African dawn: Meet the entrepreneurs transforming their continent

The consumer technology boom is no longer restricted to San Francisco. Monty Munford meets three African entrepreneurs who are breaking boundaries across their continent

Old-timer: Businessman Tomi Davies has worked for FTSE 100 companies in the UK, the US and Africa, as well as developing the UK government's award-winning DirectGov website

Air stewardesses in Addis Ababa are always happy to talk about their work for Ethiopian Airlines. They tell of passengers who board the aircraft and ask, "Will there be ANY food on the flight?", believing that the country's 1983-85 famine is a permanent feature of the country's existence.

Ethiopia is actually a verdant and pastoral country, but such stories highlight the misconceptions about Africa which persist in defining a continent.

Three decades on and a lot has changed. Africa is continuing to throw off its post-colonial cloak to become the world's fastest-growing group of economies.

The reason for much of this explosive growth is the mobile phone and the internet. According to analyst ABI, in 2012, 76.4 per cent of Africans owned a mobile phone. That's 821 million out of a population of more than a billion people; this mobile penetration rate almost certainly surpassed 80 per cent in 2013.

This revolution has created extraordinary things. In Kenya, a mobile money service set up in 2007, known as M-Pesa, accounted for more than 31 per cent of Kenya's GDP across more than 19 million customers by 2012.

Somaliland is an unrecognised (but democratic) country between Ethiopia and Somalia which has no banks. It survives because of an international money wire service called Dahabshiil which allows the global Somaliland diaspora to send money back to the country. It also has crystal-clear mobile coverage and a buoyant mobile sector of five operators.

Across the continent in West Africa, the cities of Lagos in Nigeria and Accra in Ghana are becoming mini-Silicon Valleys as, thanks to government support, clusters of start-up tech companies are forming and are attracting big international investment.

"Technology has enabled a new generation of creators and innovators emerging from the African continent to come up with inventive ideas that solve local problems," says Rudy De Waele, CEO and co-founder of Nyota Media, an agency for African entrepreneurs. "The tools to do so have never been more accessible and low-cost in tech history and [they have] created new possibilities for African talent to start any project of their dreams."

Africa has a long way to go to change the minds and attitudes of those who worry about starving on Ethiopian Airlines flights, but the notion of Africa as hungry is changing – as not hungry for food, but hungry for success, as these three profiles prove.

Cities including Lagos in Nigeria (pictured) and Accra in Ghana are becoming mini-Silicon Valleys (Alamy)

Jason Bossman, Ghana

Jason Bossman has a great surname. As the founder of Ghanaian mobile ad start-up AdsBrook, it might be handy when it comes to making deals.

His company is based in the country's capital, Accra, but this is not Bossman's home town; he didn't come to Ghana until he was in his late teens, after growing up in New York.

When I met him at a bar in Lagos last year, his stories of the mischief he got caught up in when young perhaps vindicates his parents' decision to take the family back to the homeland.

"My memories of growing up in Harlem have grown fuzzy over time, but I distinctly remember a few things from my childhood: the apartment buildings where we lived, blaring music from street corners, facing-off with school bullies and other criminal temptations.

"I have three brothers and sisters and our parents tried to instil in us from a young age good, solid, Christian values. The desire to bring up their kids with strong African and Christian morals would have been seriously put to the test in that particular environment – East Harlem in the late 1990s. I'm not surprised my folks decided to move us back," he says.

It must have been tough for a New York kid to leave his friends and > relocate at that age. "When we arrived in our home country, the last thing I expected was that I would grow to love the life I would eventually have over here. What did greet me, though, was a big culture shock. As used as I was to the American – no, the New York – way of living, I ruffled many feathers with my attitude, that to me was normal, everyday stuff.

"It took up to my second year of university for me to begin to appreciate the simplicity of life in Ghana and to develop what was to later become the driving force to build an advertising business through Ghana and across Africa," he says.

Bossman points to Ghana's reputation as a politically stable country as a good place to do business, but it is the strong investment support by entities such as the Accra-based Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology that is just as crucial.

They provided the $45,000 (£27,335) in start-up seed financing that gave Bossman and AdsBrook the boost needed to start a network of channels for advertisers to operate mobile and online campaigns. Founded in early 2012, the company is already making a profit and beginning to roll out outside Ghana.

"Starting a business in Ghana is ideal for a start-up, because the country is well connected to most of the key locations – but with all things being equal, good start-up companies should be able to flourish anywhere.

"For me, staying focused on the dream, and living that dream one day at a time, is mostly what has helped me out of many a daunting situation. Like many other entrepreneurs before us, we are simply trying to make a small piece of our world better, hoping that eventually our pieces of the puzzle will come together to make a whole," he says.

Hafiz Juma, Tanzania

The AIM Group in Tanzania was founded in Dar es Salaam by three siblings; Nadeem Juma, Shaista Juma and Hafiz Juma. The company initially focused on infrastructure deployments that made use of digital content such as interactive kiosks, motion-controlled projections and installations. It is now involved in a number of projects, including the Dar es Salaam International Academy and Efulusi Africa, a research and development company for mobile payment solutions.

"We are fifth-generation Tanzanians – we can trace our roots in the country to at least 1890," Juma tells me. "We are of Indian descent and make up a minority of Indian Tanzanians, who have a complicated history in themselves.

