From oil fields and cement plants to telecom networks, manufacturing floors and architectural landmarks, these visionary leaders have shaped modern Nigerian enterprise and extended their influence across the continent. FAVOUR ABALAKA shines the spotlight on some of them
Aliko Dangote (Founder and Chairman, Dangote Group)
Aliko Dangote was born on April 10, 1957, in Kano into a wealthy trading family. His mother, Mariya Dantata, belonged to the prominent Dantata lineage; his maternal great-grandfather, Alhassan Dantata, was once regarded as West Africa’s richest man. His father, Mohammed Dangote, was a businessman. After his father’s death, young Aliko was strongly influenced by his maternal grandfather, Sanusi Dantata. He attended Sheikh Ali Kumasi Madrasa, Capital High School in Kano, and Government College, Birnin Kudu, before earning a degree in Business Studies and Administration from Al-Azhar University in Cairo. In 1977, with a loan from an uncle, he began trading cement, rice, sugar and other commodities in Lagos. The business grew rapidly into the Dangote Group. From the late 1990s he shifted decisively into manufacturing, building cement plants that made Dangote Cement Africa’s largest producer, alongside major sugar, flour, salt and other operations.
