The story of African business magnate Aliko Dangote is not one of rags to riches but rather of hard work, enterprise and taking opportunities Interestingly, at the age of 21, he borrowed $3,000 from his uncle to venture into agricultural commodities in Nigeria. This allowed him to import soft commodities at wholesome prices from international suppliers.
Furthermore, his main imports were rice from Thailand and sugar from Brazil. However, he sold these items in small quantities to consumers in his village at lucrative rates. Dangote’s venture quickly became successful and became a cow for the business man. Also, the development allowed him pay back the loan from his uncle in 3 months. There are claims he was realizing a daily net profit of $10,000, then.
Although, he realized in 1997 that being a middleman was a very costly endeavor and built a plant to produce the commodities he had been selling which included pasta, sugar, salt and flour. Additionally, around this time, he was awarded a state-owned cement company. Dangote significantly expanded the operations of the company in 2005 by constructing a multimillion-dollar manufacturing plant.
Each of his manufacturing divisions have since been separated into publicly traded companies. This include Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC, National Salt Company of Nigeria PLC, Dangote Flour Mills PLC and Dangote Cements PLC.
He has always reinvested the majority of his profits back into hid business, a reason the company has grown steadily since inception. His business interests encompass many industries, including oil and gas, in addition to consumer goods and manufacturing. However, about 80% of his revenue comes from Dangote Cements PLC.
Dangote also owns the world’s third largest sugar refinery, with all his publicly traded companies making up a quarter of the market capitalization of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. He has since expanded into new business segments like telecommunications, real estate and steel manufacturing.
Dangote holds the largest conglomerate in West Africa through his Dangote Group. He is also currently the richest man in Africa and 64th richest man in the world.
