Alhaji Aliko Dangote GCON (born 10 April 1957) is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist who is the founder and chairman of Dangote Group, an industrial conglomerate in Africa.[2]
He has an estimated net worth of US$7.7 billion (July 12, 2020), [3] as of May 29, 2020 making him the 162nd wealthiest person in the world and the richest person in Africa
Born in 1957, Dangote grew up in an entrepreneurial household in Kano State, Nigeria. He was raised Muslim and lived an upper-class life. Dangote’s grandfather, Sanusi Dantata, was once named one of the wealthiest people living in Kano. He made his fortune selling commodities like oats and rice. Dantata became Dangote’s guardian in 1965 after the death of his father.
Having spent much of his childhood with his grandfather, Dangote quickly became interested in the world of business, once saying, “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.”1
At age 21, Dangote graduated from Egypt's Al-Azhar University, considered one of Islam’s most prestigious universities. It was there the budding entrepreneur furthered his education in business.
An Empire Is Born
After graduating from college in 1977, Dangote managed to convince his uncle to lend him money to start a business. The funds from the loan allowed him to import soft commodities at wholesale prices from international suppliers. Two of his main imports were rice from Thailand and sugar from Brazil. He then sold those items in small quantities to consumers in his village at a lucrative markup. The venture quickly became successful and turned into a cash cow. In an interview with Forbes, Dangote claims that on his best days, he was realizing a daily net profit of $10,000. That allowed him to repay his uncle in only three months.
Cutting Out the Middleman
In 1997, Dangote realized that acting as a middleman was a very costly endeavor, so he built a plant to produce what he had been importing and selling for the previous 20 years: pasta, sugar, salt, and flour. Around the same time, Dangote was awarded a state-owned cement company. Dangote significantly expanded the operations of the company in 2005 by constructing a multimillion-dollar manufacturing plant. The construction was financed with $319 million of Dangote's own money in addition to a $479 million loan from the International Finance Corporation, a sister organization of The World Bank.
Each of his manufacturing divisions has since been separated into publicly traded companies: Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC., National Salt Company of Nigeria PLC., Dangote Flour Mills PLC., and Dangote Cements PLC.
Expanding the Empire
Dangote has always reinvested the majority of his profits back into his businesses--one reason the company has grown so much since inception. During an interview with Al Jazeera News, Aliko Dangote explained, ‘‘We [Dangote Group] are not doing like other Africans who keep most of their money in the bank. We do not keep money in the bank. We fully invest whatever we have and we keep on investing. (sic)’’
Unlike many wealthy Nigerians who made their fortune in oil, Dangote initially chose to go down a different path, but he has since entered the oil and gas industry. In an effort to put some of his cash reserves to work, Dangote purchased an oil refinery in Lagos in 2007. He hopes the refinery, which is scheduled to be at full capacity by the end of 2020, will significantly reduce Nigeria's reliance on international suppliers for oil and gas. The $10 billion refinery in Nigeria is expected to produce 650,000 barrels of oil per day.
The Bottom Line
Aliko Dangote's journey to fortune is not a rags-to-riches story. He came from a wealthy family that was able to provide financial assistance to start his business. Over the years, Dangote has expanded into new business segments, including telecommunications, real estate, and steel manufacturing. Today his holding company, Dangote Group, is the largest conglomerate in West Africa. His title as "richest man in Africa" seems only to be one he'll hold for years to come.
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Folorunso Alakija (born 15 July 1951) is a Nigerian billionaire businesswoman.[2] She is involved in the fashion,[3] oil, real estate and printing industries.[4] She is the group managing director of The Rose of Sharon Group which consists of The Rose of Sharon Prints & Promotions Limited, Digital Reality Prints Limited and the executive vice-chairman of Famfa Oil Limited.
She also has a majority stake in DaySpring Property Development company.[5][6] Alakija is ranked by Forbes as the richest woman in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of $1 billion.[7][4] As of 2015, she is listed as the second most powerful woman in Africa after Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the 87th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.[
As of 2014, she is listed as the 96th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.[8] In May 2015, two Nigerian women, Finance Minister Ngozi okonjo-Iweala and Alakija were listed among the world's 100 most powerful women according to Forbes. Alakija was 86th on the list.[18]
and she is the parent of
3. Mike Adenuga
Chief Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga Jr, GCON[4] (born 29 April 1953) is a Nigerian billionaire businessman, and the third richest person in Africa.[5][6] His company Globacom is Nigeria's second-largest telecom operator, which has a presence in Ghana and Benin. He owns stakes in the Equitorial Trust Bank and the oil exploration firm Conoil (formerly Consolidated Oil Company). Forbes has estimated his net worth at $5.7 billion as of July 2020.[1]
Early life and education[edit]
His father, the Oloye Michael Agbolade Adenuga Sr, was a school teacher while his mother, Omoba Juliana Oyindamola Adenuga (née Onashile, of Okesopin, Ijebu Igbo), was a businesswoman of royal Ijebu descent.[7]
Adenuga received his secondary school education at Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan, and Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro, for his Higher School Certificate (HSC). He worked as a taxi driver to help fund his university education.[8] He graduated from Northwestern Oklahoma State University and Pace University, New York, with degrees in Business Administration.