Juma studied in New York before co-founding Efulusi Africa in 2004, a company that deployed the first mobile banking platform in Tanzania. Then, in 2011, he created the AIM Group. In the past 18 months, the company has grown from a team of three to 25.

This success apart, the tech environment in Tanzania is still emerging compared to its neighbour, Kenya, which attracts money, investment and development by IT behemoths such as IBM. The company's recent launch of IBM Research-Africa, in Nairobi, is the company's 12th global laboratory and the first commercial research lab on the continent.

Juma recognises that Kenya is ahead of Tanzania in tech and economic development. "As a Tanzanian, I probably shouldn't be saying this, but we definitely face stiff competition from Kenya that has begun the process of creating a culture for innovation. It also has a much more educated working population, so you will often see Kenyans in management positions in Tanzania," he says.

But Tanzania is also putting itself on the international stage through events such as the highly influential TEDx talks that have proliferated around the world. Juma was instrumental in setting up the first TEDxDar event in 2010. "It is one of the most satisfying experiences I've ever had," he says.

"Economically, Tanzania is in a transitional space. Like everywhere else on the continent we are as caught up in the hype of 'Africa rising', it being the next hot-bed for growth, the 'final frontier' and all the rest of the conventional rhetoric about investment in the region," he concludes.

Tomi Davies, Nigeria

Tomi Davies is an old-timer. A businessman who has worked for FTSE 100 companies in the UK, the US and Africa, as well as developing the UK government's award-winning DirectGov website.

He commutes between Lagos and London, and in Nigeria he sits on the board of some of its biggest companies. He also led the Nigerian involvement in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative and invests in local start-ups.

"Nigeria has 160 million people with more than 100 million of them using mobile phones daily," he tells me. "You can see the market potential here. You cannot have a 100-million-device market with local demand that won't inspire innovation," he says.

Davies became interested in Nigeria when the military handed over power to the people in 1999, and he began a series of investments that began with comics, before catching the mobile wave and moving on to seed investment for Nigerian companies.

"About a decade ago, just after Nigeria became a democratic country again, a South African friend of mine came up with the idea of a fantasy football league comic, called Supa Strikas." The idea later blossomed into an animated series shown in 30 countries and by a Disney channel.

In 2012, Davies was also one of the co-founders of the Lagos Angel Network that was set up to provide availability of seed funding for local companies. A group of senior industry executives now invest anything from £3,500-£35,000 into start-ups in the Lagos area.

The network started out with a quarterly Dragons' Den-style pitch event, and now meets monthly for a dinner, during which companies make speed pitches and have the opportunity to meet potential investors.

Davies is also confident that the emerging Silicon Valley-style cluster of tech companies will thrive with increased government support.

"Silicon Lagoon [Lagos means lagoon] has just been given a boost by the state government with a right-of-way grant to lay fibre all around the city. This project will fuel an already indefatigable entrepreneurial tech environment," he says.

From Independent

30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs In Africa 2014

There has never been a more inspired generation of young Africans. These builders, innovators and risk takers are fervent in their resolve to transform the continent. They are solving critical socio-economic problems, exporting African culture to the world, creating job opportunities for Africans, re-telling Africa's stories, and writing the future.

Following a request I made last week, I received over 800 nominations for this year's tally of Africa's brightest young entrepreneurs under age 30. Seven of the names on this year's list were featured last year, but there are 23 new rising stars you need to watch. Since there weren't enough under-30 entrepreneurs who could meet the criteria, I included a few 30-year-olds. I present to you Africa's brightest young entrepreneurs. These are the ones who are making the most dramatic impact in Africa today in manufacturing, technology, real estate, media & entertainment, financial services, agriculture, fashion and the service industry. They are impatient to explore new possibilities and slowly but surely, they are building empires. They may be today's upstarts, but they are tomorrow's legends. Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu, Chris Kirubi and Patrice Motsepe may call the shots today, but these ones will take center stage tomorrow.

Meet the 30 prodigies transforming Africa as we speak.

Christian Ngan, Cameroonian

Founder, Madlyn Cazalis

After working in financial services in France, first as an analyst at French investment bank Quilvest Group and as an associate at Findercord in Paris, Christian Ngan returned home to Cameroon to start his own business in 2012. With $3,000 of his savings, he founded Madlyn Cazalis, an African hand-made bio cosmetic company that produces body oils, natural lotions, creams, scrubs, masks and soaps. Madlyn Cazalis products are sold and distributed across more than 30 chemist stores, beauty institutes and retail outlets in Cameroon and neighboring countries in Central Africa. The company does not reveal revenues but says it is profitable. Ngan, 30, is also founder of GoldskyPartners Advisory, a small financial advisory firm in Cameroon.

Senai Wolderufael, Ethiopian

Founder, Feed Green Ethiopia Exports Company

The 27 year-old Ethiopian entrepreneur is the founder of Feed Green Ethiopia Exports Company, an Addis Ababa-based outfit that produces and exports popular Ethiopian spice blends such as Shiro, Mitmita, Korarima and Berbere. Wolderufael founded the company in 2012 primarily to serve the needs of the Ethiopian diaspora in the United States and Europe, but as demand for Ethiopian spices increased significantly, Feed Green began exporting to new markets within Africa. The company employs only women.

