Product Code Database
Aliko Mohammad Dangote (; born 10 April 1957) is a Nigerian businessman known for his key roles in Dangote Group and Dangote Refinery. In 2011, he was appointed as member of the economic management team by President Goodluck Jonathan. Globally, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes, he is the 91st richest person and the wealthiest Black individual, with a net worth of nearly $30 billion as of January 2026.
In 1977, Dangote founded the Dangote Group, a small company that traded commodities; importing sugar, salt, and food products. In 1981, he founded Dangote Nigeria Limited and Blue Star Services; both imports rice, and bulk materials like steel and aluminum products. Following the large sales by the company, and high demand for cement, Dangote founded Dangote Cement, which faced competition from Lafarge, a French cement manufacturing company known for importing cement to African countries during that period. , Dangote Cement has generated about $3.7 billion in revenue, and Dangote Sugar Refinery has been ranked as one of the largest sugar producers in Nigeria and Africa.
Dangote's political activities and views have made him a public figure in Africa. He is also known for his influence on the Economy of Nigeria, hence, he was awarded the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger in 2011 by Goodluck Jonathan and listed in Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world in 2014.
Born to a prominent Nigerian family, Dangote is of Hausa people descent. Raised a Muslim, he was educated in a Madrasa and completed his primary education in a public school.
His mother, Mariya (née Dantata), from a wealthy family, was a businesswoman and philanthropist. His father Mohammed Dangote was also a businessman; he owned a transport company.
Aliko had three siblings: Sani Dangote, a businessman who died of colorectal cancer; Bello, who died in a 1996 plane crash alongside the son of Sani Abacha; and Garba, who died in 2013 after a stroke.
Dangote's family were influential business people. His maternal great-grandfather, Alhassan Dantata, was the richest person in West Africa until his death in 1955. During his business career, Alhassan imported from Ghana, and exported groundnuts abroad. After Dangote's father died in 1965, he donated his inheritance to charity. He regards his maternal grandfather, Sanusi, and his maternal uncle, Usman Amaka Dantata, as influential paternal figures in his upbringing.
He left Nigeria for Egypt after his secondary education, and studied at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business studies and administration, before returning to Lagos to pursue business ventures.
Dangote has four children; three daughters and an adopted son, Abdulrahman. According to Nigerian website Legit.ng, unlike Dangote, his wives hate publicity, which may be the reason there is little information about them in the media. In 1977, at the age of twenty, he married his first wife, Zainab, who was chosen by his parents in accordance with local customs. The couple had two daughters, Maria and Halima Dangote. They later divorced, although the exact date is not known.
At an unspecified date, he entered into a second marriage with Mariya Muhammad Rufai, the daughter of the former Bauchi State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Human Services. This union produced one daughter, Fatima. The marriage ended in divorce in 2017.
In the mid-to-late 1970s, during the period known as the Nigerian Cement Armada—when the government authorized the importation of approximately 16 million metric tons of Dangote Cement for infrastructure and development projects—Dangote obtained an import license and expanded his business to include cement. However, logistical challenges led to numerous cement-laden ships being stranded at the Lagos harbor, while some reportedly sank. Importers were compensated with demurrage fees for the delays.
During this time, Dangote acquired a fleet of trucks and established a cargo transportation business, which he also used to distribute his cement products.
In 1977, Dangote's company produced pasta, salt, sugar, and flour. In 1981, he expanded his company into a conglomerate, which traded textiles, sugar, flour, salt, oil and gas, and real estate. He stayed in Atlanta, Georgia before returning to Nigeria to start his cement business in 1998. His sugar refinery in Lagos became the second largest in the world. Dangote Group has been considered to be one of the largest conglomerates in Africa. In 2000, after his friend Olusegun Obasanjo won the 1999 Nigerian presidential election, the Nigerian government privatized Benue Cement Company (BCC), a now defunct state-owned company in Gboko, Benue State, allowing Dangote to expand his cement business in Benue. Dangote's Obajanu cement plant in Kogi State became the largest cement plant in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2010, the group acquired part of South Africa's Sephaku Cement.
In July 2012, Dangote's request to the Nigerian Ports Authority to lease abandoned land at Apapa Port Complex was approved. "Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc (DSR)", Institute of Developing Economies-Japan External Trade Organization. Accessed 26 November 2015. In February 2022, he announced the completion of the Peugeot assembling facility in Nigeria following his partnership with Stellantis, the company manufacturering Peugeot. Dangote became the owner of Dangote Refinery, the largest oil refinery in Africa. It was commissioned in 2023.
Dangote was named as an adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari's reelection campaign of the 2019 Nigerian presidential election. Femi Otedola was listed also, however, spokesmen for both didn't respond to calls and requests for comments. Dangote donated ₦150 million to help combat the Ebola outbreak in 2014. In 2020, he donated ₦200 million to support the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
The Dangote Refinery was initially anticipated to serve as a solution to Nigeria's high fuel prices. However, its emergence has instead introduced monopolistic challenges. Tensions have arisen between Dangote, NNPC Limited, and oil marketers due to conflicting commercial and strategic interests.
Dangote's conglomerate maintains a dominant position in Nigeria's cement and sugar industries, where competitors often struggle to contend with his extensive resources and perceived government-backed advantages. The establishment of his oil refinery in Lagos has sparked concerns over potential monopolization of the fuel supply, with critics warning of increased prices and diminished market competition. These concerns have been amplified by reports of alleged government concessions, including tax exemptions, granted to the refinery.
Dangote was alleged to have supported Obasanjo's presidential election in 1999, hence, Obasanjo provided him with "exclusive" import rights of cement, sugar, and rice. In a dated 2007 diplomatic cable that appeared on WikiLeaks in 2011, the US consul general in Lagos Brian Browne suggested that Dangote was given preferential treatment in exchange for funding Obasanjo's reelection campaign in 2003. Dangote dismissed the claim.
In 2012 and 2013, he sued Cletus Ibeto citing that Ibeto Cement receives illegal tax breaks. He is a philanthropist and along with his foundation, Dangote Foundation, has reportedly contributed to the social and education sector of Nigeria; in 2011, he reportedly gave $60 to each displaced person as a result of the violence in 2011 Nigerian presidential election.
Dangote has four children and five grandchildren. He took his family to Walt Disney World in 2012.
While serving as a member of NEMT, Dangote was awarded the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011. He was the first non government official to receive the distinction. In April 2014, Time listed him among its 100 most influential people in the world. In 2015 Dangote was listed among "50 Most Influential Individuals in the World" by Bloomberg, the Guardian Man of the Year award, and was cited as one of the top 100 most influential Africans by London-based magazine, New African.
Dangote was named co-chair of the US-Africa Business Center in September 2016 by the United States Chamber of Commerce. he was appointed as the Chairman of the Nigeria End Malaria Council by Buhari in August 2022.
Dangote has worked alongside the Gates Foundation on public health issues. In August 2014, he donated 150 million naira to assist the Nigerian government's efforts of treating and preventing Ebola. In May 2016 he pledged $10 million to support Nigerians affected by the Boko Haram insurgency. In March 2020, he donated 200 million naira to fight against the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
Dangote is a fan of English football team Arsenal F.C. and showed interest in buying the club in 2019. In 2020, he made a donation to Nigeria's ministry of sports in order to help renovate the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
|
|
