Business Tactics of Successful African Entrepreneurs – The Dangote Model

“The key about disruptive technology is that it really has a chance to innovate at the base of the pyramid.” Euvin Naidoo Who is Aliko Dangote? Age: 54 Net Worth: $13.8 billion – Forbes Based in Nigeria; owner of the Dangote Group which has operations in his homeland and 13 other countries in Africa, including Benin, Cameroun, Ghana, South Africa, and Zambia. Ranked by Forbes as the 51st richest person in the world; had his fortune surge 557% in 2011, making him the world’s biggest gainer in percentage terms and Africa’s richest individual. Tactics (1): Passion is Key; but Never Take Your Eyes off the Money When we look at successful people we will find that they have common traits that make them standout. They have a passion for the things they do. It is a weakness in the western world to be passionate about money. Oprah Winfrey says “What I know is that if you do work that you love, and work that fulfills you, the rest will come,” she says. “And, I truly believe, that the reason I’ve been able to be so financially successful is because my focus has never, ever for one minute been money.” Dangote sees it differently. As a young school boy, “I would go and buy cartons of sweets and I would start selling them just to make money. I was so interested in business, even at that time.” At 54, Dangote’s passion still lives strong. He says “Nigeria is really the best place to invest. It is one of the best places to make money. You know, all over the world it is the best kept secret actually in terms of investment.” Tactics (2): Fortify Your Entrepreneurial Armoury: Read, Learn & build appropriate Competencies Perhaps luck is what you need for a successful startup but you sure do need more than luck to account for 7 % of a country’s GDP. Aliko Dangote got an early business education in commodity trading with his uncle Sanusi Dangote at a time where the basic need of man was about the only need of 99 % of the population in Nigeria. Dangote soon took on an aura of an economic folk hero. He led the Dangote Group of Companies from a trading entity in 1977 to a multi billion dollars manufacturing behemoth that it is today retaining its business strategy of focusing on the provision of the basic human needs – food, shelter and clothing. Dangote has taken his manufacturing conglomerate outside the shores of Nigeria exploiting advantages in favourable government policies in terms of incentives and good working conditions. Tactics (3): Trust Your Instincts “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs. While the world is still waiting to be convinced on the attractiveness of Africa for investment, Dangote sees a different picture. Dangote says “We believe in Nigeria and that is why we are actually investing heavily…… If you have confidence in the country, you believe that Nigeria is here to stay and you believe that yes, Nigeria is a good place to invest then I don’t really see any problem in investing.” He went further to say, “if you give me $5 billion today, I will invest everything here in Nigeria.” Tactics (4): When you have a window of opportunity, go for the jugular ‘“Nothing is more critical to the Entrepreneur than the ability to recognise and exploit opportunities” -Jean Paul Lyet. Dangote Group’s goal is to dominate every sector in which it operates. Successful entrepreneurship in the African terrain has nothing to do with “fairness” or does it? About established competition in the cement industry, Dangote says “If I were the other parties, Dangote would not have been where it is today, at all. They have been here since 1956 or 1957. What have they been doing that now we are almost 5 to 6 times their size?” Tactics (5): Anything is possible through hard work, determination, a sense of vision and a pinch of luck At every opportunity, Dangote ascribes his growth, fame and phenomenal rise in the manufacturing sector to God and hard work. He says “To be successful, you have to work very hard. We thank God we have done by far more than what we anticipated. We never dreamt of becoming one per cent of what we are today. Yes, we had a big dream; I had a big dream, but I never expected we would be building a company this big.” Business Tactics of Successful African Entrepreneurs – The Dangote Model