Eric Kinoti, Kenyan

Founder, Shades System East Africa

The 29 year-old Kenyan is the founder of Shades System East Africa, a $1 million (annual sales) company that manufactures military and relief tents, branded gazebos, restaurant canopies, car parking shades, marquees, luxury tents, wedding party tents canvas seats and bouncing castles across the region. The company's biggest clients are non-governmental and humanitarian organizations. Based in Nairobi, Shades System exports its products to Somalia, Congo and Rwanda. The company says it is profitable and has 18 full-time employees.

Nick Kaoma, South African

Founder, Head Honcho Clothing

South Africa's own Daymond John in the making, Nick Kaoma is building an urban legend. The 28 year-old Cape Town native is the founder and creative director of Head Honcho clothing, a prominent South African lifestyle brand that designs, manufactures and markets streetwear clothing that is hugely popular among South Africa's young urban dwellers. The company's product line includes t-shirts and caps to cardigans, varsity jackets, hoodies, tank tops and female dresses.

Ronak Shah, Kenyan

Founder, Kronex Chemicals Ltd

Shah, a 26 year old Asian-Kenyan, is the founder of Kronex Chemicals Ltd, a fast-growing manufacturer of low-cost household cleaning products.  Shah founded Kronex in January 2013 and the company has two products- a dishwashing liquid and a multi-purpose detergent, both of which are gaining market share amongst Kenya's lower middle-class.

Issam Chleuh, Malian

Founder, Africa Impact Group

Issam Chleuh, a 27 year-old Malian national and former Ernst & Young Senior Associate, is the founder of the Africa Impact Group , an international organization focused on directing investment to socially and environmentally beneficial ventures, an asset class called Impact Investing. The company's services include data & research, news, advisory services, and start-up incubation. Africa Impact Group's clients include impact investors, private equity firms, family offices, leading African corporations, governments and nonprofits.

Patrick Ngowi, Tanzanian

Founder, Helvetic Group

Patrick Ngowi, 29 is the founder of Helvetic Group, a company that pioneered the supply, installation and maintenance of solar systems in Tanzania's Northern Circuit. Helvetic Solar Contractors continues to grow. Helvetic did more than $5 million in revenues in 2013 and KPMG East Africa recently valued the company at $15 million. Helvetic is also expanding into the South African region and Ngowi is gearing up to take the company to Dar es Salaam's capital markets.

Heshan de Silva, Kenyan

Founder, DSGVenCap

After dropping out from school in the United States, Heshan de Silva, 25, worked briefly for a tea exporting company owned by his parents before breaking out to start VenCap, a business that sold travel insurance bundled into long distance bus tickets. The company became profitable very quickly, grossing over $1 million in revenues within its first year and setting the pace for travel insurance for bus commuters in Kenya. He is now a venture capitalist and the founder of DSGVenCap, a company that makes seed investments in the tech, media, agribusiness and consumer industries in Kenya.

Julie Alexander Fourie, South African

Founder, iFix

At 26, Julie Alexander Fourie runs a company that employs 40 people and services more than 4,000 clients a month. Fourie is the founder of iFix, which repairs and services all Apple products and Samsung Smartphones. iFix has branches in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. Fourie started the company in 2006 from his dorm room at the University of Stellenbosch, helping colleagues and friends repaid broken and faulty iPods and computers. Satisfied friends subsequently referred other Apple product owners in search of repairs and Fourie's business took off.

Sangu Delle, Ghanaian

Founder, Golden Palm Investments

Delle, 27 is a co-founder of Golden Palm Investments, a holding company that invests in early stage venture and growth financing across Africa with a strong bias for Real Estate, healthcare, agribusiness and technology. GPI has backed startups such as Solo Mobile in Nigeria, mPharma in Ghana and Zamsolar in Zambia. He is also the co-founder of cleanacwa, a non- profit working to provide access to clean water in Ghana's underdeveloped regions. Sangu, who previously worked at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Valiant Capital Partners, is currently an MBA candidate at Harvard.

Uche Pedro, Nigerian

Founder, BellaNaija

The 29 year-old Nigerian media entrepreneur is the founder of  BellaNaija, a thriving new media company that develops online media content for African (primarily Nigerian) audiences. BellaNaija.com is Nigeria's premier lifestyle, entertainment and fashion website, and garners an average of 10 million page views every month.

Tebogo Ditshego, South African

Founder, Ditshego Media

The 29 year-old South African public relations maverick is the founder of Ditshego Media, a leading PR firm specializing in Media Relations, Investor Relations, Reputation Management and Corporate Communications. Ditshego is also the Chairman of the South African Reading Foundation.

Bankole Cardoso, Nigerian

CEO, EasyTaxi Nigeria Cardoso,

25, is the founder of the Nigerian operations of EasyTaxi, a taxi mobile App that was founded in Brazil in 2012 by German technology startup incubator, Rocket Internet GmBH. EasyTaxi serves to connect cab drivers and would-be passengers. Through the App, passengers can confirm their pickup point and then order a cab at the click of a button. EasyTaxi sends the passenger a confirmation of the name and phone number of your driver and gives passengers the option of tracking their driver and the vehicle in real- time. Before setting up EasyTaxi in Nigeria, Cardoso worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Carlyle Group in New York.

