Comprotech: This is how financial education start in the olden days..... I think we can learn from this success story, because "No GLORY without STORY" So read on;

Alhaji Aliko Dangote Aliko Dangote was born in the northern
Nigerian state of Kano on April 10, 1957 into a
wealthy Hausa-Muslim family. His mother Mariya
Sanusi Dantata was the granddaughter of
legendary businessman Alhassan Dantata, and
his father Mohammed Dangote was Dantata’s business associate. Dangote had an early interest in business “I can
remember when I was in primary school, I
would go and buy cartons of sweets and I
would start selling them just to make money. I
was so interested in business, even at that time.”
He attended the Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt (the oldest university in the world)
studying business studies, before working for
his uncle Sanusi Abdulkadir Dantata who
eventually gave him a business loan at the age
of 21. Dangote Group Dangote started trading commodities and
building materials in Kano in 1977. He moved to
Lagos that summer and, encouraged by the
success of his business ventures so far,
incorporated two companies in 1981 The Dangote Group, originally a small trading
firm founded in 1977, is now a multi-trillion-
naira conglomerate with operations in Benin,
Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroun, Zambia, South Africa
and Togo. Dangote’s businesses include food
processing, cement manufacturing, and freight. The Dangote Group dominates the sugar market
in Nigeria: it is the major sugar supplier to the
country’s soft drink companies, breweries, and
confectioners. Dangote Group has moved from
being a trading company to Nigeria’s largest
industrial group, including Dangote Sugar Refinery (the most capitalized company on the
Nigeria Stock Exchange, valued at over US$3
billion with Aliko Dangote’s equity topping US$2
billion), Africa’s largest Cement Production Plant:
Obajana Cement, Dangote Flour amongst others. Aliko Dangote has a knack for seeing
opportunity that others can't see. He
approached the Nigerian Ports Authority with
the idea of leasing an abandoned piece of land
at the Apapa Port, where he subsequently built
facilities for his flour company. When other flour companies protested, the chairman of the NPA,
Chief Olabode George stated that Dangote was
the one who came up with the idea. Similarly, in
the 1990s he approached the Central Bank of
Nigeria with the idea that it would be cheaper
for the bank to allow his transport company to manage their fleet of staff buses. Today Dangote Group dominates the sugar
market in Nigeria and Dangote Sugar Refinery is
the main supplier (70% of the market) to the
country’s soft drinks companies, breweries and
confectioners. It is the largest refinery in Africa
and the third largest in the world producing 800,000 tonnes of sugar annually. Dangote
Group also owns salt factories and flour mills
and is a major importer of rice, fish, pasta,
cement and fertilizer. The company also exports
cotton, cashew nuts, cocoa, sesame seed and
ginger to several countries. Dangote Group also has major investments in real estate, banking,
transport, textiles and oil and gas. It employs
over 18,000 people and is the largest industrial
conglomerate in West Africa. Dangote is branching into telecommunications
and has started building 14,000 kilometres of
fibre optic cables to supply the whole of Nigeria.
He was honoured in January 2009 as the
leading provider of employment in the Nigerian
construction industry. “[Nigerians] can be even bigger than me, ” he
said “you just have to believe that yes, there is a
future in this country of ours and I can tell you
right now, I don’t believe we have even started
doing anything in Nigeria because the
opportunities are so enormous. I don’t even know where to start. “Let me tell you this and I want to really
emphasize it…nothing is going to help Nigeria
like Nigerians bringing back their money. If you
give me $5 billion today, I will invest everything
here in Nigeria. Let us put our heads together
and work.” Political contributions and associates Dangote played a prominent role in the funding
of Obasanjo’s re-election campaign in 2003, to
which he contributed over N200 million (US
$2M). He gave N50 million (US$0.5M) to the
National Mosque under the aegis of “Friends of
Obasanjo and Atiku”, and contributed N200 million to the Presidential Library. These
controversial gifts to members of the ruling
People’s Democratic Party have contributed to
concerns over continued graft despite highly
publicized anti-corruption drive during
Obasanjo’s second term. Alhaji Dangote was also one of the major players in getting President
Umaru Yar’Adua elected. Nigerians are generally proud of Dangote’s
achievements, but many insist that his business
acquisitions were unfairly gained due to his
links with Nigeria’s ex-president Olusegun
Obasanjo and that his virtual monopoly over
much of Nigeria’s commodities is stifling competition. “I am close to people in
government because I am one of the big
business men in Nigeria,” he said. “If we don’t
have the right people there then all the money I
have is useless”. The recent increase in cement prices, an industry
dominated by Dangote Group, forced the
government to allow cement imports in the
hope that the competition would lower prices,
much to the annoyance of Dangote. Dangote’s
unanimous election as president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange further led to accusations of
unfair business practice as two of his businesses
are listed on the exchange. Wealth Worth $3.3 billion in 2008, Dangote was the
richest black African to appear on Forbes’
Billionaire list and beat Oprah Winfrey to become
the world’s richest black person. Alhaji Aliko
Dangote has been a major player in Nigerian
commerce since the 1970s and his business empire controls the import and export of a
variety of products in West Africa. This led to
