Dar es Salaam. Being
the richest man on the Continent, Mr Aliko Dangote could just take an
indefinite sabbatical and let the money work for him for the rest of his
life.
Yes,
after years of hard work, aggressive saving, investment and
re-investment, the 57-year-old could just take a well-deserved rest and
demand a fat cheque every month from his $26 billion business
empire—Dangote Group—which has interests in commodities and operates in
several African countries including Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Togo,
Ghana, South Africa, Zambia and now Tanzania.
In
Tanzania, where the company has invested in cement manufacturing, the
Dangote Industries (Tanzania) Ltd is expanding the capacity from 1,500
to 3,000 metric tonnes per year, making the plant the largest in one
location in southern and eastern Africa.
In
ordinary thinking, a rest is now well deserved considering the fact
that the business magnet successfully turned Dangote Group from a few
thousand naira worth small trading firm established in 1977 into a
multi-billion conglomerate dealing in food processing, cement
manufacturing, freight, sugar, breweries and confectioners just to
mention a few. Alhaj Aliko Dangote is ranked by Forbes Magazine;
the bible of global business trends, as the 23rd richest person in the
world and the richest man in Africa after surpassing Saudi-Ethiopian
billionaire Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi in 2013 by over $2.6 billion to
become the world’s richest black man.
But
the Nigerian business tycoon wakes up much earlier and works much
harder than ordinary mortals who struggle to make ends meet each passing
day. So what makes this “broda” work even harder instead of indulging
in luxury after years of back-breaking toiling?
Speaking
to editors in the city yesterday, Mr Dangote revealed that he takes his
inspiration from what Asian tigers and Brazil, countries that were on
more or less the same economic footing as Africa about 20 years ago but
which are now middle income and are on their way to the First World
status. “Since they are human beings like us and they have been able to
make it; we will also be able to make it,” he said.
“The
reason I wake up every day and work hard is to continue to face the
challenges and strive to take the continent to the next level,” he said.
But
what appears to be Dangote’s biggest strength is the fact that he has
not allowed the “Africa’s top moneyman” tag to get into his head. And he
does not measure success by his own personal achievement but by the
progress and prosperity of African people as a whole.
Said
he: “If you are wealthy, you are okay; but you cannot continue to be
okay when there are a lot of people who are out of job. So you need to
do your utmost to see that they find jobs and the skills.”
Mr
Dangote contends that based on projections, the future of Africa is
very bright with biggest assets being arable land almost all over the
continent and population. He said the growth of 5.5 per cent of the GDP
annually for the past 11 years can be maintained and even surpassed.
With
an entrepreneurial eye, Mr Dangote sees the key to unlocking African
potential being electricity. Electric power, he argues, unleashes
economic potentials in the small and medium scale industries which do
create most jobs.
If
Africa improves power generation and makes it accessible to the
majority of its people, the continent will perform economic miracles, he
says. For, with enough power, people will be able to run their own
small business and have disposable incomes, he says.
“By 2050, we will be able to match the size of the current American economy which is $19 trillion, from our current $1.8 trillion,” he said.
Another key is the population which is projected to reach 2 billion people by 2050. He, however, warned that this blessing can easily turn into a curse if it is not engaged in productive activities.
“If you look at the population of Africa, almost 55 to 60 per cent of the population is below the age of 25. It is a good thing but if we don’t manage it, it can be a bad thing,” he warned.
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