The golden statue of Nigerian business circles, Aliko Dangote, has been a great source of inspiration for entrepreneurs in Nigeria and across Africa, especially those who want to start small but with big dreams.
In his entrepreneurial journey, he identified and seized opportunities. He was not discouraged by the challenges that led to his great success in the business world and, at the same time, made him a business icon of our time.
The Nigerian billionaire, as he is affectionately known, is one of the most exceptional Nigerian and African to have started very small and to generate due to his focus on what he did best.
Aliko Dangote Early Life
He was born on April 10, 1957, in Kano State to a wealthy Muslim family. His mother’s name is Mariya Aliko, while his maternal grandfather is Sanusi Dantata. He has three brothers and sisters: Sani Dangote, Bello Dangote, and a younger brother who died in a plane crash in Kano with Ibrahim Abacha in 1996.
Raised by his maternal grandfather, Alhassan Abdullahi Dantata, Alhaji Aliko studied business and graduated from Al-Azahar University in Cairo, Egypt. Many of us were unaware that Aliko Dangote, at the age of 21, had received start-up capital from his uncle, the late Alhaji Sanusi Dantata, to start his own business, as was the practice at ‘time.
Aliko Dangote Career
Since he was young, he had always had an eye for business. Thus, in 1977, he started a business in Kano, essential marketing products, and building materials. The same year, he moved to Lagos and decided to trade in cement.
Surprisingly, while in elementary school, he bought boxes of candy and sold them to other students for profit, learning the art of business and earning money from his father, showing his keen interest in business, even at the time.
Today, Dangote is one of the most patriotic Nigerians to have invested most of its resources in Nigeria and across the continent with little interest in investing abroad, thus playing a significant role in growing the economy of Nigeria.
This apparent effort was said to be false when rumors that he would be interested in buying a 16% stake in Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith in the Premier League on May 23, 2010.
The business tycoon has also shown that success is usually determination, honesty, and persistence; and not necessarily by obtaining a Harvard-Oxford certification or a first-rate academic qualification, since he has a minimum of primary education. His management skills alone have been the envy of economic professors across the continent.
Aliko Dangote Family
Like other men, the money bag has had its share of romantic sagas, having been married and divorced too before his current marriage.
His first marriage was to a young woman chosen by his family in May 1977. 2009. Dangote fell in love with Nafisat Yar’adu, a friend of his daughter and the daughter of the late Nigerian President Musa Yar ‘Adu.
Unfortunately, Nafisat rejected his proposal because Halima, Dangote’s daughter, was her friend. He later married Mary A. D Muhammad Rufai, the daughter of a senator. After the second divorce, rumors have had it that there was an affair between the richest man in Africa and the 2013 beauty queen Sylvia Nduka.
It is currently unknown whether he is married to any woman. He could be single because there is no information on his current marital status.
The African magnate is said to have 15 children, including three adult daughters:
- Halima Bello (Dangote)
- Mariya Dangote
- Fatima Dangote.
The beautiful trio studied and graduated from the best British universities.
Halima, who is now married to Sulaiman Sani Bello, studied marketing in London. She works in a family business. Her younger sister Mariya Dangote graduated from Coventry University, while Fatima Dangote is director of the cupcake factory. The money bag also has an adopted son named Abdulrahman Fasasi.
Aliko Dangote Net Worth
The Nigerian entrepreneur has an impressive net worth of $ 13.9 billion, according to the 2018 Forbes ranking.
Aliko Dangote on Twitter
Thank you @forbesafrica. I am humbled by this honour. I dedicate the award to Nigeria and I am proud to be an African pic.twitter.com/KY8wllqiKu
— Aliko Dangote (@AlikoDangote) December 4, 2014
On Instagram
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