LONDON (Reuters) - Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote's new fertiliser plant near Lagos will export its first shipment in late June or early July, to Louisiana, while the majority of exports from the plant are expected to go to Brazil, Dangote said on Tuesday.
The new urea plant at the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos State, designed to manufacture 3 million tonnes of urea per year, will also be able to supply all the major markets in sub-Saharan Africa, Dangote told a virtual economic forum hosted by Qatar.
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon, editing by Louise Heavens)
Aliko Dangote, MFR, GCON (born 10 April 1957, Kano, Nigeria) is a business magnate in Nigeria. who owns the Dangote Group, which has interests in commodities. The company operates in Nigeria and several other countries in Africa, including Benin, Cameroon, Togo, Ghana, South Africa and Zambia. As of March 2014, he had an estimated net worth of $25 billion USD . He surpassed Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi in 2013 by over $2.6 billion to become the world's richest man of African origin.
Early life
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, a northerner from Kano State, Nigeria, was born on 10 April 1957 into a wealthy Muslim family.
From the time he was young Dangote had an eye on business. He said, "I can remember when I was in primary school, I would go and buy cartons of sweets [sugar boxes] and I would start selling them just to make money. I was so interested in business, even at that time." He studied business at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt and thereafter returned to Nigeria to borrow from his uncle Sanusi Abdulkadir Dantata, who provided him a loan of ₦500,000 (Naira, NGN) when Aliko was 21 years old, in order to start a business. Dangote later denied these rumours.
On 14 November 2011, Dangote was awarded Nigeria's second highest honour, Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) by the President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan.
Dangote reportedly added $9.2 billion to his personal wealth in 2013, according to the Bloomberg Index, now making him the 30th richest person in the world in their ranking, in addition to being the richest person in Africa.
In 2014, the Nigerian government said Dangote had donated 150 million Naira (US$1 million) to halt the spread of ebola.>
| Linked companies | |
|---|---|
Dangote Group Ltd.
 Dangote Group Ltd. Construction MaterialsNon-Energy Minerals Dangote Group Ltd. operates as a holding company with interests in diversified businesses. It engages in cement and sugar production, production of consumer products and poly products; logistics and real estate activities. The firm’s brands include Dangote Sugar, Dangote Salt, Petit Tomato Paste, Dangote Cement, Dangote Sacks, Danvita, Dangote Macaroni, Mowa Water, Dangote Flour, Dangote Spaghetti, Ziza Milk, Dansa Juice, and Dangote Noodles. The company was founded by Aliko Dangote in May 1981 and is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria.^ | Chief Executive Officer |
| DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC | Chairman |
