The World's Billionaires

His uncle lent him $500,000 to get started as a trader of rice, sugar, and cement before incorporating Dangote Group in 1981.

He first appeared on Forbes' World's Billionaires list in 2008, the same year he listed his flour business on the NSC, which is now the NGX, and the year after listing his sugar company.

Today, Dangote Group, which includes the massive single-site refinery, has over 30,000 employees and brought in $18.2 billion in revenue during 2025.

Much of the last 13-plus years and more than $20 billion has been spent getting the refinery, located in Nigeria's Leki Free Zone, about an hour outside of Lagos, up and working.