Isaac Oboth, Ugandan

Founder, Media256 Isaac Oboth,

24, is the founder and CEO of Media 256 LTD, a film and television production company in East Africa. Media 256 was founded in 2011 and has a client list that includes Coca Cola, UNDP, USAID, the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange, Marie Stopes International, the African Leadership Network, and the African Leadership Academy. The company says it is profitable and employs 7 full-time videographers and editors. Isaac is also an Anzisha Prize Fellow, a pan- African award that celebrates innovative young African entrepreneurs.

Barclay Paul, Kenyan

Founder/CEO Impact Africa Industries

The 22 year-old Kenyan is the founder of Impact Africa Industries, a company that produces low cost sanitary pads for poor women in informal settlements Kenya three years ago and he now sells the pads to as far as Uganda and South Sudan. The company is located in Kitale, a small town in Western Kenya and has 23 employees, 15 of whom are women who help in production and distribution of the sanitary pads. Paul was an Anzisha Prize Fellow in 2013.

Seth Akumani, Ghanaian

Co-founder and CEO, ClaimSync

Akumani, 30 is a co-founder of ClaimSync, an end-to- end claims processing software that enables hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities all over the world to automate patients’medical records and to process records electronically. Claimsync's solution allows these healthcare providers to easily prepare medical claims and send electronically to health insurance companies. In 2013 ClaimSync was the sole African company to participate in the high-profile, IBM, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline backed Accelerator program HealthXL in Dublin. ClaimSync was recently acquired by GenKey, a Dutch-based biometrics company.

Jonathan Liebmann, South African

Real Estate developer, CEO of Propertuity

The 29 year-old South African visionary is the Managing Director of Propertuity, a South African Real Estate development company and the brains behind the construction of the Maboneng Precinct, a thriving cultural district in the east side of Johannesburg's CBD. Once a neglected and deteriorating neighborhood housing abandoned industrial complexes, Liebmann transformed Maboneng into a vibrant urban mixed-use community complete with Art galleries, artist studios, retail spaces, offices and artist studios.

Tunde Kehinde, Nigerian

Co-founder, Jumia Nigeria

The 30 year-old Harvard MBA grad recently stepped down as co-founder of Jumia Nigeria, the country's largest online retailer. Kehinde founded Kasuwa, a Nigerian online retailer in 2012. Within days of its founding, Kasuwa received seed funding from German online startup incubator and the company's name was changed to Jumia. Kehinde resigned in January to start a logistics company.

Adii Pienaar, South African

Founder, Woothemes

Adii Pienaar, 28, is the founder of Woothemes, a company that designs and develops customizable commercial themes and plugins for WordPress. Adii built the business with a bootstrap budget, and the company today generates over $3 million in annual revenues from the sale of its themes. Woothemes also develops and sells themes for other content management systems, including Tumblr. Pienaar also runs PublicBeta, a service that allows successful entrepreneurs to transfer knowledge to new startups.

Zaheer Cassim, South African

Founder, One Way Up Productions

29 year-old South African media entrepreneur Zaheer Cassim graduated from Columbia's Journalism school and returned home to South Africa to found One Way Up Productions, a television production outfit with a client list that includes Ogilvy South Africa, Hollard Insurance, the African Leadership Academy and Hackett.

Mike Muthiga, Kenyan

Founder, Fatboy Animation

Muthiga, 26, is the founder of Fatboy Animation, a Nairobi-based animation company that produces 3 and 2 dimensional animation for both film and commercial use. FatBoy Animations has produced several viral animated commercials for Kenyan blue chips like brands such as Safaricom, Telkom Orange, Barclays Bank and Jamii Telecommunications (JTL).

Danson Muchemi, Kenyan

Founder, WebTribe

Muchemi, 29, is the founder of WebTribe Kenya, a leading IT company in Kenya with operations in online payment systems, web applications and network security. Webtribe's flagship company, Jambopay provides e-payments services for e-commerce players as well as e-ticketing services and electronic cash disbursement services. Jambopay is a recipient of the Google Innovation Awards in Financial Services for 2013.

Kunmi Otitoju, Nigerian

Founder, Minku Design

Kunmi, a 30 year-old Nigerian fashion entrepreneur is the founder of Minku Design, a company that makes leather bags for men and women by subtly blending Aso-oke fabric (a hand loomed cloth woven by Nigeria's Yoruba people), into contemporary leather bag designs. Minku also makes Yoruba-themed leather purses and jewelry. All Minku Design's products are hand-made at a workshop in Barcelona, Spain, but they are sold at high-end stores in Nigeria and on the company's website.

Mazen Helmy, Egyptian

Founder, The District

27 year-old Mazen Helmy is the founder of The District, one of the first co-working spaces in Egypt and one of the few in the region.  The District provides an inspiring workspace (sitting on a total area of almost 1000 square meters) for entrepreneurs and freelancers. Helmy founded the company in 2011.

