When Dangote Sat For A Job Interview

By Shuaibu Shuaibu

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, recently participated in a podcast interview, In Good Company.

Even though the topic of discussion was mostly Dangote’s investments, the tone, questions, and even answers made it appear as if he were applying for a job.

Of course, he wasn’t. Dangote is reportedly worth about $30bn, and in the interview, he boasts of plans to invest more than $45bn across Africa.

Still, it was a breakthrough for Dangote to have earned the interest of ‘In Good Company’, a podcast that focuses on corporate giants, world leaders and the world’s most accomplished thinkers.

Dangote had impressed the host of the podcast, Nicolai Tangen, with his confidence and willingness to invest huge sums in Africa and build one of Africa’s largest industrial complexes, a $20 billion, 650,000 bpd petroleum refinery.

Dangote put on his best performance, talking about discipline in business, having a vision and understanding the needs of the African market.

The biggest of those needs, according to Dangote, was the demand for cement, which African countries were struggling to meet. He named Nigeria, Zambia, and Congo (Brazzaville) as countries with a 3-month waiting period for cement.

Asked where he got the money to build the refinery, he was more forthcoming than he usually would have been.

Dangote’s response to a question about differences across Africa in company culture and the difficulty of doing business was not to sell the continent short.

He instead focused on company culture in individual organisations and the level of training among staff, which could be as good as anywhere in the world.

Dangote even brought up the academy his company runs for some of the best graduates from Nigerian and other universities on the continent.

He didn’t dwell on the fact that even within Nigeria, corporate cultures and work ethics vary across different parts of the country.

In Lagos, everyone tries to cut corners, while in the north, people are more laid back, and in parts of the Northcentral, the women work the farms, and the men drink all day.

But rather than seeking a job, Dangote was soliciting investments.

Nicolai Tangen is not just hosting a podcast; he is actually the Chief Executive Officer of Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund.

The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund is the largest publicly held financial fund in the world. It has more than $2 trillion in assets. It owns stakes in 7,200 companies in 70 countries.

The podcast interview with Dangote was part of the Fund’s broader discussion and partnership to invest in Dangote and in Africa.