Aliko Dangote, His Story, His Secret

Aliko Dangote GCON was born 10 April 1957, He is a Nigerian billionaire who owns the Dangote Group, which has interests in commodities. The company operates in Nigeria and other African countries, including Benin, Ethiopia, Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa, Togo, Tanzania, and Zambia. As of January 2015, he had an estimated net worth of US$18.6 billion.

Dangote is ranked by Forbes magazine as the 67th richest person in the world and the richest in Africa; he peaked on the list as the 23rd richest person in the world in 2014. He surpassed Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi in 2013 by over $2.6 billion to become the world's richest person of African descent.

Early life

Dangote hails from a very prominent business family. He is the great grand son of Alhaji Alhassan Dantata, the richest African at the time of his death in 1955. Aliko Dangote, an ethnic Muslim Hausa from Kano State, was born on 10 April 1957 into a wealthy Muslim family. Dangote said, 

"I can remember when I was in primary school, I would go and buy cartons of sweets [sugar boxes] and I would start selling them just to make money. I was so interested in business, even at that time".

Secrets Of How Aliko Dangote Made His Billions

• He once worked for someone: Dangote worked for his uncle, Sani Dangote. He served his master diligently. He acted in accordance to the statement which says if you must lead, you must serve. It was while working for his uncle that he gathered experience, skills and confidence. 
• He took a loan to start his business: Aliko Dangote started his business with the N500,000 loan he took from his uncle/master. He approached his uncle in 1977 and told him about his plan to establish a business outfit and his uncle gave him the loan to start the business. However, he was given a three-month-deadline and he repaid the loan in three.
• He kicked off his business by trading in commodities: Sugar, rice, pasta, salt, cotton, millet, cocoa, textile and vegetable oil were the commodities he started his business with. He was importing these commodities into Nigeria.
• He developed a strong distribution network: Since production is not complete until the goods reach the final consumer, Dangote developed a strong distribution channel that made his goods delivered faster than his competitors’ goods.
• He built a brand: Dangote built a vibrant brand for his business. He corroborated this during an interview by saying “to succeed in business, you must build a brand and never destroy it. One competitive advantage I had when I ventured into manufacturing was my brand (Dangote), which I diligently built in the course of my trading.” 
• He sells cheap quality products: In his mission to gain the loyalty of his customers, Dangote started selling his competitive products at cheaper rates compared to his competitors’ rates.