2027 Speakers

Aliko Dangote is the Founder, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, West Africa’s largest conglomerate. A graduate of Al-Azhar University, Cairo, he began business in 1978 trading rice, sugar and cement before moving into full-scale manufacturing. 

Dangote Group operates in 11 African countries and leads Africa’s cement market through Dangote Cement Plc, with 55Mt annual capacity. Its major subsidiaries include Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, Dangote Fertiliser, Dangote Sugar Refinery and NASCON Allied Industries. The refinery, which began producing petrol on September 15, 2024, is the world’s largest single-train refinery, with capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and an integrated petrochemical complex that currently produces 3 MMT of urea per annum. 

The refinery recently exceeded its nameplate capacity and now produces 700,000 barrels per day, with plans to double its production capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day within three years. 

The Group recently launched its Vision 2030 plan which targets an annual revenue of $100 billion by 2030 across key sectors, including agriculture. Dangote Fertiliser was commissioned on March 22, 2022, and the Dangote Petroleum Refinery on May 22, 2023. The fertiliser business is expanding urea production in Lekki, Lagos from 3 million to 12 million tonnes by 2028, with a goal to become the world’s largest producer.

A humanist and philanthropist, Dangote chairs the Aliko Dangote Foundation, which he endowed with $1.25 billion in 2014 to expand work in health, education and economic empowerment. In 2025, the Foundation donated N15 billion to ADUSTECH, Wudil, and launched a N1 trillion scholarship scheme to support 1.3 million Nigerian students over ten years. 

Dangote has received numerous national and international honours for enterprise and philanthropy. These include Nigeria’s GCON in 2011, Benin Republic’s Grand Commander of the National Order in 2013, Cameroon’s Commander of the National Order of Valour in 2021, Niger’s Commander of the Order of Merit in 2022, and Senegal’s Commander of the Order of the Lion in 2024. 

He was honoured with Nigeria’s Centenary Award in 2014 under the ‘Accomplished Contemporary Entrepreneurs’ category. He has also received honorary doctorates from several institutions, including the University of Ibadan, Coventry University, Bayero University, Ahmadu Bello University, the Nigerian Defence Academy and Nnamdi Azikiwe University. 

Other honorary doctorates include awards from Adeleke University, Crescent University, Tai Solarin University of Education, the University of Dundee, Nasarawa State University, Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma in Edo State, Kaduna State University, and recently the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Imo State. He is Chancellor of Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Wudil, and was re-appointed to the role in May 2025. 

Forbes listed Dangote among the world’s most powerful people for six consecutive years, from 2013 to 2018. In 2014, TIME named him one of the world’s 100 most influential people, and CNBC listed him among the top 25 businessmen who shaped the century. 

Between 2011 and 2024, New African Magazine named him among Africa’s 100 most influential people eleven times. Other recognitions include African Businessman of the Year by IC Publications, Bloomberg Markets’ 50 Most Influential Individuals, the 2023 Concordia Leadership Award.In May 2025, Aliko Dangote was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 15th annual Brand Africa 100 awards in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in recognition of his leadership in establishing a world-class African brand. 

According to the ranking by Forbes, Dangote has remained the richest black man in the world for the 15th consecutive year. Bloomberg, in its 2020 Billionaires list of the top 500 billionaires in the world, ranked Aliko Dangote as the richest man in Africa. In July 2026, Bloomberg estimated Aliko Dangote’s worth at $35.1 billion, making him the richest black person in the world. In July 2026, Forbes again ranked Aliko Dangote as the richest man in Africa, with an updated worth of $31.1 billion, making him the 74th wealthiest person globally and the richest black person in the world. 

Aliko Dangote serves on several global advisory bodies, including the Semafor World Economy Global Advisory Board, the UN Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative, the Clinton Global Initiative, the McKinsey Advisory Council, the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council and the Board of ONE. 

He was also named Co-chair of the US-Africa Business Center in 2016. He served on the Global Advisory Board, Harvard University for eight years. Aliko Dangote was also the Convener of the African Renaissance Retreat, held in Kigali, Rwanda in November 2025. In April 2025, Aliko Dangote was appointed into the World Bank Private Sector Investment Lab, to help drive global investment and job creation initiatives. In May 2025, the renowned humanist was named in the inaugural TIME100 Philanthropists’ list alongside other global personalities such as Michael Bloomberg, David Beckham, Oprah Winfrey and Stephen Curry. 

He is a father of 3 daughters who all work in the Group. Mr. Dangote enjoys spending time with his grandchildren whenever he is away from the office.