CEO & Chairman Dangote Group, Nigeria
About The Leader
About The Leader
Aliko Dangote founded Dangote Group over 30 years ago and has turned his enterprise into the largest business conglomerate in West Africa with a market capitalization of over $17 billion.
Aliko Dangote GCON is a Nigerian business magnate and philanthropist.
He is the Chairman and CEO of Dangote Group, an industrial conglomerate.
He is the wealthiest person in Africa with an estimated net worth of US$12.4 billion as of September 2021
He has invested in 18 African countries, creating jobs and economic value across the African continent in a range of industries
His Purpose
Through his Foundation, Aliko Dangote is pursuing a mission to reduce the prevalence of undernutrition by 60 percent in the neediest areas of Nigeria, specifically the northeast and northwest, where malnutrition has affected millions of lives and crippled local economies.
Aliko Dangote wants to eradicate the malnutrition problem in Nigeria and then in the entire African continent. In 2017, he pledged $100M through his Dangote foundation over 5 years to reduce the malnutrition problem in most needy areas of Nigeria by 60%.
"We started adding Iodine in salts in 1998, and added vitamin fortification in sugar, flour, pasta. Today, whatever products we produce at Dangote group are rich with micronutrients.”
Case for Change
Case for Change
“Aliko Dangote wants to solve the problem of malnutrition in Nigeria. Over 50% of the 1 million childhood deaths under the age of five in Nigeria are due to malnutrition.”
Growth Gap
Growth Gap
“Aliko Dangote pledged to reduce malnutrition by 60% over 5 years. He, along with 13 other CEO's who produce 80% of the food in Nigeria, committed to fortifying foods with added micronutrients.”
Investment Portfolio
Investment Portfolio
“At Dangote Group, whatever is produced or imported is made sure to have added micronutrients and vitamins. Dangote Foundation Pledged $100 M to solve the problem of malnutrition in Nigeria. He has also urged the government to push for total fortification of food in Nigeria”
Her Leadership Qualities
Her Leadership Qualities
Aliko Dangote has been the richest black man in Africa for almost a decade; he has made it big by being bold, focused and being self-reliant.
Be Bold
Be Bold
Aliko Dangote started his business as a trader with a $3000 investment from his uncle. Today, he has made expansions in many industries such as sugar, cement, petrochemicals (among others) not only to industrialize Nigeria but also to make the country self-reliant.
Dangote spent a considerable amount of time in the Brazilian factories trying to understand how they faced significant challenges concerning issues like interest rate fluctuations and hyperinflation. He learned that doing things right sometimes required making bold decisions.
Key Actions
Key Actions
Almost a decade after his successful venturing into trading commodities, Dangote realized that the only way forward in Nigeria was to embark on industrialization; however, there were no big industries at the time in Nigeria and everyone who had tried significantly growing industry had failed.
So, before investing in Nigeria, Dangote visited and researched industries in Brazil and other emerging markets to understand the kinds of challenges Nigeria was likely to face.
Leadership Behaviors
Leadership Behaviors
Get smart before making major decisions
Go bold and big or don’t go at all
Lesson Learned
Lesson Learned
Before you invest in any business you need to understand that business inside and out
His philosophy (which emerged from his experience) is “think big, dream big, and do big things”
Be Focused
Be Focused
During the initial years of establishing his manufacturing business, Dangote ran into many bumps on the road; however, he was always focused on his investment decisions and did everything to make them right -- even when things didn't go his way at first. He was the first in Nigera to fotify sugar and now he is building the country's largest petrochemical factory.
Key Actions
Key Actions
In the early years of expansion, Dangote was offered a 30% stake in a new sugar refinery plant; however, because the costs were high his partner pulled out.
Dangote went ahead and not only invested in the existing plan but also increased plant capacity by another 50%.
He further diversified the business by both backward and forward integration.
Leadership Behaviors
Leadership Behaviors
Back your decisions with hard work and dedication
Lesson Learned
Lesson Learned
"Diversification is key to adding sustainability and resilience to your business."
Over the years by engaging in partnerships, acquisitions and smarter strategic investments, Dangote has diversified his company from sugar and cement to fertilizers, petrochemicals, and other related products.
He believes that to succeed in business in Africa you need to continuously grow the business and sustain that growth even in bad times.
Be Self-Reliant
Be Self-Reliant
Dangote’s ambition and philosophy has been to have a self-reliant business as well as self-reliant nation. He uses the profits from his current business to fuel future businesses. Today, he is working on building his next portfolio of business with over $20B in investments.
Key Actions
Key Actions
One of the greatest challenges for manufacturing has been energy.
Today, most of the businesses Dangote has started routinely produce their own energy.
He partnered with Black Rhino, a subsidiary of the US-based asset manager Blackstone, to develop power-generation projects to feed into Nigeria’s grid.
Leadership Behaviors
Leadership Behaviors
Think long-term and make yourself more self-reliant
Lesson Learned
Lesson Learned
“If a country imports manufactured goods, it also imports poverty."
Self-reliance is not only important for creating infrastructure but should also be an element job creation and nurturing talent.
Rather than depending on universities, he started Dangote Academy in 2010 to teaching technical and managerial skills
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