Aliko Dangote, the richest African – as ranked by Forbes Magazine, celebrates his 62nd birthday today, The Nation listed some facts that many admirers of the wealthiest persons alive.
1. Aliko Dangote has survived three plane crashes in his lifetime. One was in London in 1983, which left the pilot dead and co-pilot paralysed. He survived another crash in 1996 that killed his brother and another in Angola in 2008.
2. He was exposed to the entrepreneurial spirit at a young age. From as early as when he was in primary school, he would bring a carton of sweets to sell to his peers for profit making.
3. He fell in love and proposed to the woman of his dreams, Nafisat Yar’Adua (daughter of late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua) but was turned down.
4. Dangote declared in an interview in 2010 that he had intentions of buying Arsenal club in 2020.
5. His company, Dangote cement, is the largest cement production company in Africa with production capacity of 20M tons per year.
6. Aliko Dangote has retained his position as the richest man in Africa for eight years straight.
7. Back in 1977, he took a loan of N500, 000 from his uncle to start his own business.
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