Aliko Dangote, is a Nigerian businessman and industrialist, He is best known as the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of the Dangote Group; the largest industrial conglomerate in West Africa.
According CNN‘s report of Wednesday, June 5, 2024, over the past eight years, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has built one of the world’s largest oil refineries spanning nearly 4,000 football fields, construction of the refinery began in 2016 at the Lekki Free Zone outside of Lagos, Nigeria, and it opened in May 2023.
Aside from being the Africa richest man, and extending his entrepreneurial wizardry across various aspects of the economy, a research by Nairametric which rely on Forbes Real-Time Billionaire index, noted that Dangote net worth jumped by 61.45% from 2020 to 2024.
In 2020, his valuation was $8.3 billion, and as of May 9, 2024, it has soared to soared to 13.5billion.
What are the top business secrets that made him build his empire? Well, Dangote, at different occasions, revealed his top business secrets.
Techeconomy collated these top 10 business secrets of Africa’s richest man:
1. Be very focused
According to Alhaji Aliko Dangote, “The problem of some of our younger generation today is that they just want to jump and see themselves up there overnight.
It does not really happen like that. What you need to do is be very very focused as a person and be dedicated to whatsoever you are doing.
It is not very good for you to try something, then after a month you said it is not working then you jump to something else.
I think you need to focus on whatever you have chosen to do. Once you believe in what you are doing, do not take your business or your job as something you must do, rather take it as part of your hubby.
2. Know your business A-Z
The Africa richest man noted that “If you are going into any business, you must understand the business A-Z, you must know that business.
You should not just invest because someone else said there is good money in it, you will need to understand the business in and out. And that is what makes the difference with me.
You can wake me up anytime and ask me about fertilizer, and ask me any other thing we are doing. Another thing is you must work very hard , and you must have the tenacity to continue.
3. Have a vision
For entrepreneurs there are no boundaries, not only that there are no boundaries you can actually excel more than your own expectation and that is what an Entrepreneurs can be. Not just to say that I have a vision, you need to have a vision and a mission. So that you can actualize it and excel.
4. Don’t Spend your projected income
A lot of people, even the young people, need to be very careful. One of the biggest issues with us as Africans is how we spend our projected income.
Once our business starts doing well, instead of reinvesting into the business you start spending money and thinking that profits you continually come.
There are ups and downs in businesses, you have to be focused and prepare for the rainy days.
5. Diversification
“Right now, diversification is key in business, because there is nothing that is 100 percent fully safe. When I say fully safe I meant to say there are no areas where you would not have challenges.
For us in Dangote groups, we are into many businesses and in different countries. So if there are challenges in a country or any arm of business, other businesses will still go on till the challenged area is resolved.
Diversification is extremely good, but it also has to be monitored closely so that values can be maximized.
For us we only go into a business we fully understand, precisely we ensure that 10 our top management have 100 percent understanding about the business to the level when you wake them up from sleep they must be able to analyse and come up with solutions.
The most dangerous thing an entrepreneur will do, is to go into a business he does not understand fully. You need to understand the business in and out. So diversification is very very good. and you are also spreading out your risk.
6. Have a Strategic Plan
There is a place of persistence, hard work and determination. But with these , you need to have a vision and also strategy to achieve the vision. boldness in terms of taking calculated risk in areas where we have a course to invest.
7. Give Back to Society
What makes you enjoy wealth and be happy that you are rich is how many lives you have touched when you are alive.
This is what I think we need to do; we should concentrate, and give more as God continues to bless us, we also need to pay back to society.
8. Be consistent
To be an entrepreneur and to be a visionary person, you have to be consistent, very very bold and you have to be ready to take calculated risks. Not just any risk, you have to think big, if you think small, you will always remain small in life.
So these are things you must do and must be consistent with it. When you start a business, you might have challenges on the way, in fact there must be challenges.
Like I often say, life without challenges is very very boring, so if you have challenges you just need to know how to work out or around it. You will be successful once you are consistent, what business does is for you to try something and when you have one or two challenges, you now change to another, that does not work in business.
9. Your Name is Your Most Valuable Asset
You need a very big heart, and to take quite a lot of risk, first of all, you have to be honest, you must make sure that you do not destroy your name.
Your name is very important, it is the most valuable asset you have, because if you don’t have a good name, no matter how big you are, they are not going to touch you at all.
You must make sure you have a very very good name. You also have to make sure that nothing is impossible with you, once things are possible in your mind, it means you can achieve your targeted goals. You also need a bit of luck, but hard work is key.
10. Make Your Money First
Social life and business don’t actually go together, you have to be very very serious and focused. I think it is always better to make the money first, and then you can go on and enjoy your life.
