Advisory Council

Aliko Dangote GCON

Aliko Dangote is the Founder, President and Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, the largest conglomerate in West Africa, based in Nigeria. The Group, which has subsidiaries that cut across cement production, sugar refining and flour milling, is present in 17 other African countries. It has also diversified into other sectors including agriculture and energy, and is building the largest refinery, petrochemical and fertiliser complex in Africa. One of the Group’s subsidiaries, Dangote Cement Plc, is the largest listed company in West Africa and the first Nigerian company to join the Forbes Global 2000 Companies list. The Group is the second largest employer of labour in Nigeria outside the federal government.

Mr Dangote sits on the board of the Corporate Council on Africa, and is a member of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative, the Clinton Global Initiative, the McKinsey Advisory Council, and the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum. He was named Co-chair of the US-Africa Business Center, in September 2016, by the US Chamber of Commerce. In April 2017, he joined the Board of Directors of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, which helps countries build the systems necessary to provide health services to their people. A dedicated philanthropist, Mr Dangote made an initial endowment of $1.25bn to the Aliko Dangote Foundation in March 2014, enabling it to scale up its work in health, education and economic empowerment. In addition, he is collaborating with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fight polio. He is also on the Board of ONE, the anti-poverty group co-founded by Bono. Mr Dangote holds a Business Studies degree from Al-Azhar University Cairo, Egypt.