ALIKO DANGOTE

Aliko Dangote, the billionaire, was born on April 10, 1957, in Kano, Nigeria. He is the richest person of color in the world and the first of the richest people in Africa. A young Nigerian businessman borrowed $3,500 from his uncle when he turned 21 to import and sell agricultural items in his own country. As the firm grew in popularity, this potential entrepreneur proceeded to construct cement plants. Mr. Dangote's enterprises are currently operating in Senegal, Tanzania, Cameroon, Zambia, Congo, Ethiopia, and South Africa, with plans to expand to more African nations.

In addition, this billionaire invests in the oil business, manufactures trucks and automobiles, and controls the world's third-biggest sugar mill. Many of his businesses account for a fourth of the Nigerian Stock Exchange's market value. Aliko Dangote is the only businessman in Nigeria to have achieved such great success from a purely manufacturing business, rather than from the service sector, where companies like Mobile phone founder Mike Adenuga Globacom (with a total asset value of $2.8 billion) or emerging giants primarily make money from high-tech digitization services.

Net worth: $13.9 billion

Industry:Manufacturing

Country: Nigeria