grioo.com

[Pakira]

Alhaji Aliko Dangote




How you can be bigger than Aliko Dangote ...The opportunities here are so enormous

It may not be a wild assumption to say that every Nigerian has heard of his name because of the impact of his business. His products are in most homes across the country. Those who may not use his products would have passed some of his trailers by the way. He is into export, import, manufacturing, real estate and philanthropy. All these are rolled together into what is known as the Dangote Group.

At the helm of its affairs as president and Chief Executive Officer is an unassuming 48-year-old man named Aliko Dangote. The focus of his investments is food, clothing and shelter.

The Dangote Group imports 400,000 metric tonnes of sugar annually which accounts for about 70 per cent of the total requirements of the country and is a major supplier of the product to the manufacturers of Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola and Seven-Up in Nigeria. It imports 200,000 metric tonnes of rice annually just as the company imports tonnes of cement and fertilizer and building materials.
Dangote Group also imports fish and owns three big fishing trawlers chartered for fishing with a 5,000 MT capacity.
The group exports cotton, cocoa, cashew nuts, sesame seed, ginger and gum Arabic to several countries.

Beginning
Born in Kano, his grand father, the late Alhaji Sanusi Dantata provided him with a small capital to start his own business, as was the practice then. He thus started business in Kano in 1977 trading in commodities and building materials. Alhaji Aliko Dangote moved to Lagos in June 1977 and continued trading in cement and commodities. Encouraged by tremendous success and increase in business activities, he incorporated two companies in 1981. These and others that followed now make up the conglomerate known as Dangote Group.

Activities
The group today is involved in diverse forms of manufacturing with high turnover. Dangote textile and the Nigeria Textiles Mills Plc, which it acquired, produce over 120,000 meters of finished textiles daily. The group has a ginnery in Kankawa, Katsina State with a capacity of 30,000 MT of seeded cotton annually.
The sugar refinery at Apapa port, Lagos is the largest in Africa and in size the third largest in the world with an annual capacity of 700,000 tonnes of refined sugar annually. It also has another 100,000 tonne-capacity sugar mill at Hadeja in Jigawa State.

Apart from having substantial investment in the National Salt Company of Nigeria at Ota, Ogun State, the group has salt factories at Apapa and Calabar, a polypropylene bagging factory which produces required bags for its products, over 600 trailers for efficient distribution network and goods meant for export can also efficiently be transported to the ports.

A vehicle leasing unit with over 100 fully air-conditioned commuter buses, is also part of the Dangote Group. It is also into real estate with luxury flats and high rise complexes in Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Abuja and Kano. Dangote Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the group where yearly he spends millions for worthy causes such as contributions to educational and healthcare institutions, sinking of boreholes and giving of scholarships.

The Dangote Group has nationwide staff strength of 12,000 but on completion of on-going projects, it is expected to hit 22,000.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s business success may be influenced by various factors. He seems to be broad-minded. Unlike some people, his Personal Assistant is Yoruba while his Head of Corporate Affairs is a Christian from Delta State.

In this encounter, Dangote talks about his driving force in business, the factors that have kept him above his contemporaries in business, his $800 million cement factory at Obajana, Kogi State and the N14 million mega company, which he and some industrialists have set up. Perhaps above all, his patriotic stance is commendable: “If you give me today $5 billion, I will not invest any abroad, I will invest everything here in Nigeria. Let us put heads together and work.” He speaks more on many other issues.

Some wealthy Nigerians are reluctant to invest in Nigeria giving such reasons as high cost of doing business, insecurity of lives and property, dearth of infrastructure, lack of appropriate legislation and so on. What gives you total confidence in the Nigerian economy?

We actually believe quite a lot in Nigeria to start with. We believe there’s nowhere like Nigeria. Not because we are from Nigeria but because we have seen the opportunities here and the opportunities are very, very great. No doubt, Nigeria can become one of the best investment paradise but it can only be there if we Nigerians invest our money. You see, it is not easy for us to just sit down and expect foreign investors to bring their money. They must see us leading first. They have to see what we Nigerians are doing – whether we actually believe in Nigeria or not, then they will bring in their own money. Before Dangote Group, we had this same thinking. We did textile from 1989 to date yet there were some few problems with smuggling in textiles; so textile was not really a business that you can give a very good example on in Nigeria but other businesses we are doing; you know, we used to be purely a trading company apart from the textile business that we had up to 1997. It was that time that we realized that if we don’t really bring back our money and invest in Nigeria, these so-called foreigners will not really come and invest their own money. So we just decided that, okay, fine, let’s see what we have. We had a dream. We are actually now actualising our dreams. You know a lot of people, they have never really gone deep into checking whether investment is good or bad in Nigeria. It’s just a perception. They say no! no!! no!!! Armed robbery, this and that. I don’t want to go to Nigeria or maybe, no, too much hassle here and there. There’s no this, there’s no infrastructure. But when you look at the incentives, there are a lot of incentives which the government has given and I think it will be very, very unfair if we say no, government has not really done anything. Maybe, there are other things that they need to do more in terms of infrastructure but in terms of good environment to have that sort of business, fine, yes. In terms of infrastructure, yes, some of them, they are missing but then also profitability has covered part of that infrastructure.


