[dropcap]A[/dropcap]frica’s richest man, Aliko Dangote has been named among the top 25 global business icons since 1989 that have had the greatest impact on businesses in the last 25 years. The list which was compiled by CNBC, the leading business TV network, named Dangote along with other top global business leaders like late Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Carlos Slim.
The list targeted those who have disrupted industries, sparked change and exercised an influence far beyond their own companies said CNBC.
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote in March 2014, climbed 20 places in the Forbes billionaire’s rich list to rank as the 23 rd richest man in the world with total estimated wealth of $25 billion. Dangote’s growing portfolio of investments across Africa is what is fueling the growth in its wealth.
“Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, built his fortune in two distinct phases, riding the changes that led to Nigeria becoming the continent’s largest economy,” CNBC said.
Expanding his empire from his native country in Nigeria to West Africa, and then across sub-Saharan Africa from Ethiopia to South Africa, Dangote has shown that it is possible to create wealth in the region by means other than tapping the continent’s abundant natural resources, the statement from CNBC further stated.
“Dangote’s model was straightforward from the get-go: to dominate sectors protected from new entrants, and to use scale and his trucking and distribution system to drive prices down to levels that let him crush domestic rivals. He has pursued success with single-minded focus, and has many critics,” said CNBC.
Dangote’s recently announced plans to diversify his business further with a planned $9 billion petrochemical complex which is expected to provide cheaper petroleum products than those Nigeria now has to import, which will boost Dangote’s Nigerian businesses, his wealth and the economy overall.
Aliko Dangote, GCON, is the Chief Executive Officer and President of Dangote Industries Limited which he successfully transformed from a small trading business which he began in 1977 to a multibillionaire business empire currently with subsidiaries across Africa.
His businesses, which are all under Dangote Group of Companies, include foods, sugar, salt, cement, haulage, flour, with a planned expansion into petro-chemicals and oil and gas.
Dangote is a graduate of Business Studies from Al-Azahar University Cairo Egypt.
