ALIKO DANGOTE:AFRICA'S GREATEST ENTREPRENEUR

He is a pan-Africanist, a highly successful businessman, a visionary, an entrepreneur, a man with a Midas touch, a role model and one of the best interesting positive stories Africa has to tell. Enter the President of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, evidently the greatest entrepreneur on the soil of Africa.

This man is not one, whose beginning is shrouded in any kind of mystery, Dangote's humble foundation would interest anyone, who craves for success in an environment many people see as thorny for business. The thriving businessman, who hails from Kano State, Nigeria, started business in 1978 from a loan of N500,000 from his uncle and personal savings, and that humble beginning has experienced phenomenal growth and has transformed to a multi-billion naira conglomerate, which most Nigerians and even Africans are proud of. The suave and resolute businessman is not a kind of person that believes in limitations, and with that, he is involved in several areas of business interest that have earned him respect all over the world.

As an entrepreneur, Dangote's business is spread is all over Nigeria, moreso, he has extended his frontiers to other parts of Africa and the world at large, no wonder he has become one of the greatest business celebrities of our time and one of the topmost successful businessmen of our generation.

When his name was listed as the richest African by Forbes Magazine, nobody could question the validity of the research because this man has been able to prove that despite all the challenges businesses face in this part of the world, it is possible to breakthrough with a strong will and determination.

That determination to put resources together and make a difference in life has metamorphosed into 13 thriving and world class companies covering manufacturing, telecommunications, haulage, trading, transportation, agriculture, oil and gas as well as property. These has not only enriched the pockets of this great man, it has put his name on the lips of many people including those in the rural parts of the country and continent.

His being popular is not just a function of his being successful in life, but most of Dangote's products are household products that are useful to all categories of people in the society, so the name 'Dangote' is not reserved for the elites, businessmen or researchers like those of some others. If you are not using Dangote salt, you will patronise Dangote Noodles, sugar, rice, cement and several other products from his numerous companies.

For the records, Dangote Group is the biggest quoted and most diversified business conglomerates in Africa, so the story of Dangote is not just for today; it is one that would attract the curiosity of generations unborn, and a good material for research on how to grow business in the contemporary days and in the future.

Another dimension to the success of this shining light from Africa is the fact that most of the businesses he has been able to turn around with his unique business strategies were hitherto moribund companies. He has been able to rejuvenate and turn them into viable ventures, employing thousands of Nigerians, Africans and foreigners. One of such companies is the Benue Cement Company, BCC, Gboko, which Dangote acquired, when no one dared venture into such a company that was experiencing serious downturn.

He once said that “one part of the factory was burnt, another had been out of operations for almost 20 months, the staffers were not paid and pension and gratuities were not paid either. People just sat down doing nothing.”

But 10 years after, the story has changed, Dangote turned the fortune of the company around and a once dying organization is now the envy of others, and the factory now produces about three million tones of cement against its old output of 300,000 tonnes.

Wherever Dangote notices an opportunity, he never allows such to pass him by, not just for his personal benefit, but to keep the economy of such area growing and affect lives through contracts and employment.

Just recently, the cerebral entrepreneur extended his business interest to Ibese, Ogun State, where another Dangote Cement Plant was built and the facility was inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan. The plant has the capacity to produce six million tonnes of cement annually. The man, who is never relenting in promoting the economies of African countries, said this about the gigantic project, “In terms of giving jobs, I don't think the community (Ibese) has enough people for us to employ.”

Talk of a man, who brings life into any area he is attracted to, then the name of Aliko Dangote would come up for mention, no wonder he wines and dines with movers and shakers of countries, not leaving out presidents and prime ministers.

Obajana Cement, Obajana, Kogi State is another successful cement projects of Dangote. The factory, which is Dangote's most ambitious investment drive, produces about 10 million tones of cement, which means that everyday the company has 1,000 trucks coming into  load.

The cement merchant has also concluded plans to open another Dangote Cement Plant in Cross Rivers State.

Dangote's desire to spread the wealth beyond the shores of Nigeria also saw him signing a $115 million (about N17.25 billions) investment agreement with the Government of the Republic of Cameroon for the construction of a 1.5 million-metric tonne cement plant.

It is noteworthy that the long-term ambition of the quintessential pan-African entrepreneur is to produce 50 million tones of cement and a terminal capacity in Africa by 2015. Although Dangote Cement plants are present in 14 sub-Saharan African countries, this visionary entrepreneur has never hidden his intention to further spread his tentacles. He said, “We are in about 14 African cnountries, but they are all sub-Saharan. We have not really yet touched the North African side, which we believe we will do when we get to a certain level of activity in sub-Saharan Africa so that we don't have too many balls in the air. That is our intention.”

Apart from being the greatest investor in cement business in Africa in the cement sub-sector, Dangote, 54 is also a giant in the sugar and rice business. Today, he controls over 60 percent of the sugar business in Nigeria.

In 2002, he fought and bought over the Federal Government-owned Savannah Sugar Company with a view to turning it into a world-class corporation, and that he has been able to achieve.

Despite being the new face of Nigeria's industrial power and the richest African worth over $10.1 Billion, according to Forbes Magazine Dangote's wealth does not affect his character. His humility, simplicity and down to earth nature is still a surprise to many, who know him. When asked how he feels being the richest African, Dangote said, “I feel just like you, I feel like a normal person. It's just that I'm happy, when I spend money assisting other people.”

Dangote also detests tribalism and other narrow sentiments. This much is evident in the employment module of his businesses. He puts it this way, “Your thinking, your business and your horizon can never be broad-based if you are parochial. Here, our board consists of people from everywhere; Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba and even foreigners. Where I live, there are Muslims and Christians and everybody lives there in harmony.”

There is no gainsaying the fact that Alhaji Aliko Dangote is building businesses that would survive him and laying a solid foundation of a business conglomerate that would be bigger than the economy of some countries in the nearest future.

July 02, 2012