************************************************************

le reste de l'interview:

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/ceomagazine/2005/mar/28/ceomagazine-28-03-2005-001.htm

le site du dangote-group:

http://www.dangote-group.com/
_________________
"tout nèg a nèg

ki nèg nwè ki nèg klè
ki nèg klè ki nèg nwè
tout nèg a nèg

nèg klè pè nèg nwè
nèg nwè pa lè wè nèg klè
nèg nwè ké wéy klè
senti i sa roune nèg klè
mè nèg klè ké wéy klè a toujou nèg

sa ki fèt pou nèg vin' blang?
blang té gen chivé pli long?
pou senblé yé nou trapé chivé plat kon fil mang!!!
mandé to fanm...!
mè pou kisa blang lé vin' nwè?
ha... savé ki avan vin' blan yé té ja nèg!

a nou mèm ké nou mèm dépi nânni nânnan...
chinwa soti, kouli soti, indyen soti, blang soti
mèm koté nèg soti

avan yé sotil koté y fika
AFRIKA!!!"

[Pakira]

Mike Adeniyi Adenuga



Adenuga is a phenomenal success in Nigerian economy

Mike Adeniyi Adenuga, business wizkid and owner of many thriving businesses has conquered the world at 50. When the history of Nigeria 's economy shall be written, Michael Adeniyi Ishola Adenuga, Jr.'s name shall be spelt out in gold as a man who, within 50 years of his lifetime, had become an institution.
To many, he remains a personification of a rare determination, hard work and sheer tenacity, virtues which have today made him, at 50, a symbol of stupefying success. Adenuga is a phenomenal success whose business empire sits like a colossus atop almost all the vital sectors of the Nigerian economy such as the oil industry, banking, gas and more recently, the telecommunications.

Born on April 29, 1953, Adenuga had his secondary school education at the Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan, Oyo State, before proceeding to the North-Western University in Oklahoma and Peace University, New York, both in the United States. He read business administration.
Adenuga's rise to wealth and accompanying fame reads like a titillating fairly tale. His resolve to succeed against all odds started when, while in school in America he worked as a taxi driver and security guard to sustain himself in school. By the time he returned home, there was no stopping him as he delved into business by selling removable car stereos.

At age 26, Adenuga had already become a millionaire with connections in high places. With his unique flair for taking risks and sheer tenacity of purpose, in no time he started reaping profits in billions. He owns Devcom Bank, Equatorial Trust Bank, Consolidated Oil, which carries out the process of crude oil drilling, refinery and marketing. He also has a refinery in Cote d'Ivoire.
What perhaps shot him highly into the consciousness of Nigerians recently was his foray into the telecommunications sector. With his Communications Investment Company, CIL, he was issued a conditional licence in 1999 and frequency to operate the Global System of Mobile telecommunications, GSM. The licence was later revoked by the Obasanjo administration, which faulted the entire process.

Again, when in 2002, the government through, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, organised a new auction for the GSM licence, the CIL participated and was one of the four that won the bid. He paid the $ 20 mm mandatory deposit.
However, in the process of securing the payment of the balance payment of $ 265 mm, the licence elapsed and CIL lost both the licence and $ 20 mm deposit. It was a colossal loss but Adenuga was undeterred. He later went on to bid for the Second Network Operation, SNO, and deposited another $ 20 mm. This time, he was lucky. He won the bid in August 2002 through his Globacom Limited. Incidentally, the SNO has a wider range of operations as Globacom has the right to operate as a national carrier, operate digital mobile lines, serve as international gateway for telecommunications in the country, and operate fixed wireless access phones.

The business mogul whose estate business and company shares traverse several countries in Western Europe, North America and the Middle-East, has always been a success at the risk business. In the 1980s when he acquired oil blocks through his Consolidated Oil Company as part of the Babangida administration's step to break the monopoly of foreigners in the production of crude oil in the country, Adenuga refused to toe his peers' path of selling off the oil blocks to foreign companies. He chose to engage in personal drilling against monumental pressure and the risk of failure.
That step proved a huge success. He later invested in African Petroleum, Unipetrol and National Oil and Marketing Company, NOLCHEM with another huge amount of N 7.4 bn. It later yielded him control of NOLCHEM factory sites in Apapa, Aerosol Plant in Kachia, Kaduna and the Bitumen plant in Port Harcourt.