Khaled Shady, Egyptian

Founder, Mubser

The 22 year-old Egyptian entrepreneur is the founder of Mubser, a new assistive tool for blind people. Mubser, which will be launched officially in March 2014, is a wearable belt with a Bluetooth-connected headset that leverages RGB imaging and infrared dept data captured by a 3D depth camera that allows blind and visually impaired people to navigate around in a safe and easy way. The device recognizes object and obstacles such as staircases and chairs.

Joel Mwale, Kenyan

Founder, Skydrop Enterprises

Mwale who is now 21 years old founded SkyDrop Enterprises, a rainwater filtration and bottling company which produces low-cost purified drinking water, milk and other dairy products in Kenya. In 2012, Mwale sold a 60% stake in Skydrop to an Israeli firm for $500,000. Next stop: Education. Last year Mwale founded Gigavia, an educational social networking website.

Lorna Rutto, Kenyan

Founder, Ecopost Kenya In 2010,

Lorna Rutto, 28, founded Ecopost, a Kenyan company that collects consumer plastic waste such as polypropylene and polyethylene and converts them into durable, easy to use and environmentally friendly plastic lumber, an eco-friendly alternative to timber which is used to manufacture fencing posts.

Ashley Uys, South African

Founder, Medical Diagnostech

Ashley Uys, 30, founded Medical Diagnostech which develops and markets affordable and reliable medical test kits for malaria, pregnancy, syphilis, malaria, HIV/ Aids for South Africa's rural poor. Uys is a recipient of the South African Breweries $100,000 Annual Social Innovation Awards.

Kimiti Wanjaria, Kenyan

Founders, Serene Valley Properties

Kimiti Wanjaria, 30, is a co-founder of Serene Valley Properties (SVP), a Real Estate development company in Nairobi that constructs and sells residential properties to Kenya's ever-growing middle class. SVP is behind the development of Sigona Valley project, a $4 million gated residential community outside Nairobi.

Arthur Zang, Cameroonian

Founder, Cardiopad

Zang,  a 26 year-old Cameroonian Engineer is the inventor of the Cardiopad, a touch screen medical tablet that enables heart examinations such as the electrocardiogram (ECG) to be performed at remote, rural locations while the results of the test are transferred wirelessly to specialists who can interpret them. The device spares African patients living in remote areas the trouble of having to travel to urban centers to seek medical examinations. Zang is the founder of Himore Medical Equipments, the company that owns the rights to the Cardiopad.

From Forbes

Aliko Dangote: A lesson for African entrepreneurs

“I built a conglomerate and emerged the richest black man in the world in 2008 but it didn't happen overnight. It took me 30 years to get to where I am today. Youths of today aspire to be like me but they want to achieve it overnight. It's not going to work. To build a successful business, you must start small and dream big. In the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is supreme." - Aliko Dangote

Alhaji Aliko Dangote represents what African businessmen should be. He is an example for aspiring entrepreneurs across the continent. Start small, aim very high, identify and take advantage of opportunities. Do not be discouraged by challenges.   Give, and give generously to help others make progress.

That was how Aliko Dangote, who started out as a trader of commodities, became Africa's leading businessman, with companies in 16 countries, employing over 10,000 people. In the process, he became the richest African and black man on the planet, with a personal fortune of $25 billion. It is this feat that makes him eminently qualified, and deservingly recognised as the Vanguard Newspaper African Personality of the Year.

Born with the Midas touch

When on 10th of April 1957, a male child was born in Kano; little was heard or known of the child. Like Shakespeare wrote in one of his epic books, Julius Caesar, ‘when beggars die there are no comets seen but the heavens themselves blaze the death of Princes'. In some dynasties and royalties, when kings are born, they are celebrated.

That was not the case in Kano when Aliko Dangote was born. He was just like any other child. He, like other children, learnt to crawl, walk and run. He cried like others but at school, he was focused on what he chose to do.

He probably discovered his destiny early enough and keyed into it. In his words:“I can remember when I was in primary school, I would go and buy cartons of sweets (sugar boxes) and I would start selling them just to make money. I was so interested in business, even at that time.”Dangote, right from when he was young had his eyes on business.

He had always, as all real entrepreneurs do, seen opportunities where others see high risk and failure. In an atmosphere of difficulty, when others would have given up, he took the risk. He is known for taking great risks in a highly risky environment.

He has grown to have a Midas touch in every business he ventured into. He started as a commodity trader, he made success of it, he entered into sugar refining, and he made success of it. He set up cement manufacturing; he has made a huge success of it.

Now he is venturing into petroleum product refining. His hard work has set him apart to the envy of his detractors who only see him as a beneficiary of government waiver and concession. But there are others who have had the same benefit but could not make anything tangible from it.

That has brought success to him, his family, state and his country. He has invested in the various sectors of the Nigerian economy and across the African continent thus creating millions of direct and indirect jobs in the continent of Africa. He has become a business colossus that bestrides the global business environment, making him the richest African today.

Undeterred by Risks & Uncertainties

In one of the articles written by Jonathan Berman in Harvard Business review entitled; American CEOs should Stop Complaining about Uncertainty, he wrote how uncertainty has not deterred Aliko Dangote from investing in Nigeria and across Africa. In the write-up, Barman said:“This month, the chief executive officers of America's biggest companies went on a media blitz to decry the uncertainty caused by the fiscal cliff. In such uncertain times, they say, they are hesitant to invest in the US economy.

