Billionaire Nigerian businessman and President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has emerged the winner in the master category of the Ernst &Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 in the Nigeria and West African sub-region.
The feat automatically renders him eligible to contest the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the year 2012, which will be staged in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Similarly, Mr. Goodie Ibru, the president of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), was named Life achiever of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2012.
Mitchell Elegbe, the managing director of InterSwitch, won the award for the Emerging Category. He is joined by four other African in the category: Mr. Frank Adu, managing director, CAL Bank, Ghana; Adelaide Ahwireng, managing director, FIO Enterprises, Ghana; William Ato Essien, managing director, First Capital Plus; and Roland Agambire, managing director, Rig Communication.
Speaking at the award ceremony, the regional managing partner (West Africa) of the firm described the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards as “the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs.”
Only a week ago, Dangote was listed as Africa’s richest man, in the latest ranking of the continent’s billionaires and millionaires released by renowned business magazine, Forbes — an honour he was claiming for the second year running.
The 55-year-old led 39 other businessmen and top company executives across the continent — comprising 12 South Africans, 11 Nigerians, eight Egyptians, five Moroccans, an Angolan, a Tanzanian, a Ugandan and a Kenyan — with a net worth of $12bn.
“Africa is no longer big enough for Aliko Dangote, the continent’s richest man,” the Forbes report said. “His flagship company, Dangote Cement, is Africa’s largest cement manufacturer, with operations in 14 African countries. In September, Dangote revealed plans to open cement plants in Myanmar and Iraq. In October, he sold his controlling stake in Dangote Flour Mills to South African consumer goods firm Tiger Brands for $190 million.”