Adenuga is reputed to be a publicity-shy person. He has more than 10,000 Nigerians in his employ. The Federal Government awarded him national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger, OON in recognition of his success in business. He also has an honorary doctorate degree from the Ogun State University.
Nanke Harry Willie, CEO of HQSC, a Lagos-based advertising and marketing outfit, and a former employee of Adenuga, describes the businessman as an icon, an avant garde and a leader of men whose sense of perseverance and hard work is an inspiration.
"He has discovered and created opportunities where many before him could only fantasise about. His creative prowess can only be compared with other world leading figures like Bill Gates, Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein, and Michael Jackson whose ground-breaking contributions in the various fields have kept the world in constant applause," he said. Adenuga, a traditional titleholder in many parts of the country, is married and has children.



Source: Newswatch

http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/company/cna32315.htm
_________________
"tout nèg a nèg

ki nèg nwè ki nèg klè
ki nèg klè ki nèg nwè
tout nèg a nèg

nèg klè pè nèg nwè
nèg nwè pa lè wè nèg klè
nèg nwè ké wéy klè
senti i sa roune nèg klè
mè nèg klè ké wéy klè a toujou nèg

sa ki fèt pou nèg vin' blang?
blang té gen chivé pli long?
pou senblé yé nou trapé chivé plat kon fil mang!!!
mandé to fanm...!
mè pou kisa blang lé vin' nwè?
ha... savé ki avan vin' blan yé té ja nèg!

a nou mèm ké nou mèm dépi nânni nânnan...
chinwa soti, kouli soti, indyen soti, blang soti
mèm koté nèg soti

avan yé sotil koté y fika
AFRIKA!!!"

[Rocs]

A real Nigerian success story

When Nigerians are asked to refer to one of their own success stories, they may point to The Dangote Group as their country’s shining enterprise. What started as a sugar import business, the company has now rounded out its assets with solid financial and manufacturing investments in the banking, textile and food industries. Its vast experience with its premiere commodity sugar has given The Dangote Group control of more than two-thirds of the domestic market. Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the president and chief executive of the Dangote Group, was born in Kano City in 1957 to a family of merchants. Following the completion of his secondary studies in his home city, Dangote attended the Al-Azahar University in Cairo. He began working with ALCO International Ltd executing contracts and trading commodities such as sugar. His grandfather, who taught him the basics of business, lent him money to start an enterprise in Lagos. From 1980, Dangote established Dangote Nigeria Ltd and Bluestar Services Co. Ltd, which began importing sugar. Other commodities such as flour, salt, milk, fish, rice, cement and iron rods would soon follow.



Cutting the competition by offering lower prices and efficient hauling Dangote improved service in delivery of his sugar by embarking on a haulage business with 600 trucks. Today, the fleet consists of 1,500 trucks and depots and 120 air conditioned buses. As the profits flourished, Dangote had been accused by some of his competitors of gaining covert government support for his transactions. Nevertheless, he says he uses traditional business methods by offering lower prices and an efficient transportation system. “It is an open market,” he said in a recent interview. “Because of the enormous investment in our business we can distribute sugar faster, cheaper and at a uniform price nationwide, which the competition cannot match.” Dangote’s surplus was used in establishing Liberty Merchant Bank and investing in the International Trust Bank. But the Group’s main focus lies within sugar refining, flour milling, salt processing, pasta production and bulk cement bagging. One of the biggest sugar refineries in the world Using the West African market as a starting point, the Dangote Group is producing and distributing sugar, pasta, flour and salt for export. In 1999 a sugar refinery was commissioned in Apapa producing more than one million metric tons annually. The goal is to reach 1.4 million metric tons by the end of 2005 under an expansion programme. The plant generates enough power to supply power through steam turbines to the Dangote Flour Mill and Cement Plants located within the Apapa Port. The Group has three flour mills in Apapa-Lagos, Kano and Calabar that have a combined annual production of one million metric tons. The Group is building another flour mill in Ilorin, which combined with the Apapa Port facility will have a milling capacity of 4,000 metric tons per day.



A leader in cement production With 40 percent of the domestic market cornered, the Dangote Group is helping the Federal Government comply with its directive to become self-sufficient in cement production by the end of 2005. Nigeria has a supply gap to the tune of eight million metric tons, which is sustained by massive cement imports. The Group has been constructing the biggest Greenfield cement processing plant in Africa in Obajana, Kogi State about 230 kilometres from Abuja. It is expected to be fully operational by the end of September 2005. The Dangote Group has all ready taken over the management of the Benue Cement Company Plc.



Sharing his success with others


A devout Muslim, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has followed his religious teachings in giving back part of his wealth through philanthropy. The Dangote Foundation has given scholarships to indigent citizens and large contributions to educational and healthcare institutions throughout Nigeria. In 1992, the then-military government bestowed the prestigious ZIK Award for leadership in recognition of his significant contribution to Nigerian business. Dangote serves on many boards including the Nigerian Investment Promossion Commission (NIPC) and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group. His brother, Alhaji Sani Dangote, who serves as vice president of The Dangote Group of companies, was recently appointed as consul general of the Nigerian Embassy in Romania.
_________________
Domine ta peur et tu seras plus fort que la mort