Career[edit]
Adenuga made his first milllion in 1979, at age 26, selling lace and distributing soft drinks.[9] In 1990, he received a drilling license and in 1991, his Consolidated Oil struck oil in the shallow waters of Southwestern Ondo State, the first indigenous oil company to do so in commercial quantity.
He was issued a conditional GSM licence in 1999; after it was revoked he received a second one when the government held another auction in 2003.[10][11] His telecom company Globacom spread quickly and started challenging the giant MTN Group. It launched services in Benin in 2008, and has continued its spread across Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, with more licences currently being prospected in other West African countries.
He was named African Entrepreneur of The Year at the first African Telecoms Awards (ATA) in August 2007.[12]
In 2009, Adenuga was detained for money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. He subsequently left the country and lived in London until the Umaru Musa Yar'Adua regime granted him a pardon.[13]
In May 2015, Adenuga made a takeover bid to purchase Ivorian mobile telecom's operator Comium Côte d'Ivoire for $600 million.[14]
In June 2016, it was revealed that Adenuga was being pursued for a combined debt of US$140.5 million, after his company ConOil failed to pay debts owed to, among others, the French oil giant Total. Bellbop, another company owned by Adenuga, had an interim injunction placed on it by the High Court in Lagos, after it too failed to pay the $9.4 million owed to the US oil and gas firm Baker Hughes.[15]
Honours[edit]
In 2012, he was made Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger by the government of Nigeria.[16]
He holds a Yoruba tribal chieftaincy as the Otunba Apesin of the Ijebu clan.[17]
In 2018, he was decorated with the insignia of a Commander of the Legion of Honour by President Emmanuel Macron of France.[18]
4. Femi Otedola
Femi Otedola (born 4 November 1962) is a Nigerian businessman, philanthropist, and former chairman of Forte Oil PLC, an importer of fuel products. Otedola is the founder of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, and the owner of a number of other businesses across shipping, real estate and finance. He has recently invested in power generation as part of the liberalisation of the sector in Nigeria.
Otedola was born in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, south west Nigeria, into the family of the late Sir Michael Otedola, Governor of Lagos State from 1992 to 1993.[3]
Personal life[edit]
Otedola's first daughter, Tolani, is a singer.[4] After she was born, he married Nana Otedola and had two more daughters—Florence Ifeoluwa and Elizabeth Temi—and a son, Fewa.[5] Florence Otedola, aka DJ Cuppy, is a DJ and music producer, as well as a tourism ambassador for Nigeria.[6] Her younger sister, Temi, is a style blogger and aspiring designer.[7] Otedola has homes in Lagos, Abuja, Dubai, London and New York City.[5]
In December 2016, Otedola was embroiled in a controversy where two Toronto-based sisters—Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo—reportedly tried to extort him by cyberbullying and blackmail, claiming they had evidence of Otedola cheating on his wife that they would post on a notorious sex-scandal website.[8] The sisters dispute Otedola's account.[9] According to their account Jyoti met Otedola, straight out of University, in 2008. He whisked her and Kiran to Nigeria, and began an affair with him. They acknowledge that his gifts enriched them, as did gifts from other wealthy boyfriends, but dispute they ever engaged in blackmail, or even demanding gifts.
