Africa’s largest cement producer Dangote Cement Plc on 1 March reported the results over the past year. Net profit founded in 1992 the group grew by 15% to $929 million and revenue by 26% to $2.45 billion In the same day, Forbes updated its annual ranking of richest people in the world. The richest African, the founder of the Dangote Group Aliko Dangote, took the 51st place with a fortune of $15.4 billion
The name Dangote known to every citizen of Nigeria. Dangote Group operates in various industries — export, import, food production and industrial goods, development of the oil and gas industry and telecommunications, residential real estate. In the company of Dangote combines the positions of CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Business in the blood
Aliko Dangote was born in the North of Nigeria, in the Northern state of Kano in a rich Muslim family of ugalava — hereditary merchants engaged in caravan traffic between city-States and tribes Hausa across West Africa. His great-grandfather, the legendary Nigerian merchant Hassan Dantata, at the time of his death in 1955, was known as one of the richest men in the region. Father Aliko Mohammed Dangote, was also engaged in trade, participated in politics. After his death a small ALICO took care of the maternal grandfather, Sanusi Dantata.
Business future billionaire was interested in in childhood. “I remember when I was in elementary school, I bought boxes of candy and sold them just to make money. I so much was interested in business even in those years,” quoted the portal All Africa. After school, Dangote went to study entrepreneurship at the University of al-ajar in Cairo. After graduating, he returned to Kano and in 1978 he opened his own business. At that time he was 21 years old.
For start-up capital Dangote appealed to his uncle, who gave him the loan of 500 thousand Naira to buy (at the time $3 million). The money ALICO became to purchase at wholesale prices rice, sugar, millet, salt, cotton, vegetable oil, and textiles, abroad — and cement — and resell at the local market with a significant margin. Trading went, Dangote paid the debt, and four years later he founded two companies that later became the basis of the Dangote Group.
Successful promotion of the businessman is obliged to high rate of growth of the Nigerian economy in the early 1970-ies, after the country discovered oil deposits. Now this does not prevent him nostalgic for the days when agriculture was brought to the country a large portion of the proceeds. “Agriculture has been a driver of the economy. Through palm production formed a large part of the revenues of the Eastern region, due to the cocoa of the West, groundnut and cotton were profitable Northern. But the discovery of oil in commercial quantities has transformed the economy in pursuit of rents, and agriculture has ceased to be the main source of revenues and income of the state,” he explained at a lecture last month at the University. Ahmad Bello.
Amid the political tension in the middle East easy money earned on the oil, turned into the 1980s in this thread. “The country was flooded by imports, there was an appetite for short-term investments instead of long-term investments in agriculture, industrial production and refining capacity. Boom in the world oil market alternated with sharp drops, which shook the Nigerian economy over the past five decades,” recalled Dangote.
From import to production
In the cases of Dangote first consciously avoided investing in the oil industry, and in the late 1990-ies has taken a decision that years later would be called the best in his career. His company, before specializing solely in the trade, goes to its own production. A country where the vast majority of consumer goods imported from abroad, suffered from lack of its own infrastructure, able to satisfy the basic needs of the majority of the population, which also grew from year to year, in 1992, rising to over 100 million people (in 2014 reached 178,5 million).
It is the “provision of basic needs of the population” Dangote made the goal of his company. Dangote Group has developed an ambitious program of production growth. First, she covered the food industry in the country planned to build four flour mill, a sugar refinery and a pasta factory. Then, in 2000, the group entered the cement market by purchasing government privatized the plant in Benue state, and in 2003 bought for $800 million cement factory Obajana, the biggest in Central and West Africa. Five years later, Dangote c $3.3 billion of personal wealth has become the richest blacks in the world.
Cement Dangote Cement Plc
Photo: Bloomberg
Business Aliko Dangote in numbers
Up to $929 million raised in 2015 net profit of the company Dangote Cement, the main asset is Dangote
$2.45 billion amounted to annual revenue of the company Dangote Cement
$14.2 billion market capitalization of Dangote Cement on Nigerian stock exchange in Lagos (3 March 2015)
Of 9.9% was the unemployment rate in Nigeria in the third quarter of 2015
Deal at $4.3 billion Dangote signed with the Chinese company Sinoma. Accordance with its terms Sinoma will build seven cement plants in Africa and Nepal
Sources: National Bureau of statistics of Nigeria, Bloomberg, Forbes
Now Dangote Group is the largest in West Africa and one of the largest on the continent, trade and industrial conglomerate covering a variety of business areas including food manufacturing, telecommunications, oil refining, textiles and trucking. The biggest asset is Dangote (he owns more than 90% of the shares via its holding company), Dangote Cement, the largest producer of cement in Africa. Four controlled by Dangote company within the country produced a total of 20 million tons of cement per year. The market capitalization of Dangote Cement on Nigerian stock exchange in Lagos as at March 3 was estimated at $14,23 billion As Forbes wrote, in August 2015 Dangote signed a deal with China international engineering company Sinoma (state-owned) for $4.3 billion for the construction of Dangote Cement’s seven factories in several countries in Africa and also in Nepal. Until the end of 2016, the company must conduct an IPO on the London stock exchange, announced a year ago Dangote.
