Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian billionaire, is nominated as Africa’s richest man on the FORBES World’s Billionaires list. He takes advantage of the advanced natural condition in Nigeria, such as plenty of agricultural land to develop the economy of commercial agriculture in Nigeria.

Aliko Dangote created the Dangote Group, a conglomerate mainly offering agricultural products, such as cement, sugar, salt and flour. Commercial agriculture has become one of the most important branches of Africa’s economy.

In recent years, Dangote keep investing in the land in Africa to expand his agricultural business and to create profits in Nigeria.

“I can remember that 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,” said Dangote.

From 1997 to 2015, Dangote developed the Dangote Group from a small trading firm into a multi-trillion Naira conglomerate with international operations located in Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo.

Agricultural commodities are the main products in the Dangote Group. It has covered food processing, cement manufacturing and freight. Moreover, it dominates the sugar market in Nigeria and becomes the major supplier to domestic soft drink companies, breweries and confectioners.

In addition, Dangote Group also owns salt factories and flour mills; it imports rice, fish, pasta, cement and fertilizer and exports cotton, cashew nuts, cocoa, sesame seed and ginger to several countries.

With the current achievement, Dangote is still expanding his Agricultural business in Africa lands. Recently, Dangote invested $500 million in cement plants in Ethiopia and is building other plants in Kenya, Niger and Congo.

Moreover, Dangote intends to invest in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world. The majority of people in Malawi earn less than $1 per day. Foreign donors and Tobacco exports constitute the main national income. Before this investment, he has built a South African cement manufacturer, Sephaku Cement, and a cement plant in Zambia.

“His visit to Malawi will inspire both private and public sectors on how he has succeeded in his businesses”, said Joseph Mwanamvekha, Malawi’s Minister of Industry and Trade.

Facing the success of an agricultural business, Dangote said that, “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.”

As the richest man in Africa, Dangote combats poverty in Nigeria by developing the economy of commercial agriculture.

– Shengyu Wang

Sources: Forbes, Forbes 2
Photo: Google Images