President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, at the weekend, emerged the 71st most powerful person in the world.
He was rated among the 100 most powerful people in the world by Forbes magazine.
Apart from US President Barack Obama, Dangote was the only black person who made the list.
At 71 on the list, he was just above the top Republican Party contender for the US presidency Donald Trump, who was listed at number 72.
President of Egypt Abdel el-Sisi, was the only other African listed apart from Dangote, and he was placed at number 49, after defiant North Korean leader, Kin Jong-un, who was placed at number 46, while Igor Sechin of Rosneft and Ma Huateng were placed at 47 and 48 respectively.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, clinched the number one spot, followed by the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, who was placed second, ahead of Obama, who emerged at the third position.
The list had other powerful people like Pope Francis occupying the fourth position while the Chinese Prime Minister, Xi Jinping, was number five on the list.
The world’s richest men, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet were placed at number six and 13 respectively, while Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) placed 23rd on the list.
Last month, Dangote was named among the 50 most influential personalities in the world by renowned United States-based news media with bias for business and financial news reporting, Bloomberg.
The group of personalities chosen by the Bloomberg Market, consisted of CEOs, world leaders as well as religious leaders. As expected, Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and Pope Francis made the list with Dangote at number 41 on the list.
According to Bloomberg, those on the list “build companies and assemble fortunes.
“They run banks, or hope to disrupt them. They shape economies and spread ideas. They manage money and wield the clout that goes with the billions of dollars they invest.
“Aliko Dangote, founder, Dangote Group, Africa’s most successful businessman, built his fortune in sugar, textiles, and cement in Nigeria, where today, he is a political as well as a financial power broker. He is expanding into other countries and may list his cement company in London Stock Market,” Bloomberg said of Dangote.
Dangote was also listed among 24 others, on another list compiled by business news network, CNBC, which highlights those who have disrupted industries, sparked change and exercised an influence far beyond their own companies.
“As CNBC embarks on its second quarter-century, it faces a world completely altered from when it started. The 25 men and women listed [here], from different parts of the world and across different industries, have, for better or worse, been the rebels, icons and leaders in the vanguard of that change,” it said.
“Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, built his fortune in two distinct phases, riding the changes that led to Nigeria becoming the continent’s largest economy,” CNBC said.
-Leadership
