An Hour With Africa’s Richest Man

[O.G.B]

I’m waiting for Aliko Dangote. Everyone is. Africa’s richest man, worth $24.7 billion (more than Carl Icahn, George Soros and any number of lesser Western billionaires) is probably the most in-demand person at the World Economic Forum here in Abuja, Nigeria. He enters the Hilton on a red carpet, a mere 30 minutes late, with minders, the head of his foundation, and the second of his three grown daughters in tow. The hotel employees literally bow before him, lesser oligarchs wave and backslap, and the merely rich try to bum rides on his private plane. “I don’t know what to do, my wife really needs to get home,” says an Indian businessman to one of the numerous Dangote staffers hovering nearby, who smiles sympathetically and promises to look into things.

Dangote himself is unassuming. A 57-year-old man with an almost shy smile, he’s a practicing Muslim that acquaintances call “generous” and “prayerful.” He’s also a sharp elbowed business titan, the 24th richest in the world, who has survived ten different regimes in Nigeria, building a $2 billion empire on cement, sugar, salt, and more recently, energy. Dangote sat down with me in his suite at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja Wednesday to discuss wealth, power, politics, and the future of Africa. Below are lightly edited excerpts from our talk:


An Interview With Aliko Dangote, Africa’s Richest Man - TIME

 

[Captain Crunch]

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Really wonder how much blood is on this guy's hands.

Can't get rich in some places without truly having your hands in some awful shyt

 

[Kritic]

Really wonder how much blood is on this guy's hands.

Can't get rich in some places without truly having your hands in some awful shyt

and that's the first thing you think of

you wanna talk about blood in ppl's hands?

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

and that's the first thing you think of

you wanna talk about blood in ppl's hands?

Lets talk about your white supremacist girlfriend?

 

[Kritic]

Lets talk about your white supremacist girlfriend?

you stay up on this site all day making things up in your head. talk about it in your head. do you think it changes reality.. fuqqin idiot.

 

[2Quik4UHoes]

We need many more of these, especially if they are major philanthropists.

 

[Marvel]

Really wonder how much blood is on this guy's hands.

Can't get rich in some places without truly having your hands in some awful shyt

If you were an educated Hausa with northern muslim brethren that ruled Nigeria with the backing of the western world, you too could be the richest man in Africa.

 

[Blackking]

he’s a practicing Muslim that acquaintances call “generous” and “prayerful.”


Yeah this.

Imma ask Allah for 300k this year... The trick is prayer... and charity. some meditation. It's pretty much guaranteed.




BUT why haven't this nikka funded some gorillas to take care of Boko Haram

 

[Blackking]

If you were an educated Hausa with northern muslim brethren that ruled Nigeria with the backing of the western world, you too could be the richest man in Africa.

This is true...

but The Western world backs him though--- but didn't put the money in his hands. This nikka is self made.

 

[Marvel]

This is true...

but The Western world backs him though--- but didn't put the money in his hands. This nikka is self made.

Have you been to Nigeria? He is not self made. He was MADE by those in power. Do you know that people are given millions of dollars by the Nigerian government every year to build roads in Nigeria that are never built. Government contracts is one of the fastest way to riches for people like him. They just don't give contracts to anybody, they give it to their brethren. If the US government promised to give a billions of dollars to build up a new city in the middle of the desert all you would have to is subcontract it to other companies and keep most of the money. You would even need to have any knowledge of how to build a city. Its that easy.

 

[Brown_Pride]

this dude emailed me early today about using my bank account to transfer money out of the country

 

[L&HH]

this dude emailed me early today about using my bank account to transfer money out of the country

sounds like an interesting proposition

 

[Blackking]

Have you been to Nigeria? He is not self made. He was MADE by those in power. Do you know that people are given millions of dollars by the Nigerian government every year to build roads in Nigeria that are never built. Government contracts is one of the fastest way to riches for people like him. They just don't give contracts to anybody, they give it to their brethren. If the US government promised to give a billions of dollars to build up a new city in the middle of the desert all you would have to is subcontract it to other companies and keep most of the money. You would even need to have any knowledge of how to build a city. Its that easy.

he's looks like such a nice guy..