He is an entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist whose impact is felt globally. Aliko Dangote is the chairman and CEO of Dangote Group; the largest manufacturing conglomerate in West Africa. Dangote started small and has scaled his business to an enviable height which has earned him the 51st spot on Forbes list of wealthiest billionaires in the world. Aliko Dangote is truly an inspiration to budding and aspiring entrepreneurs who believe in hard work. When you take time to study how he started, his business strategy and what he has been able to accomplish, you will realise that he deserves all the accolade.
ALIKO DANGOTE’S BUSINESS CAREER
Coming from a background of entrepreneurs, it is no surprise that Aliko Dangote picked interest in business at a young age. Lol. He even was buying and selling in primary school; he sold candies to his classmates. One would think that since Dangote came from a wealthy family, the right thing to do after completing his first degree would be to work in the family business but he didn’t do that rather he charted a new cause for himself.
Dangote borrowed N500,000 from his uncle with an agreement to repay the loan in 3month. With the loan, he started importation of Rice from Thailand and Sugar from Brazil. Due to his hard work and strong business ethics, he realized over $10,000 daily as net profit and was able to repay the loan before the due date.
Dangote once explained in an interview with Forbes, “When you are raised by an entrepreneurial parent or grandparent, you pick that aspiration. It makes you be much more aggressive–to think anything is possible.”
ALIKO DANGOTE DIVE INTO MANUFACTURING
One common attitude of visionaries is the ability to foresee the future. Dangote discovered that importing goods from other countries costs more and may not get his business where he wants it to be. As a result, he started his own manufacturing company in 1997 to produce all the things he was importing from Brazil and Thailand. The company started with the production of Sugar, Flour and Pasta.
In about the same time, a state owned cement company was awarded to Aliko. In 2005, he significantly expanded the operation of the company by constructing a multimillion-dollar manufacturing plant. The construction was done with bulk of his money and a loan from the World Bank International Finance Corporation. Dangote Group has grown into a multibillion dollars company and has expanded into other sectors including the oil and gas and has operations in different African countries.
SOME OF DANGOTE’S BUSINESSES DANGOTE CEMENT
Dangote Cement is a subsidiary of Dangote Industries and was founded by Aliko Dangote in 1981. It was incorporated as Obajana Cement Plc in 1992 and was later changed to Dangote Cement Plc in July, 2010. The company started by importing cement into Port Harcourt and Apapa terminals but later made a strategic decision to commence full time manufacturing. The cement is known for quality and is been used by many companies and individuals when carrying out their building projects across Africa.
SUGAR REFINING
Dangote Industries Limited ventured into sugar business in the 1970s importing sugar for sale. Today, the company has a sugar producing refinery known as Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc in Apapa, Lagos State. Dangote Sugar grades in 50kg, 1kg, 500g & 200g packages.
Salt Refining & Seasonings
NASCON Allied Industries Plc produces edible and Industrial salt marketed under the brand name “Dangote Salt”. The salt is available in retail packs of 250g, 500g and 1kg sachets.
FLOUR & SEMOLINA
Dangote Flour & Semolina is produced by Dangote Flour Mill which commenced operations in 1999 as a division of Dangote Industries Limited. DFM has mills across Nigeria – Apapa, Ikorodu, Ilorin, Kano and Calabar. The company also produce Pasta and Ball Foods.
PACKAGING MATERIALS
Dangote Agro Sacks Limited produces packaging bags for easy carriage of goods produced by companies within the group. The company produces over 36 million bags in a month.
Property Management
Dangote Group manages properties through MHF Properties Limited founded in 2011. The company is a service oriented company specializing in the management and development of luxury properties.
TECHNOLOGY
Dancom Technologies Limited is one of Dangote’s investment. The company provides IT services to the group.
PORT OPERATIONS
Aliko Dangote also invested in Port Operations offering terminal operations, stevedoring, bulk cargo operation and containerization.
FOOD & BEVERAGES
One of Dangote’s associated group known as Dansa Foods Limited produces bottled water and juices on behalf of the group.
Transportation
Dantrans Limited provides transport monitoring for Dangote Groups through advanced GPS systems.
Aliko Dangote Other Projects and Investments
Refinery and Petrochemical
The Group invested in a landmark integrated Refinery and Petrochemical project which is by far the largest Industrial complex in Nigeria history.
Fertilizer
Dangote Group is currently building a Fertilizer Plant which is envisaged to be the largest in Africa.
Agriculture
Dangote will also be partnering with smallholders and contract rice farmers to grow rice paddy and sugarcane.
Infrastructure
There is an ongoing alliance between Dangote Groups and Andrade Gutierrez (AG) Group referred to as AG – Dangote. AG is one of the largest infrastructure conglomerates in South Africa.
Automotive
Dangote Group is starting a truck assembly plant in Lagos with the aim of producing 10,000 trucks annually. $100 million is used as capital outlay.
Gas Pipelines
The Group is partnering with First E&P to start East West Offshore Gas Gathering Pipeline System (EWOGGS). This project is the single largest gas infrastructure investment in the history of Nigeria.
Source:
REBAHLIA