Another company, Dangote Sugar Refinery, the first in West Africa and the second enterprise in the world by volume of production of refined sugar (according to the company, it is 1.44 million tons per year). Capitalization on the stock exchange on 3 March — $million 327,53
The fighter against unemployment
Dangote Group, the country’s largest private employer. The companies of the conglomerate are located in 18 countries in Africa, but the main power is concentrated in Nigeria. As at the end of 2015 the number of employees only group in Nigeria was estimated at 12 thousand, in the next few years, the company plans on completing current projects to hire up to 22 thousand and provide almost 10% of Nigeria’s GDP.
“I want to pay particular attention to the fact that <…> no one will help Nigeria like Nigerians who return their money. Today, if you will give me $5 billion, I won’t invest them abroad, I will invest everything in Nigeria. Let’s get together and going to work,” was quoted Dangote Nigerian Observer at the end of 2014. The year before the businessman announced his intention to invest $9 billion in the construction of Africa’s largest petrochemical complex in Nigeria. As noted on the company’s website, power is part of the complex refinery could reach 400 thousand barrels. of crude oil per day, and a petrochemical plant — 600 million tonnes of polypropylene per year. This decision, according to Dangote, he accepted “as an investor who believes in Nigeria, knows Nigeria well and whose prosperity was made in Nigeria”.
Peak Dangote’s fortune was reached in 2014 when he became the first African included in the top 25 of Forbes with a fortune of $25 billion (23rd place as of the beginning of March, when she published rating). But the collapse of the national currency Naira and a sharp fall in cement demand in 2014 reduced his fortune almost doubled to us $10.3, which put him on 67-e a place in rating Forbes and made him the biggest loser of the list.
Business jet on birthday
In 2010 Dangote bought for $45 million Bombardier passenger aircraft. Such a gift he decided to make himself on his 53rd birthday. Model Global Express XRS was delivered to Lagos from Canada.
This is an improved and extended version of the popular Global 5000 aircraft (Global Express).
The aircraft most spacious cabin among all the aircraft originally engineered as business jets. It can be placed from eight to 19 passengers. In the cabin there is a Central office where you can conduct meetings, kitchen, three sections for accommodation of passengers rest room for crew and two bathrooms. Each pair of seats, located in front, transforms into a full bed. In the cabin installed multimedia system and built-in LCD monitors.
The tycoon and philanthropist
Like his grandfather and great-grandfather, Dangote supports more than a close relationship with the authorities. In 2003, he invested about $2 million in the election campaign of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo that helped him get re-elected for a second term. Subsequently, the businessman donated and presidential library, created and Obasanjo and Vice President Abubakar Atik Fund for the rehabilitation of the National mosque. Five years ago, President goodluck Jonathan handed him one of the two highest state awards of the Nigeria — Dangote became the first is not endowed with the authority of the person who received the title of Grand commander of the Order of Niger.
Football club and the plane
“Arsenal” is not enough
In June last year, Dangote said the desire to buy English football club “Arsenal”. As noted by bi-Bi-si, the 58-year-old entrepreneur admitted he is a fan of this FC since the 1980-ies. In 2010, he had already considered the possibility of purchasing the package, 15.9% of the shares of Arsenal Holdings (parent company of Arsenal), but in the end refused, and the papers were sold to American businessman Stan Kronke.
Now Kronke controlling stake in 67,02%. Even 30,04% of shares of a Russian businessman, billionaire Alisher Usmanov.
Now Dangote is busy building one of Africa’s largest petrochemical complex. “When we start this plant, I will have enough time and money to pay the necessary sum, he said television and radio Corporation. Club pretty well, but it requires a different strategic direction. They need to be more focused than now, when they’re just trying to grow players and sell them”.
Dangote also leading the Federal government created the national Committee on job creation. With its help, he hopes to stimulate the growth of jobs in small and medium business through the creation of industrial clusters and facilitation of access to Finance. As examples, he cited the automotive cluster in the city of Nnewi (known throughout West Africa market auto parts appeared there in the 1970s) and the Otigba computer village in Lagos state.
“I’m close to people in power, because I’m one of the big businessmen in Nigeria. If the authorities are not those people, all the money I have is useless. I don’t want Nigeria to become another Zimbabwe so I am concerned about the policy direction of my country. — Quoted from his journal of the Nigerian Citizen. — If the authorities in Nigeria will fall into the hands of bad and inexperienced politicians, my wealth may turn into poverty and I am not ready to become a poor man”.
