A fact-check by PRNigeria has uncovered how much foremost Nigerian business magnate and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, used to start his business before coming to Lagos, some 45 years ago.
The fact-check was carried out to ascertain the veracity of a claim by Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who recently disclosed that Dangote, the Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group, came to Lagos 45 years ago with nothing, but has successfully built the biggest economic empire in Africa. https://prnigeria.com/2023/05/29/dangote-lagos-years-ago/
But findings by PRNigeria reveal that Dangote actually came to Lagos State 45 years ago with a N500,000 which whose value today is equivalent to over N350,000,000 seed capital from his uncle, which he used in growing the Dangote Group that is now the largest business conglomerate in Africa.
A Desktop research by PRNigeria fact-check desk reveals that Aliko Dangote was born into a wealthy family in 1957 and grew up in Kano Nigeria. His great-grandfather, Alhaji Alhassan Dantata was at the time of his death, the richest man in West Africa. His grandfather was Sanusi Dantata
Further research reveals Dangote’s mother, Mariya was the eldest daughter of Sanusi Dantata, a major groundnut merchant who was at a time the richest man in Kano.
His father, Mohammed Dangote was a politician and businessman before he died in 1963. Aliko was brought up by his maternal grandfather, Sanusi Dantata where he learnt that in Nigeria, “politics and business are closely related.” PRNigeria obtained a picture of Dangote with his grandfather Sunusi Dantata and his uncle Hassan Sunusi Dantata standing beside a family’s jet.
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Meanwhile, credible journals also report that Dangote started his career by working as a store manager for his grandfather. In 1976, he established his own business specialising in cement and commodity trading. This was done with a loan of N500,000.00 from his grandfather. This business venture proved to be extremely profitable, making it possible for him to pay back the loan within three months.
Ever since, the venture has grown in leaps and bounds with a presence in at least 17 African countries and is a market leader in cement on the continent. One of the Group’s subsidiaries, Dangote Cement Plc, is the largest listed company in West Africa and the first Nigerian company to join the Forbes Global 2000 Companies list.
In an April 2014 interview with the Times Magazine, Dangote affirmed that he started with a loan from his uncle and built the most successful locally-owned business conglomerate in Africa.
In explaining how his venture grew, Dangote told Times Magazine that, “I always tried to move up the food chain. I started with cement, and then moved into textiles, and banking. When I was trading sugar, I added salt and flour, so that then we could do pasta. And then I thought, why not make the bag for it too? So, we started making packaging.”
In September of the same year, Dangote was featured on Aljazeera where he revealed that he was able to pay back the N500,000 loan to his uncle in three months because “business was good.”
Aliko Dangote has been the richest man in Africa for ten years in a row, with a net worth of around $13.5 billion. Dangote’s fortune is primarily built from his company, Dangote Cement, although he started his business empire by selling commodities such as sugar, salt, and flour.
PRNigeria, therefore, concludes that the claim by Lagos state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu that the Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote came to the state 45 years ago with nothing, is MISLEADING and FALSE.
By PRNigeria