Zenon Petroleum and Gas[edit]
In 2003, having identified an opportunity in the fuel retail market, Otedola secured the finance to set up Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, a petroleum products marketing and distribution company.[10]
As owner and chairman of Zenon, in 2004 he invested N15 billion in downstream infrastructure development and acquired storage depots at Ibafon, Apapa as well as four cargo vessels, amounting to a combined total storage capacity of 147,000 metric tonnes.[11][12] The same year he acquired a fleet of 100 DAF fuel-tanker trucks for N1.4 billion.[11]
By 2005, Zenon controlled a major share of the Nigerian diesel market, supplying fuel to most of the major manufacturers in the country including Dangote Group, Cadbury, Coca-Cola, Nigerian Breweries, MTN, Unilever, Nestle and Guinness.[13]
In March 2007, it was announced that ten banks had approved a syndicated loan of US$1.5 billion (N193.5 billion) to Zenon as working capital to build the largest premium motor spirit storage facility in Africa.[13][14] Later that year Zenon acquired a 28.7 per cent stake in African Petroleum, one of Nigeria's largest fuel marketers.[15] Zenon also invested across the financial sector, becoming the largest shareholder in a number of Nigerian banks including Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa (UBA).[10] As well as diesel, Zenon also became an important player in the kerosene market.[16]
In 2012, Zenon was among a number of companies named in a report into an alleged fuel subsidy scam. According to the report Zenon owed the government $1.4 million.[17] It was further reported that Farouk Lawan, the Nigerian legislator who compiled the report, had apparently been filmed collecting $500,000 of a supposed total sum of $3 million from Femi Otedola to remove Zenon from the list.[18] It subsequently emerged that Otedola had previously reported Lawan's harassment and demands for bribes to the State Security Services, who had orchestrated a sting operation.[19] Lawan was charged with corruption in February 2013.[18]
African Petroleum[edit]
In 2007, Otedola was appointed chairman and chief executive of Africa Petroleum through the acquisition of a controlling stake in the business.[20] In December that year he personally acquired a further 29.3 per cent of the company for N40 billion. A merger of this personal holding with Zenon's brought Otedola's total stake to 55.3 per cent.[21]
Following Otedola's entry into the company African Petroleum's share price rose sharply, increasing the market capitalisation from N36 billion to N217 billion in six months.[16] In 2008, in response to public concerns over the availability and pricing of kerosene, African Petroleum launched an initiative to saturate the market and sell fuel at N50 per litre from more than 500 service stations across Nigeria.[22][23]
In March 2009, Otedola became the second Nigerian after Aliko Dangote to appear on the Forbes list of dollar-denominated billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion.[24] In October 2009, Otedola announced a move to upgrade African Petroleum's liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage terminals in Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt.[25] Difficult economic conditions caused by the slump in world oil prices and credit squeeze of 2008–09 led African Petroleum to record a loss in 2009.[26]
Forte Oil[edit]
In December 2010, African Petroleum rebranded, changing its name to Forte Oil PLC.[27] Otedola carried out a restructuring of the business, focusing on technology and improved corporate governance.[10][26] Forte Oil returned to profit in 2012.[26]
In 2013, as part of the Federal Government's push to liberalise Nigeria's ailing power sector, Otedola financed 57% of Forte Oil subsidiary Amperion Ltd, which acquired the 414 MW Geregu Power Plant for $132 million.[28][29]
Forte's improved financial position and diversification into power generation resulted in a 1,321 per cent rise in its share price during 2013.[26] The first half of 2014 saw the company's pre-tax profit more than double year-on-year to 4.19 billion naira ($25.7 million).[30] Revenue growth for the whole year was 33 per cent.[31] In November 2014, Otedola returned to the Forbes rich list having dropped off it following the fall in share price during 2009.[10]
In September 2015 Forte Oil sold 17 per cent of its equity to Swiss commodity trader Mercuria Energy Group, giving Forte access to global commodity markets. The deal was thought to have given Otedola an estimated $200 million.[32] In 2019, Femi Otedola sold Forte Oil Plc and announced plans to change focus from oil to power with his company, Geregu Power Plc.[33]
5. Jim Ovia
Jim James Ovia (born November 4, 1951) is a Nigerian businessman. He founded Zenith Bank in 1990.Jim Ovia holds a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana, Monroe, Louisiana, USA in 1979 and a B.Sc. degree in Business Administration from Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA (1977). He is also an Alumnus of Harvard Business School (OPM)
- He is the founder of Zenith Bank Plc, Nigeria's tier-1 bank and one of the most profitable financial institutions in Nigeria until 2010, when he moved into the chairman role.[1] He was the recipient of a Nigerian national honor.[2][3]
During two decades of leadership, he helped position the bank as one of the largest and most profitable in Africa.
Ovia is the founder of Visafone Communications Limited and the chairman of both the Nigerian Software Development Initiative (NSDI) and the National Information Technology Advisory Council (NITAC). He is a member of the Honorary International Investor Council as well as the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI). He is the Chairman of Cyberspace Network Limited. He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in the 50th convocation ceremony of the University of Lagos [1]
He is a member of the Governing Council of Lagos State University, Lagos and a member of the Board of Trustees, Redeemer's University For Nations, Lagos. He was a member of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (1999 – 2007) and served on the board of American International School, Lagos [2001 -2003].
Ovia headed numerous Non-Governmental Organisations [NGO] at various times including serving as the first President of the Nigeria Internet Group (2001-2003). He is the founder and Chairman of Mankind United to Support Total Education (MUSTE), a philanthropic organization focused on providing scholarships for the less privileged. He is the founder of the Youth Empowerment / ICT Foundation, which focuses on improving the socioeconomic welfare of Nigerian youths by inspiring and motivating them to embrace Information and communication technology.
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