Nigerian Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and the founder and CEO of industrial conglomerate the Dangote Group, has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the world for 2014.
With a net worth estimated at over US$24bn (according to Forbes), Dangote made his billions with operations and investments in a range of industries across the continent, from cement to sugar. But he is not credited for making Time’s prestigious list for being rich.
His profile for Time, written by Bill Gates, described some of the efforts Dangote has made to eradicate viruses such as polio and other diseases.
“Aliko is Africa’s richest man, and his business activities drive economic growth across the continent. That’s impressive, but I know him best as a leader constantly in search of ways to bridge the gap between private business and public health. It’s for that reason he helped create the Nigeria Private Sector Health Alliance. And it’s for that reason he is an advocate for agricultural research and malaria control,” wrote Gates.
Other Africans to make the 2014 list of Most Influential People include Nigeria’s Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; South Africa’s Public Protector Thuli Madonsela; Uganda’s Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe and Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina, among others.
Read more at How We Made It In Africa
