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Africa’s richest man dismisses claims of inherited fortune
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Says he donated his father’s assets to charity
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Reveals why cement became the foundation of his empire
Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has declared that his vast fortune was built through personal effort and not inherited wealth.
He stressed that although he was born into privilege, his business empire was the product of vision, discipline and resilience.
Speaking in an interview, Dangote noted that his lineage was known for immense riches. “I came from a wealthy family. My late great-grandfather in the 1940s was actually the richest, you know, West African. My late grandfather was one of the wealthiest Nigerians, you know,” he said.
He pointed out that his background could have offered him shortcuts but he deliberately chose a different path.
“The family name is Dentata. That’s from my maternal side. My father, too, you know, was fairly rich, you know, but he was both, you know, in business and also in politics. But one thing that I’m very, very proud of is that I did not inherit any money from my father. I built everything from scratch to where I am,” Dangote stated.
Dangote clarified that whatever assets he inherited from his late father were later channelled to charity. He explained that his success stemmed from independent ventures, beginning with trading cement in Lagos.
“I went to Lagos and started my own business by just, you know, buying cement, selling. You know, it was just a very low-key business,” he recounted.
The billionaire explained that his decision to invest heavily in cement was driven by Africa’s development needs. “When you look at cement, cement is what builds infrastructure, and we need a lot of infrastructural deficits. In Nigeria alone, we have about 17,000 deficit of housing and it is all over in Africa. So when we started cement in Nigeria, we realised that the majority of it was actually imported, and that is why we went in there,” Dangote said.
Today, the Dangote Group dominates multiple sectors across the continent, spanning cement, sugar, fertiliser and oil refining, consolidating its founder’s position as one of the most influential figures in global business.
