“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.” That was how Aliko Dangote the richest man in Africa summed his early life. Right from his youth, he has set his eyes on being the greatest entrepreneur in Africa even being the best business mentor in the world.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote ranked in 2008 by Forbes Magazine as the 43rd richest person in the world and the richest man in Africa, hails from the Northern part of Nigeria, Kano State, Nigeria and was born on the 10th of April 1957 into the household of Mariya Sanusi Dantata and Mohammed Dangote, a wealthy Muslim family. His mother Mariya Sanusi Dantata was the granddaughter of legendary Hausa businessman Alhassan Dantata and his father Mohammed Dangote was Dantata’s business associate. Around the world there is a misconception among young people that Dangote did not go to school or that he is a school dropout. Here is the crux of the matter: Dangote is not a college dropout. He studied business from the Al Azhar University, Cairo in Egypt and thereafter returned to Nigeria to reinvent himself for the dream at heart. And at 21-years-old he started a business with just N500, 000, a loan given to him by his uncle Sanusi Abdulkadir Dantata.
From Five Hundred Thousand Naira to a Billionaire
Nigeria icon Dangote is the owner of Dangote Group, which has interests in commodities with operations in Nigeria and several other countries in Africa, including Benin, Cameroon, Togo, Ghana, South Africa and Zambia, to mention a few. As of March 2013 Dangote was estimated with a net worth of $20.1 billion USD. The Dangote Group started as a small group trading firm in 1977 but today the company is no longer small but now a multi-trillion naira most diversified business conglomerates in Africa with investments in Cement, Oil & Gas, Food & Beverages, Real Estate, Haulage, Packaging, Port Operations, Poly Products, Steel and so on, with an annual turnover of $2.5 billion. It is wise to note that the Dangote Group contributes nearly 1 percent of the GDP of Africa’s second biggest economy, and employs 23,000 people in a country with massive unemployment. In January 2009, Dangote was honoured as the leading provider of employment in Nigeria construction industry. And on the 14th of November, 2011, he was awarded a National Honour, the Nigeria’s second highest honour, Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) by the President of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Dangote is an agent of change, indisputable model to young people and a great catalyst to social, economical and political growth and development of our nation. NaijaGist.com wrote about him, “As a nonpartisan and detribalized businessperson, he is generous to different political parties, religious groups and cultural institutions.
Apart from offering employment opportunities to elite graduates from different ethnic backgrounds, he reduces the level of crime by engaging youths who are school leavers in the area of transportation, product packaging, and security amidst others.
It may possibly not be a wild assumption to say that all Nigerian has heard of his name due to the impact of his business. His goods are practically in most homes across the country. People who may not use his products might have passed a few of his trailers by the way.”
That’s not all. It is important to note that Dangote Group dominates the sugar market in Nigeria. The company is the major sugar supplier in Nigeria soft drink companies, breweries and confectioners. In addition to this achievement, Dangote Group is the largest group in Nigeria including, Dangote sugar Refinery, Dangote Cement, Dangote Flour, Dangote Pasta and Dangote Noodles. Apart from these, Dangote Group owns salt factories and flour mills and also being a major importer of rice, fish, pasta, cement and fertilizer. The company exports cotton, cashew nuts, cocoa, sesame seed and ginger to several countries. It also has major investments in real estate, banking, transport, textiles and oil and gas. More so, the company employs over 11,000 people and is the largest industrial conglomerate in the whole Africa. “You just have to believe that yes, there is a future in this country of ours and I can tell you right now, I don’t believe we have even started doing anything in Nigeria because the opportunities are so enormous. I don’t even know where to start.” Aliko Dangote once explained.
The World at His Feet
About Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Wikipedia posited that “as per what qualities a business man should possess, Aliko Dangote possesses a knack for seeing opportunities beyond the naked eyes that can never see. This is because, in the month of July 2012, he approached the Nigerian Ports Authority with the idea of leasing an abandoned piece of land at Apapa Port, which was welcomed and approved. He later went to build facilities for his flour company there. So also in the 90’s, 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 which was also approved.” That’s true. Dangote is also exploring into telecommunications and has started building 14, 000 kilometres of fibre optic cables to the whole of Nigeria.