I departed Washington in the midst of these rumblings to attend a forum of Africa's leading CEOs. Here's a quick sample of the scheduled participants: Aliko Dangote, CEO of Dangote Cement. He's building a $2 billion fertilizer plant in his native Nigeria. He recently announced the next two growth markets for sizeable investment by his group are Iraq and Myanmar.

"For Dangote and many other executives in frontier markets, uncertainty is not the inhibitor of opportunity. It is the condition in which opportunity arises. That is a reasonable perspective to look for in American CEOs as well." The moving force behind private enterprise all over the world is what Adam Smith described as the invisible hand that allocates resources in the most uncertain environment.

It is real entrepreneurs that see opportunity in very risky areas, yet go in there with the hope of making profit. Business is about taking risk and any local entrepreneur that is not ready to take risk is not a genuine businessman. Dangote saw opportunities in the very uncertain and tough business environment in Nigeria. From trading in rice, sugar and other commodities, he veered into manufacturing in an environment many foreign and local investors see as very risky.

Alhaji   Aliko Dangote's business empire is estimated at a net worth of $20.8 billion as of November 2013 spanning interests in commodities with operations in Nigeria and several other countries in Africa , including Benin, Cameroon, Togo, Ghana, South Africa and Zambia. Dangote in 2013 was ranked by Forbes Magazine   as the 43rd richest person in the world and the richest man in Africa based on his investment and the listing of his companies’interest at the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Taking some of his companies to the exchange has given other Nigerians opportunities to share in his success and has shown that he operates his companies in an open manner.

Early life

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, a northerner, precisely from Kano State, Nigeria, was born on the 10th of April 1957 into a wealthy Muslim family. He studied Business at the Al-Azhar University   in Cairo, Egypt   and thereafter returned to Nigeria to borrow from his uncle, Sanusi Abdulkadir Dantata. The uncle (Dantata) eventually gave him a loan of N500,000 when he was just 21 years old to start his own business. Business career The Dangote Group which started as a small trading firm was established in the year 1977. Today, it is a multi-trillion naira conglomerate with many of its operations in Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo. At present, Dangote has enlarged his line of businesses to also cover food processing, cement manufacturing and freight. The Dangote Group also dominates the sugar and cement markets in Nigeria and is a major sugar supplier to Nigeria's soft drink companies, breweries , and confectioners.

The Dangote Group has also moved from being a trading company to being the largest industrial group in Nigeria and the group includes: Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Cement and Dangote Flour   just to mention but a few. He plans to set up the largest petroleum product refinning facility in Nigeria.

In the month of July 2012, he approached the Nigerian Ports Authority with the idea of leasing an abandoned piece of land at the Apapa Port, which was welcomed and approved. He later went to build facilities for his flour company there. In the 90's, he approached the Central Bank of Nigeria with a proposal that it would be cheaper for the bank to allow his transport company manage their fleet of staff buses which was also approved.

He owns the Obajana Cement plant which is the largest cement manufacturing facility in Africa. Apart from these, Dangote Group owns salt factories and flour mills and also a major importer of rice, fish, pasta and fertilizer. The company exports cotton, cashew nuts, cocoa, sesame seed and ginger to several countries. It also has major investments in real estate, banking, transport, textiles and oil and gas.

The company employs over 11,000 people and is the largest industrial conglomerate in the whole of West Africa. Dangote is also exploring the telecommunications sector and has started building 14,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables to supply the whole of Nigeria and as a result, he was honoured in January 2009 as the leading provider of employment in the Nigerian construction industry.

Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, continues to expand his publicly traded Dangote Cement across the continent, announcing plans to build new plants in Kenya and Niger. With operations in about eight countries, it is the largest cement manufacturer in sub-Sahara Africa.

In May 2013, Dangote said he would build a $9 billion oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Nigeria. When completed, it will be Nigeria's first and Africa's largest petroleum refinery.

His words;“As an investor who believes in Nigeria, knows Nigeria well and whose prosperity was made in Nigeria, we have responded to the challenge with our decision to invest $9 billion in a refinery/ petrochemical and fertilizer complex to be located at the OKLNG Free Trade Zone. This complex will be the largest industrial complex project ever in the history of our great nation.

On the 14th of November, 2011, Dangote was awarded a National Honour, Nigeria's second highest honour, Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger   (GCON ) by the President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan .

Apart from his business acumen, he is also a philanthropist who has collaborated with American billionaire, Bill Gates Foundation to invest in the provision of health especially the eradication of polio in Africa and other parts of the world where the disease is still prevalent.

The DANGOTE Group consists of:

Dangote Cement Plc

Dangote Sugar Refinery  Plc

Dangote Flour Mills Plc 

Dangote Pasta Plant Limited

Dangote Agro Sacks Limited

Prayer Mats Production

Dangote Salt Plc

Ports Operations

Haulage

Steel Production

Dangote Foods Limited

Real Estate

Telecommunications

Oil Refinery, Petrochemicals and Fertilisers

The Philanthropic side of Dangote

To underscore his belief in giving back to the society, Aliko Dangote, through his Dangote Foundation, has over the years committed a lot of his resources into philanthropic activities.

