Dangote is able to make money hand-over-fist primarily because there are so few Nigerian cement suppliers to meet the country's increasing demand for construction. He is now wealthier than South African billionaires Nicky Oppenheimer from Debeers and John Rupert, both of whom are white. During my trip to Nigeria in 2009, I noticed that there was a tremendous amount of construction being done in the country, as well as a hunger to understand the principles of entrepreneurship and building a business. I expect the country to continue to grow, assuming that it can deal with its well-documented corruption problems (for example, I was asked to give an agent money in order to get my bags through airport security).
Dangote's next plan is to list his company on international stock markets. The Nigerian Stock Exchange is not deep enough to handle a company as large as his, so he is now planning to list on the London Stock Exchange. Dangote Cement is expected to be a world-wide company and his place on the Forbes list is expected to rise. Dangote recently bought himself a $45 million dollar plane to celebrate his birthday. The tycoon is sure to remain an economic powerhouse, but it should be noted that having one man control a full fourth of the nation's entire market capitalization is a very dangerous thing. This would never be allowed here in the United States, for good reason. Such a strong concentration of power could squash all potential competitors, undermining the ability to create a truly free market.
The other Nigerian to make the Forbes list was Mike Adenuga. Adenuga is now number 595 on the list with a fortune of $2 billion dollars. The tycoon made his money by founding Globacom, a company that provides mobile, fixed and broadband services to the country. The company was founded in 2005 in the Republic of Benin. Adenuga took the gamble of laying a billion dollars of fibre optic cable to connect Africa to the rest of the world. Apparently, the investment is starting to pay off.
Most interesting about these massive achievements by our Nigerian counterparts is that African Americans have the same (actually more) wealth-building capacity that others have around the world. If you'll notice, these men became wealthy by finding a public need and filling it, and also making investments to develop infrastructure for their financial futures. If you are highly educated and have a great deal of skill, your primarily objective should not just be to go work for someone else and live paycheck-to-paycheck. Your long-term objective should be to own the land on which you stand, so you can have access to true economic independence. So, to all the rappers who tell our kids to spend money at the club and on expensive jewelry, realize that by engaging in such a flawed use of your financial resources, you're only begging to remain a slave to capitalism. That's why most of the entertainers and athletes I know eventually end up going broke after being pillaged by their Harvard-educated attorneys, managers and record label executives.
With black unemployment being as high as it is and our wealth levels being so low, teaching our kids the value of owning their own business might take us a very long way. Make sure your kids learn the basics of entrepreneurship.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. To follow Dr. Boyce on Facebook, please click here.