The Richest Man In Nigeria
Nigeria, widely regarded as the biggest country on the African continent as well as the most populous black nation in the world, is bless with a lot of human and natural resources. This abundant human resources is highlighted by the large number of Billionaires in the West African country of Nigeria. According to Forbes, the top 10 richest men in Nigeria as far as the year 2016 is concerned are listed below as follows in descending order:
10. Oba Otudeko ($605 million)
9. Mohammed Indimi ($650 million)
8. Abdulsalam Rabiu ($710 million)
7. Jim Ovia ($840 million)
6. Orji Uzor Kalu ($900 million)
5. Tony Elumelu ($1 billion)
4. Theophilus Danjuma ($1.02 billion)
3. Chief Femi Otedola ($1.06 billion)
2. Otunba Mike Adenuga ($4.5 billion)
1. Alhaji Aliko Dangote ($17.3 billion)
For the purpose of this article, we would be taking a closer look at the richest man in Nigeria, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who also doubles as the richest man on the African continent in addition to being the 67th richest person in the world. He became the world's richest person, who is of African descent in 2013 when he usurped Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi by $2.6 billion in 2013 however this achievement was dwarfed by him reaching the peak of his powers as the 23rd richest man in the world in. 2014.
Dangote, who was born with silver spoon to Mohammed Dangote and Hajia Mariya Sanusi Dantata on the 10th of April, 1957 in Kano State, is the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dangote Group, an establishment that has firm roots and interests in various sectors such as Real Estate, Oil and Gas, Transport Agriculture, Telecommunications and many more amidst the fact that his company is an owner of various salt factories and flour mills factories while also a big importer of cement, rice, fertilizer, pasta and fish in Nigeria. His Dangote Group entity, which is regarded as biggest industrial conglomerate in West Africa with the workers' strength of 12,000, operates in a lot of African countries aside Nigeria. Countries like Zambia, Togo, South Africa, Tanzania, Ghana, Benin Republic and Cameroon.
The 59-year old businessman is very popular well respected in the Nigerian circles and his major contributions to building the Nigerian economy was rewarded with the second title on the land, which is called Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON). Aside from being a businessman and billionaire mogul if not trillionaire mogul (when take into consideration the present value of the Nigerian Naira), he is also a role model and mentor to a lot of upcoming cum aspiring entrepreneurs.
His foundation in business as well as his passion for entrepreneurship could be traced back to his school days when he used to sell items to his classmates for profits in return. Alhaji Dangote, who graduated from a Cairo-based Egyptian University known as Al-Azhar with a degree in Business, had his uncle to thank for setting him up in the business line as he gave loaned him a sum of N500,000 for the purpose of starting his own business at the mature age of 21 while also fulfilling the dream of becoming a business owner, which he had conceived during his primary school days . He started trading as the major supplier and distributor of groundnut before his success in business gave birth to what is now widely known as 'Dangote Group of Companies.
Dangote Group of Companies have continued to grow in leaps and bounds. To this effect, they recently launched some new plants in 2015 in African countries like Zambia, Tanzania, Cameroon and Ethiopia to become the largest distributor and supplier of cement as far as the African continent is concerned.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, also the richest black man in the world, is a family man and he is blessed with a wife and four kids (three daughters and a son). He is a known supporter of English Premier League (EPL) side Arsenal and he has publicly spoken about his desire to buy the North London club in the next few years. His numerous awards include being named the Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2014 ahead of prominent personalities like South Africa's Thuli Madonsela, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (A Nigerian Author), Arunma Oteh and Donald Kaberuka (President, African Development Bank) as well as being named an honorary citizen of Arkansas State by Governor Mike Beebe in 2013.
