Aliko Dangote recently spoke with David Piling in a Financial Times interview, 'Lunch with FT' and revealed quite a few things, in the course of the i
Aliko Dangote recently spoke with David Piling in a Financial Times interview, ‘Lunch with FT’ and revealed quite a few things, in the course of the interview, that many didn’t know about the 61 year old billionaire. Here are at least five of such things.
He is lonely and needs a wife
Dangote revealed that his schedule is inhibiting romance. The founder of Dangote Group, who is twice divorced and has three grown-up daughters, told FT that he is on the lookout for a new bride.
“I’m not getting younger. Sixty years is no joke. But it doesn’t make sense to go out and get somebody if you don’t have the time. Right now, things are really, really very busy, because we have the refinery, we have the petrochemicals, we have the fertiliser, we have the gas pipeline. But I agree that I do need to calm down a bit.
He fasts once a week
Even though he owns one of the biggest food chains in the country, Dangote actually engages in a fast, at least once a week, adding that it helps to clean your system.
He takes over 100 calls a day
As expected, Dangote has a very busy schedule and even in the midst of being busy, finds time to take over 100 calls per day. He said he was once told by Tony Blair, former British prime minister, who makes three calls a day but battles with tons of emails, “Look Aliko, the world is not going to fall apart if you don’t answer your phone.”
About his mails, he says: “You try to be polite and reply but they come back to you with a longer email, not minding that here is a very, very busy person”.
He admits like everyone else that Nigeria is tough
He has more money that many can only dream of but Aliko Dangote agrees that Nigeria is one tough place and only the toughest of the tough survive in Africa’s largest economy. This is in reference to his new refinery. He knows he is out to make new enemies. “I mean you can’t just come and remove food from their table and think they’re just going to watch you doing it. They will try all sorts of tricks. This is a very, very tough society. Only the toughest of the tough survive here”.
He still plans to buy Arsenal
Going by his antecedents, Dangote is not known to give up on his dreams, and his dreams about Arsenal Football Club worth about $2bn will not be different.
“I love Arsenal and I will definitely go for it. But that is after I am done with the headache of the refinery. When I buy it, I have to bring it up to the expectations of our supporters.”