Unlike some Nigerians who keep wasting our money by investing it in countries abroad without any show for it in the nation, Dangote emphasized, “Let me tell you this….nothing is going to help Nigeria like Nigerians bringing back their money. If you give me $5 billion today, I will invest everything here in Nigeria. Let us put our heads together and work.” All my significant investments will be made in Nigeria. Now, the question is what about your own? Everybody has a role to play for the betterment of this nation Nigeria. Have your find yours? If no, go ahead, find it and be intentional in playing your role. Let us each play our role and together we shall make this country exceedingly great.
Business Success Secrets of Dangote
What are the business success secrets of Aliko Dangote? How did he become a billionaire and the richest black man in the world? In the article, 10 Small Business Secrets of Aliko Dangote, Ajaero Tony Martins a serial entrepreneur and investor with several successful companies in his portfolio listed ten irrefutable business secrets of Dangote. They are,
1. Manufacture; Don’t Just Trade – Aliko Dangote started business as a trader of commodities; he gathered business confidence and experience as he grew. In an interview granted, he openly admits that one of his greatest business moves was moving from a trader to being a manufacturer. He said, “Manufacture, don’t just trade. There is money in manufacturing even though it is capital intensive. To achieve a big breakthrough, I had to start manufacturing the same product I was trading on; which is commodities.”
2. Build a Brand, And Don’t Destroy it – Aliko Dangote is one of the firm believers of the “Brand Power” and this is what he has to say about it: “To succeed in business, you must build and never destroy it. One competitive advantage I had when I ventured into manufacturing was my brand “Dangote,” which I diligently built in the course of my trading commodities.”
3. Sell Cheap, Give Quality And Don’t Kill the Competition – To build a successful business, Aliko Dangote emphasizes the importance of selling quality products at affordable price. He has this to say, “Don’t kill the competition. Competition is healthy for businesses. It keeps you the entrepreneur on your toes.”
4. Start Small But Dream Big – Dongote posited, “I built a conglomerate and emerged the richest black man in the world in 2008 but it didn’t happen overnight. It took me thirty 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.”
5. Have Connection And Pray For a Big Break – Aliko Dangote is respected for his strong network of business and political connections. You can build your connections and strengthen your network in the business world by increasing your corporate social responsibility, signing joint ventures and partnership[ deals, forming strategic alliances, attending business events and useful parties, making political donations and paying courtesy visits to those at the helm of affairs. Strengthen your business connection and network and pray for a big break. Big breaks are very vital to entrepreneurial survival. Dangote had his big break when he secured license to import cement.
6. Believe There is Money to be Made in Your Country – Dangote believes one of the main prerequisite to building a successful business and ultimately becoming rich is developing a firm belief in your country. Dangote is a firm believer in his country Nigeria. He believes opportunities abound everywhere but it just takes a smart eye to see them. He encourages everyone to seek opportunities in their own country instead of seeking greener pastures in other countries.
7. All Work And Less Play Makes Jack a Rich Man – Dangote believes that all work and less play made him a rich man. He said, “I enjoy myself a lot but I drive more joy in working. I believe in hard work and one of my business secrets is hard work. It’s hard to see a youth that will go to bed by 2am and wake by 5am. I don’t rest until I achieve something.”
8. Give Back to Those Who made You – No man is an island entire of himself. One is too small a number to achieve greatness. Dangote believes in giving back to those who made him which could be business associates, political associates, employees, business team, and business partners and so on.
9. Obey The Laws of The Land – Dangote advices entrepreneurs to be law abiding citizens. He encourages everyone to do business as outline by the regulatory bodies. Obeying the laws of the land also entails keeping your credit and tax records clean. Nothing hurts more than striving to build a business empire only to have your assets impounded or frozen by the authorities. So always do the right thing.
10. Business Must Flow in Your Blood – Lastly, Aliko Dangote revealed that you must have business flowing in your blood if you really want to make it big as an entrepreneur. That’s true. Look at all successful entrepreneurs, they seem to possess a different kind of spirit. That’s the entrepreneurial spirit. Ajaero Tony Martins believes that without this spirit, you will ultimately fail.
Finally, in the words of the person that made me curious and think greatness all the time, Aliko Dangote, he pointed out, “I have built the biggest Cement Company in Africa. Now I’m setting out to build the biggest Cement Company in the world.” Like I have said in my interview by The Guardian newspaper to all the young people in this country, today I encourage you to reach high for the stars, throw of the bowlines, sail way from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds of your sails, explore, discover, dream deep, go confidently in the direction of your dreams and live the life you’ve ever imagined. See you at the top. God bless Africa. God bless Nigeria. And God bless you.