speculation that he was the wealthiest African in
the world, but he said, “I think I have to be rated
by Forbes magazine first before I can be [called]
the richest man in Africa.” Dangote got his wish in 2008 when he debuted
as the first Nigerian on the annual Forbes’
Billionaires list with a $3.3 billion fortune, and
became the richest black person on the planet
taking the title from media mogul Oprah Winfrey
($2.5 billion). He was ranked No. 334 in the world (No. 1 was America’s Warren Buffet with
$62 billion), and although Egypt (The Sawiris
family: $32 billion) and South Africa (The
Oppenheimer family: $5.7 billion) had richer
men, Aliko is the first African billionaire of fully
Black African ancestry to be listed. Sub-Saharan Africans were usually absent from
Forbes magazine’s annual compilation of the
world’s 1,000+ billionaires. Past African
presidents like Congo’s Mobutu and Nigeria’s
Sani Abacha probably became billionaires after
pocketing their country’s wealth, but Forbes did not confirm or legitimise their money. Dangote was the first verifiable Black African
billionaire, with Patrice Motsepe of South Africa
also on the list with $2.4 billion from his mining
company. Forbes reportedly wanted to feature
Dangote on the cover of the 2008 magazine but
he politely declined. He said he was grateful to God for the
achievement: “The signs are very good for
Nigeria. Next year, I expect at least five
Nigerians to be on the list.” But that was not to be as the 2009 list showed
the effects of the global recession with many
billionaires making huge loses or dropping off
the list altogether. Aliko’s wealth fell to $2.5
billion owing to a 70% fall in share prices, but he
moved up the world ranking to No. 261. The 2009 list also featured another Nigerian, oil
magnate Femi Otedola with $1.2 billion. Dangote controls much of Nigeria’s commodities
trade through his corporate and political
connections. With an estimated net worth of
around US$ 2.5 billion (2009), he was ranked by
Forbes as one of the richest black African
citizens and the third richest person of African descent in the world behind Mohammed Al
Amoudi ($9.0 billion) and Oprah Winfrey ($2.7
billion.). In 2011, Dangote was ranked as the richest
person of African descent, with an estimated
worth of $13.8 billion, relegating Mohammed al
Amoudi (12.3 billion) and Oprah Winfrey (2.7
billion) to second and third places respectively.dthe 2012 Forbes list, Dangote is ranked
number 76 with a net worth of $11.2b.

Comprotech: This is how financial education start in the olden days..... I think we can learn from this success story, because "No GLORY without STORY" So read on;

Alhaji Aliko Dangote Aliko Dangote was born in the northern
Nigerian state of Kano on April 10, 1957 into a
wealthy Hausa-Muslim family. His mother Mariya
Sanusi Dantata was the granddaughter of
legendary businessman Alhassan Dantata, and
his father Mohammed Dangote was Dantata’s business associate. Dangote had an early interest in business “I can
remember when I was in primary school, I
would go and buy cartons of sweets and I
would start selling them just to make money. I
was so interested in business, even at that time.”
He attended the Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt (the oldest university in the world)
studying business studies, before working for
his uncle Sanusi Abdulkadir Dantata who
eventually gave him a business loan at the age
of 21. Dangote Group Dangote started trading commodities and
building materials in Kano in 1977. He moved to
Lagos that summer and, encouraged by the
success of his business ventures so far,
incorporated two companies in 1981 The Dangote Group, originally a small trading
firm founded in 1977, is now a multi-trillion-
naira conglomerate with operations in Benin,
Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroun, Zambia, South Africa
and Togo. Dangote’s businesses include food
processing, cement manufacturing, and freight. The Dangote Group dominates the sugar market
in Nigeria: it is the major sugar supplier to the
country’s soft drink companies, breweries, and
confectioners. Dangote Group has moved from
being a trading company to Nigeria’s largest
industrial group, including Dangote Sugar Refinery (the most capitalized company on the
Nigeria Stock Exchange, valued at over US$3
billion with Aliko Dangote’s equity topping US$2
billion), Africa’s largest Cement Production Plant:
Obajana Cement, Dangote Flour amongst others. Aliko Dangote has a knack for seeing
opportunity that others can't see. He
approached the Nigerian Ports Authority with
the idea of leasing an abandoned piece of land
at the Apapa Port, where he subsequently built
facilities for his flour company. When other flour companies protested, the chairman of the NPA,
Chief Olabode George stated that Dangote was
the one who came up with the idea. Similarly, in
the 1990s he approached the Central Bank of
Nigeria with the idea that it would be cheaper
for the bank to allow his transport company to manage their fleet of staff buses. Today Dangote Group dominates the sugar
market in Nigeria and Dangote Sugar Refinery is
the main supplier (70% of the market) to the
country’s soft drinks companies, breweries and
confectioners. It is the largest refinery in Africa
and the third largest in the world producing 800,000 tonnes of sugar annually. Dangote
Group also owns salt factories and flour mills
and is a major importer of rice, fish, pasta,
cement and fertilizer. The company also exports
cotton, cashew nuts, cocoa, sesame seed and
ginger to several countries. Dangote Group also has major investments in real estate, banking,
transport, textiles and oil and gas. It employs
over 18,000 people and is the largest industrial
conglomerate in West Africa. Dangote is branching into telecommunications
and has started building 14,000 kilometres of
fibre optic cables to supply the whole of Nigeria.
