taking a deep dive into the fascinating journey of Aliko Dangote and how he became the richest black man of African descent in the world. Aliko Dangote is a Nigerian Billionaire businessman and founder of the Dangote Group of Companies with interest in commodities such as Cement,Oil and gas, Flour and sugar and operating in more than 20 African countries. As of 2020 his net worth is estimated at about 10.2 Billion Dollars. Dangote is ranked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as the 88th-richest person in the world and the richest man in Africa, and peaked on the Forbes list as the 23rd-richest person in the world in 2014. He surpassed Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi in 2013 by over $2.6 billion to become the world's richest person of African descent. Aliko Dangote has worked hard to build his empire and is currently one of the most influential man in the world and a role model for millions of Entrepreneurs around the world. So, The big question most of you will probably be asking is, how did become so rich?, well buckle up as we take a look on his journey to wealth and Affluent but first If you are new here, welcome be sure to subscribe and turn on Notification so you don’t miss any of our videos.
His Early Beginnings and Journey to success
Aliko Dangote, an ethnic Hausa Muslim from Kano, Kano State, was born on the 10th of April 1957 into a wealthy Muslim family, the son of Mohammed Dangote and Mariya Sanusi Dantata. Dangote lost his father at the age of 8 and was raised by his maternal uncle. He attended Sheikh Ali Kumasi Madrasa, followed by Capital High School, Kano. He has a bachelor's degree in business studies and administration from Al-Azhar University, Cairo Egypt. Dangote was born into a very rich family, his great grandfather Alhaji Alhassan Dantata, was the richest Man in west Africa of the time of his death in 1955. Aliko Dangote had always had a business and entrepreneurial mindset , While in Primary school he would buy cartons of candies and would re sell to his classmate in school. After Dangote graduated from the university, he returned to Nigeria to start his own business.
The origin of the group began in the late 1970s, when Aliko Dangote after receiving a $5,000 loan from an uncle, established a venture that traded consumer goods such as sugar between the years 1978 and 1980, before gradually expanding into trading other commodities such as rice. In 1981, he established two business enterprises, Dangote Nigeria Limited and Blue Star Services, this was a period when import licences were required to import bulk commodities, the firm then sought to acquire import licenses for various commodities including steel, baby food and aluminum products. He then added the shipping and the importing of cement to his group's portfolio. Dangote competed (and competes) with Lafarge, a French company that imported and produced the bulk of African cement. After three months of trading in various commodities such as Flour, salt and sugar, Dangote was able to repay his the loan he got from his uncle. He continued trading and expanding his business.
The group moved into manufacturing in the 1990s, starting with textiles, moving onto flour milling, salt processing and sugar refining by the end of the decade. The company next moved into cement production, growing rapidly and moving into other African countries. A high degree of vertical integration is a hallmark of Dangote Group's operating strategy.
The group now owns and operates over 18 subsidiaries, operating in ten African countries. Dangote Cement, is one of these subsidiaries that is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, with its market capitalization accounting for almost 20 percent of the total capitalization of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Dangote Group is headquartered in Lagos. In July 2012, Dangote approached the Nigerian Ports Authority to lease an abandoned piece of land at the Apapa Port, which was approved. He later built facilities for his flour company there. In the 1990s, he approached the Central Bank of Nigeria with the idea that it would be cheaper for the bank to allow his transport company to manage their fleet of staff buses, a proposal that was also approved.