The Dangote Foundation which was set up in 1994 is the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of Dangote Group.  The Foundation intervenes in the areas of health, education and empowerment. The Foundation is also involved in providing humanitarian aid to victims of natural disasters. It has contributed over $100 million (about N16 billion) in charitable funds to several causes in Nigeria and Africa over the past four years.

Dangote recently announced plans to endow the Foundation with N200 billion ($1.25 billion). He said the endowment would come from personal contributions as well as shares of his publicly quoted companies, which would be transferred to the Foundation for onward disbursement to beneficiaries. He added that this will ensure that the Foundation has secure and steady funding to carry out its mission as we significantly scale up our work.

Board of Trustees of the Foundation include Dangote as Chairman; his brother, Sani; his daughter, Halima Aliko Dangote; Chief Operating Officer, Dangote Industries Limited, Olakunle Alake; A.B Mahmoud (SAN); former Group Managing Director/ CEO, Access Bank Plc, Aigboje Aig- Imoukhuede; wife of the former Ekiti State Governor, Angela Adebayo; wife of the former Managing Director/CEO Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Hajara Adeola; and Group Chief Executive Officer, Renaissance Capital West Africa, Mrs. Yvonne Ike-Fasinro.

SOME OF DANGOTE'S CSR INTERVENTIONS:

$500,000 to boost UNICEF's fight against measles

The Dangote Foundation contributed $500,000 (N79.15 million) through the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to support the Federal Government's response to recent measles outbreak that affected many states in Nigeria. The donation was announced on April 12, 2013 in Lagos during a visit to the office of the Chairman of Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote, by a delegation of the UNICEF led by the Country Representative, Ms. Jean Gough. Gough lauded Dangote Foundation saying:“Public- Private sector interventions such as these in the health sector and other sectors such as water and early childhood development are the way forward for Nigeria to improve the well-being of Nigerian children.”The grant is a major contribution to government's fight against measles which is among the leading causes of child deaths in Nigeria, especially in areas where immunization coverage is low.

The grant from Dangote Foundation, Ms. Gough pointed out, will support the measles campaign of the government through its Ministry of Health and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).   Dangote said the issue of health and safe living was a core responsibility in the discharge of the corporate social responsibility of the Foundation pointing out that“we have a common synergy with UNICEF in the areas of health, education and nutrition and we hope that our efforts will encourage more private sector operators to engage with ongoing efforts to improve the well-being of Nigerians.”

$6.4m to International Cancer Centre Abuja (ICCA)

Dangote Foundation made a donation of $6.4 million towards building a world class International Cancer Centre in Abuja, in 2009. The donation is to strengthen the fight against the disease.  The International Cancer Centre Abuja (ICCA) was initiated by Dr. Hajiya Turai Umaru Yar’Adua, former First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as a non- governmental humanitarian project devoted to training, research and diagnosis of various forms of cancer. It is intended to be a one-stop centre, providing a comprehensive range of high quality, holistic and cost effective treatment for cancer patients in sub- Saharan Africa. The centre will actively engage in research geared towards prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Education and public awareness programmes will be employed as tools for cancer control and prevention.

Donates dialysis machines to Lagos General Hospital

Dangote Foundation, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Victoria Island, donated two dialysis machines to the Dialysis Centre of the Lagos General Hospital, Marina, in April 2010, to facilitate treatment of patients with acute and chronic kidney disease. In addition, the Foundation provides all the consumables used for the treatment. This has drastically reduced the treatment charges on the patients.“The machines have been of utmost importance and inestimable benefits to the patients who come from far and near to receive medical support. The machines have been very useful serving both the acute and chronic kidney patients.”– Dr. Sade Soyinka, Dialysis Centre at Lagos General Hospital, Marina, Lagos

$ 2.6m to flood victims & women in Kogi

President/Chief Executive, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, on October 5, 2012, announced a donation of $2.6 million (N430 million) to victims of the flood disaster and for women empowerment in Kogi State. At a ceremony attended by top government functionaries in the state capital, Lokoja, Dangote said the contribution which is given through his Dangote Foundation is meant to complement the efforts of the government in providing relief materials to the victims and in resettling them as soon as possible. Dangote who gave out $312,500 (N50 million) worth of foodstuff and relief materials, and $937,000 (N150 million) in cash, also said $1.4 million (N230 million) would be distributed to 1,000 women in each of the 21 local government areas of the state to boost economic activities.

In his speech entitled: Lending a Helping Hand,”Dangote said, he was touched by the pain the victims were passing through, noting that the flood has led to loss of lives and property and may cause outbreak of epidemic.“Obviously, the government alone cannot shoulder this onerous responsibility of bringing relief to the victims,”he said.

Partners Bank of Industry (BOI) to boost job creation

Dangote Foundation and the Bank of Industry (BOI) signed a partnership deal that will create direct employment for one million Nigerians over the next few years, on March 7, 2011 in Lagos.

The partners announced the funds release of $32 million in the first tranche, which is expected to grow up to $128 million eventually.

Dangote Foundation committed $16 million to the fund, while BOI also contributed a matching fund of $16 million, thus creating a total fund of $32 million to launch the fund. The fund would be used for lending to groups in the informal sector of the economy, as take off or working capital to support their businesses.