He was honoured in January 2009 as the
leading provider of employment in the Nigerian
construction industry. “[Nigerians] can be even bigger than me, ” he
said “you just have to believe that yes, there is a
future in this country of ours and I can tell you
right now, I don’t believe we have even started
doing anything in Nigeria because the
opportunities are so enormous. I don’t even know where to start. “Let me tell you this and I want to really
emphasize it…nothing is going to help Nigeria
like Nigerians bringing back their money. If you
give me $5 billion today, I will invest everything
here in Nigeria. Let us put our heads together
and work.” Political contributions and associates Dangote played a prominent role in the funding
of Obasanjo’s re-election campaign in 2003, to
which he contributed over N200 million (US
$2M). He gave N50 million (US$0.5M) to the
National Mosque under the aegis of “Friends of
Obasanjo and Atiku”, and contributed N200 million to the Presidential Library. These
controversial gifts to members of the ruling
People’s Democratic Party have contributed to
concerns over continued graft despite highly
publicized anti-corruption drive during
Obasanjo’s second term. Alhaji Dangote was also one of the major players in getting President
Umaru Yar’Adua elected. Nigerians are generally proud of Dangote’s
achievements, but many insist that his business
acquisitions were unfairly gained due to his
links with Nigeria’s ex-president Olusegun
Obasanjo and that his virtual monopoly over
much of Nigeria’s commodities is stifling competition. “I am close to people in
government because I am one of the big
business men in Nigeria,” he said. “If we don’t
have the right people there then all the money I
have is useless”. The recent increase in cement prices, an industry
dominated by Dangote Group, forced the
government to allow cement imports in the
hope that the competition would lower prices,
much to the annoyance of Dangote. Dangote’s
unanimous election as president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange further led to accusations of
unfair business practice as two of his businesses
are listed on the exchange. Wealth Worth $3.3 billion in 2008, Dangote was the
richest black African to appear on Forbes’
Billionaire list and beat Oprah Winfrey to become
the world’s richest black person. Alhaji Aliko
Dangote has been a major player in Nigerian
commerce since the 1970s and his business empire controls the import and export of a
variety of products in West Africa. This led to
speculation that he was the wealthiest African in
the world, but he said, “I think I have to be rated
by Forbes magazine first before I can be [called]
the richest man in Africa.” Dangote got his wish in 2008 when he debuted
as the first Nigerian on the annual Forbes’
Billionaires list with a $3.3 billion fortune, and
became the richest black person on the planet
taking the title from media mogul Oprah Winfrey
($2.5 billion). He was ranked No. 334 in the world (No. 1 was America’s Warren Buffet with
$62 billion), and although Egypt (The Sawiris
family: $32 billion) and South Africa (The
Oppenheimer family: $5.7 billion) had richer
men, Aliko is the first African billionaire of fully
Black African ancestry to be listed. Sub-Saharan Africans were usually absent from
Forbes magazine’s annual compilation of the
world’s 1,000+ billionaires. Past African
presidents like Congo’s Mobutu and Nigeria’s
Sani Abacha probably became billionaires after
pocketing their country’s wealth, but Forbes did not confirm or legitimise their money. Dangote was the first verifiable Black African
billionaire, with Patrice Motsepe of South Africa
also on the list with $2.4 billion from his mining
company. Forbes reportedly wanted to feature
Dangote on the cover of the 2008 magazine but
he politely declined. He said he was grateful to God for the
achievement: “The signs are very good for
Nigeria. Next year, I expect at least five
Nigerians to be on the list.” But that was not to be as the 2009 list showed
the effects of the global recession with many
billionaires making huge loses or dropping off
the list altogether. Aliko’s wealth fell to $2.5
billion owing to a 70% fall in share prices, but he
moved up the world ranking to No. 261. The 2009 list also featured another Nigerian, oil
magnate Femi Otedola with $1.2 billion. Dangote controls much of Nigeria’s commodities
trade through his corporate and political
connections. With an estimated net worth of
around US$ 2.5 billion (2009), he was ranked by
Forbes as one of the richest black African
citizens and the third richest person of African descent in the world behind Mohammed Al
Amoudi ($9.0 billion) and Oprah Winfrey ($2.7
billion.). In 2011, Dangote was ranked as the richest
person of African descent, with an estimated
worth of $13.8 billion, relegating Mohammed al
Amoudi (12.3 billion) and Oprah Winfrey (2.7
billion) to second and third places respectively.dthe 2012 Forbes list, Dangote is ranked
number 76 with a net worth of $11.2b.