Aliko Dangote

Aliko Dangote’s personal life has been a matter for curiosity for a very long time. He is known to have married four times. He has fathered 15 children from all his marriages. Dangote presently lives in Lagos, Nigeria, with his fourth wife and three children.

Aliko Dangote was born in an affluent business family in Kano state, Nigeria on April 10, 1957. Born into a rich family, he was exposed to a wealthy lifestyle. His family business, then chaired by his grandfather, Sanusi Dantata, was at its profitable best during Aiko’s childhood. Sanusi made a fortune, dealing in rice, oats, and groundnuts. Aliko’s great-grandfather also happened to be a wealthy man, and at the time of his death in 1955, he was the richest man in Africa.

Aliko’s father passed away early, which was followed by his grandfather taking over as his guardian. Soon, Aliko developed a keen interest in business as a career. His first business venture was in primary school and involved purchasing boxes of sweets and selling them off at a little profit.

Aliko’s received his early education at the ‘Sheikh Ali Kumasi Madrasa,’ followed by the ‘Capital High School’ in his home state of Kano. He then headed to Cairo, Egypt, for higher education. Subsequently, he received his bachelor’s degree in business studies and administration from ‘Al-Azhar University.’ He returned to Nigeria in 1977 and started planning his first serious business venture.

He borrowed a sum equivalent to US$ 2,500 from his grandfather and promised to repay the loan within three years. It was a huge amount at that time, and Aliko used the money to settle in Lagos. He started importing rice and sugar from Thailand and Brazil, respectively, in a deliberately planned business move. He then sold them in Nigeria at a huge profit. The demand for those eatables went through the roof, and Aliko began earning great profits within the very first year of establishing his business venture.

Within three months of starting his operations, Aliko was able to return the money he had borrowed from his grandfather. As his business grew further, he realized that manufacturing goods was a better option that relying on imports. He pushed all his competitors aside, and by the late 90s, he had established several manufacturing units by himself.

He started manufacturing sugar, pasta, and flour. Soon, he was starting to be recognized as one of the few billionaires of Nigeria. Somehow, the federal government trusted him enough to award him a cement plant. The ‘Dangote Group’ eventually became the biggest sugar supplier in the country with diverse clients, including soft-drink manufacturers, confectionaries, and breweries. His entry into the cement-manufacturing industry further increased his fortunes.

Dangote approached the ‘Nigerian Ports Authority’ in 2012 to seek permission to own an abandoned piece of land. Once his request was approved, Aliko built his own flour-manufacturing facilities.

The ‘Dangote Group’ controls about 70% of the current Nigerian sugar market and operates as the third-largest sugar refinery in the world and the largest in Africa. It is estimated that about 8,00,000 tonnes of sugar are manufactured annually by the ‘Dangote Group.’

Aliko Dangote is a politically aware man. He is an avid supporter of Olusegun Obasanjo, the politician, and is said to have donated about US$ 1,000,000 for his re-election campaign in 2003. He further donated US$ 25,000 to the ‘National Mosque’ and contributed US$ 1,000,000 to the ‘Presidential Library.’ However, his large contributions to the ruling ‘PDP’ party have raised several questions about his political motivations from time to time.

In 2014, it was reported by the Nigerian government that Aliko had donated US$ 750,000 to halt the spread of the deadly ‘Ebola’ virus.

In 2015, it was reported that Aliko wanted to buy the ‘English Premier League’ team ‘Arsenal FC.’ On being asked, he said that he was strongly against the policies formulated by the manager, and that the first thing he would do after purchasing the team would be to fire the current manager.