The Dangote component of the fund attracts zero interest, while that of BOI is 5 per cent. This is expected to impact directly on up to 13,000 registered groups in the entire country, each with an average of 20 entrepreneurs, thus impacting the lives of up to 250,000 micro-entrepreneurs, through job creation, spreading across all six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. The project is first of its kind in the country.

Some beneficiaries of the Dangote/BOI partnership:

Ken Baxton Limited: Secured about N19 million ($118,012) loan from Dangote/BOI intervention fund at five per cent interest rate.

Stallion (Ikeja) Cooperative Multi-purpose Society Ltd: Secured a N4.8 million ($29,813) loan under the Dangote/ BOI Fund with just 5 per cent interest rate.

Afriks Vegetable Oil Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, Kano State: Secured a N5.1 million ($31,677) Dangote/BOI loan which has enabled it to expand its operations.

Kudenda Thure Multi-purpose Cooperative Society: Secured N5.25 million ($32,609) loan which has enabled it to employ more hands to run two production shifts.

Geese (Ikeja) Cooperative Society Limited: Secured N7.5 million ($46,584) loan at 5 per cent interest.

Wahabiyya Vegetable Oil and Cold Room: Secured N5.28 million ($32,795) loans under the Dangote/ BOI Fund.

From Vanguard

10 Successful African Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

Only a tiny handful of Africa's most successful entrepreneurs and business leaders have embraced Twitter, using the micro blogging platform to share business advice, personal experiences, news updates, opinions and lunch pictures; but mostly words of wisdom.

These 10 Tweeters are all highly accomplished African entrepreneurs. Follow them, retweet them, and learn from their wisdom.

Strive Masiyiwa Twitter handle: @StriveMasiyiwa

Strive Masiyiwa is the founder of Econet Wireless, a leading mobile telecommunications service provider in Africa. Masiyiwa is also a co-founder of the Carbon War Room, which accelerates the adoption of business solutions that reduce carbon emissions at gigaton scale and advance the low-carbon economy. Masiyiwa ranked 32nd on the latest FORBES list of the 50 Richest Africans with a fortune estimated at $600 million. Masiyiwa tweets a lot about how to attain success in business and in life. He also tweets about the importance of ethics in business.

Tony Elumelu Twitter handle: @TonyOElumelu

The Africapitalist. Elumelu acquired a floundering Nigerian commercial bank and transformed it into UBA Group, a large Pan-African financial services behemoth spanning 20 African countries. Through his Tony Elumelu Foundation, he grooms Africa's next generation of business leaders. Among other things, Elumelu muses on Twitter about Africa's infrastructural challenges and his plans to fix them. He also shares news stories relating to African business, suggests books to read on investment and development and once in a while delivers tips on how to succeed in business and in life.

Ashish J. Thakkar Twitter handle: @AshishJThakkar

The 32 year-old entrepreneur is the founder of Mara Group, a Pan-African conglomerate with interests in internet, telecom and communications, property, manufacturing and finance. Thakkar regularly tweets links to Africa-focused news articles.

Vimal Shah Twitter handle: @VimalAfrica

Vimal Shah of Kenya is CEO of Bidco Oil Refineries, the largest manufacturer of edible oils in the East African region. He shares with his father and brother a fortune that Forbes pegs at $1.6 billion. Shah tweets a lot of inspirational quotes from successful philosophers, thinkers and business leaders.

Chris Kirubi Twiter handle: @CKirubi

Kirubi is the founder of Tiger Haco Industries, Kenya's leading producer of fast moving consumer goods. He also co-owns  and is the largest controlling shareholder in private equity firm Centum. He takes to Twitter to share important Kenyan news, success and life lessons with Kenya’s young folk and muse about socio-political affairs in the country.

Reginald Mengi Twitter handle: @regmengi

Mengi is the founder of IPP Group, Tanzania's largest media conglomerate. He tweets mostly in Swahili, commenting on issues of socio-political relevance in Tanzania and condemning corruption, which apparently is on the rise in the East African country.

Kola Aluko Twitter handle: @KolaAluko

Aluko is a cofounder of Atlantic Energy, a Nigerian oil exploration company. He is also a cofounder of the Made In Africa Foundation, which raises funds for infrastructure investments in Africa. He shares news articles and opinion pieces relating to African infrastructure.

Mohammed Dewji Twitter handle: @moodewji

Dewji is the CEO of Tanzania's METL, a leading conglomerate with interests in manufacturing and distribution. He takes to Twitter to tweet business success quotes, links to stories about African business and comments about Tanzania's economy and politics.

Njeri Rionge Twitter handle: @njeririonge

Njeri Rionge is one of Kenya's most successful businesswomen. She is a cofounder of Wananchi Group, an Internet service provider which has gone on to become East Africa's leading cable, broadband and IP (Internet-based) Phone Company. She tweets a lot about Christian spirituality and management success.

Heshan de Silva Twitter handle: @HeshdeSilva

The 25 year-old Kenyan venture capitalist is the founder of DSGVenCap, a firm that makes seed investments in the tech, media, agribusiness, consumer and hospitality industries. Heshan shares business success tips and personal advice, mostly geared towards Kenya's young folk.

From Forbes