Who is Aliko Dangote?
Aliko Dangote is the Nigerian industrialist who founded Dangote Group, the cement, sugar and refining conglomerate based in Lagos. Forbes’ real-time ranking valued him at $55.4 billion on 29 October 2026, which makes him the richest person in Africa. His fortune has more than doubled since the end of 2025, when it stood at $25.6 billion 1.
How did Aliko Dangote make his money?
Through cement first and now refining. Legit.ng reports that he holds about 86.8% of Dangote Cement, worth roughly $15.2 billion in October 2026, and retains about 87% of the Dangote refinery, whose 4.1 billion share IPO at ₦525 a share raised ₦2.15 trillion 12.
Early life and education
Aliko Mohammad Dangote was born on 10 April 1957 in Kano, northern Nigeria. His father, Mohammed Dangote, a transport businessman, died in 1965. His mother, Mariya, came from the Dantata family, and his maternal great-grandfather Alhassan Dantata was described as the richest person in West Africa until his death in 1955. He studied business at Al-Azhar University in Cairo 34.
Building Dangote Group
He began trading commodities in 1977 with a loan of about $3,000 from his uncle, importing sugar, salt and food products before moving into cement. Britannica dates the founding of Dangote Group to 1981, while Wikipedia dates it to 1977. The group went on to build the Obajana cement plant in Kogi State, a sugar refinery and a Lagos oil refinery 34. Read Aliko Dangote’s companies.
The Lagos refinery
The refinery began operations in 2024 after about a decade of construction at a cost of roughly $20 billion. Its nameplate capacity is 650,000 barrels a day, with an expansion to 1.4 million planned 25.
Family and giving
Wikipedia lists daughters among his children and reports that sources are inconsistent on the total. With Bill Gates he pledged $100 million in 2016 to tackle malnutrition in northern Nigeria 34. Read Aliko Dangote’s family.
Aliko Dangote net worth
Forbes put him at $55.4 billion on 29 October 2026, about ₹5.2 lakh crore at ₹94 to the dollar. Reuters estimated $31 billion to $35 billion in September using a different method 15. See Aliko Dangote net worth and our ranking of the top 50 richest people in the world.