Aliko Dangote: Seven business lesson from Africa's richest man

Aliko Dangote. Photo: Courtesy.

With an estimated net worth of US $10.3 billion, according to Bloomberg, Aliko Dangote is undoubtedly the richest man in Africa. He’s also the world’s richest black person. To put his wealth in perspective, that means his fortune is 2.9 per cent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product.

The chairman and CEO of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote was born in 1957 to an entrepreneurial family in Kano State, Nigeria. His maternal grandfather, to whom he credits with instilling in him a business mind-set from a young age, was one of the wealthiest people in Kano State. His grandfather, Sanusi Dantata, made his fortune trading in commodities like rice and oats.