Dangote named among greatest leaders on Earth…global leaders laud his public spirit
Foremost philanthropist and richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote has been rated 11th of the 50 World’ Greatest leaders for 2019
LAGOS,
Nigeria, May 21, 2019/ — The rating carried out by the Fortune
Magazine, an American multinational business magazine headquartered in
New York City, United States was released recently and focused mainly on
the businesses run by the men and how they have used it to impact their
society positively.
The time-tested magazine, which first
edition was published in February 1930, said the world’s greatest
leaders both men and women are transforming the world and inspiring
others to do so in business, government, philanthropy and the arts.
“These
thinkers, speakers, and doers make bold choices and take big risks- and
move others to do the same”, the magazine declared.
This is the
first time Fortune magazine is recognizing and including Aliko Dangote
in the annual ranking. Specifically, Dangote having popped up in the
magazine’s radar earned nomination after being adjudged as having used
business to acquire wealth and who is now converting his wealth into
impactful philanthropy through his Aliko Dangote Foundation.
The
top 10 greatest men and women, according to Fortune are: Bill and
Melinda Gates, Jacinda Ardem (Prime Minister, New Zealand), Robert
Mueller (Special Counsel, Department of Justice), Pony Ma (Founder and
CEO, Tencent), Satya Nadella (CEO, Microsoft), Greta Thunberg (Student
and climate activist, Sweden), Margrethe Vestager (Commissioner for
Competition, European Union), Anna Nimiriano (Editor-in-Chief, Juba
Monitor), Jose Andres (Chef/Founder, World Central Kitchen), and Dough
Mcmillon and Lisa Woods (CEO; Senior Director, Strategy & Design for
U.S. Benefits, Walmart).
The ranking of Dangote as one of the
greatest business leaders has attracted comments by eminent persons
around the world who described him as worthy of the nomination going by
his business acumen and philanthropic gestures.
Global business
giant and founder of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Bill Gate
extolled the efforts of Dangote in making businesses play roles in
provision of sound public health through his various interventions in
health care issues especially in the fight against malnutrition and
routine polio.
Gates, who himself was ranked along with Dangote,
said “Aliko Dangote, through his leadership at the Aliko Dangote
Foundation, is a key partner in the Polio eradication effort,
strengthening routine immunisation and fighting malnutrition in Nigeria
and across Africa. Aliko bridges the gap between private business and
public health in a unique way and our shared belief that Nigeria will
thrive when every Nigerian is able to thrive drives our partnership.”
Renowned
activist and co-founder of ONE, Paul David Hewson, popularly called Mr.
Bono said he was not surprised at Mr. Dangote’s feat globally, saying
his vision is as big as the African continent.
Bono, a global
campaigner on taking action to end extreme poverty especially in Africa
said: “Aliko has a vision just the size of his continent, but with
humility of somebody who has just started his first job. It’s no
surprise to me that Fortune would recognise his leadership because we
have seen first-hand, through his service on ONE’s Board, the benefits
of his wise counsel and grace.”
Also, the popular Economic
analyst, Mr. Bismark Rewane stated that “Aliko remains understated but
very potent and Africa’s most successful and decorated entrepreneur. He
is a global financial and managerial behemoth.”
Dangote as the
Africa’s richest – worth $16.4 billion, according to Bloomberg – and the
four publicly traded companies under the umbrella of his Dangote
Industries now account for about a third of the value of the Nigerian
stock exchange.
That wealth is based on a big bet on Nigeria’s
economic independence: Dangote’s peers give him credit for helping the
country become self-sufficient in the sectors in which his companies
compete (cement, agriculture and mining).
The Aliko Dangote
Foundation (ADF) is the Philanthropic endeavor of Aliko Dangote. The
main objective of the Foundation is to reduce the number of lives lost
to malnutrition and disease.
The Foundation is poised to combat
Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in children, as the core of its
programming. It has also resolved to use its investments in health,
education, and economic empowerment to help lift people out of poverty.
It
would be recalled that Dangote was last year ranked among 75 most
powerful persons on the planet, ahead of the Vice-President of the
United States of America, Mike Pence.
Aliko Dangote has been
named among most powerful persons in the world for the past five
consecutive years. According to the Forbe’s 2018 ranking of the World
Powerful people, Dangote ranked among world leaders like Xi Jinping, the
Chinese President, Vladimir Putin the Russian President and Donald
Trump, the President of the US, all of whom were ranked first, second
and third respectively.
He was the only Nigerian on the list and
one of the only two Africans who made the list with the other being the
Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who was ranked 45thmost
powerful.
In the same vein, he was named among the 100 most
influential personalities in the world in 2018 by Time Magazine, leading
business broadcast organisation. The CNBC had earlier in same year
ranked Dangote as one of the 25 people which have had most profound
impact on business and finance worldwide.
He was rated the most
influential African by Jeune Afrique in their classification of the most
influential 50 Africans in 2018, and was also named the 6th most
charitable person in the world in the same year according to Richtopia, a
United Kingdom-based digital platform. He is, in addition, the richest
African, according to Forbes.
Dangote stepped up his humanitarian
activities recently spending billions of Naira to build hospitals and
critical hospital equipment, the lack of which has forced Nigerians of
means to seek medical attention abroad.
He also donated a N1.2
billion Business School complex to Bayero University in Kano and another
one for the University of Ibadan Business School. Last month he donated
10 blocks of hall of students’ hostel that can accommodate 2,160 beds
to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna state.
The business
mogul has continued through the Foundation by disbursing N10 billion to
vulnerable women across the 774 local governments in the country.
Dangote
made a donation of $2 million to the World Food Programme as part of
efforts to help Pakistani nationals devastated by floods in the year
2010.
Aliko Dangote was made the chairperson of the Presidential
Committee on Flood Relief, which raised in excess of N11.35 billion, of
which Dangote himself contributed N2.5 billion, an amount higher than
the entire contribution from the 36 state governors in Nigeria.
So
far, the Foundation has spent over N7 billion in the troubled North
Eastern part of Nigeria to see that the Internally Displaced Persons as a
result of the activities of insurgents, are re-integrated back to the
bigger society.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Dangote Group.