Africa's Richest Man Retires from Dangote Cement, Weeks After Leaving Dangote Sugar
- Aliko Dangote has retired from the Dangote Cement Plc just weeks after he retired from the Dangote Sugar Refinery
- Dangote built the cement company into the biggest cement manufacturer on the continent with plants in nine countries
- Aliko Dangote is the richest man in Africa with trillions of shillings in wealth, followed by Johann Rupert
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Elijah Ntongai, an editor at TUKO.co.ke, has over four years of financial, business, and technology research and reporting experience, providing insights into Kenyan, African, and global trends.
Aliko Dangote, the richest man on the African continent, has officially hung up his boots as the chairman of Dangote Cement Plc.
Source: UGC
This is an ending to a pivotal era of leadership that saw Nigeria emerge from being one of the world’s largest cement importers to becoming Africa’s top cement exporter.
The retirement marks another strategic shift in Dangote’s business empire, coming just weeks after he relinquished his chairmanship at Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc.
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Dangote's legacy in cement manufacturing
Under Dangote’s leadership, Dangote Cement evolved into the biggest cement producer in Africa.
The company’s current total installed production capacity stands at 48.6 million metric tonnes per annum (Mt/a) with 32.3 Mt/a in Nigeria alone.
The rest of Dangote Cement's production capacity is distributed across plants in nine African countries, including Ghana, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Sierra Leone, and the Republic of Congo.
Who will replace Aliko Dangote?
In a statement released by Dangote Cement and confirmed by local media, the board named Emmanuel Ikazoboh as the new chairman.
Ikazoboh previously served as an independent non-executive director at the company and brings over 40 years of senior management experience across Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, and South Africa.
Ikazoboh’s appointment is viewed as a strategic choice aimed at reinforcing operational stability and comes at a time when the company is resuming construction of its $800 million cement plant in Itori, located in Nigeria’s Ogun State.
The 6-million-Mt/a factory is projected to be completed by November 2026, further expanding the company’s production capacity.
Did Aliko Dangote retire from the sugar company?
Dangote’s exit from the Dangote Cement board follows his June 16, 2025, retirement from the Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, where he served as chairman for two decades.
In that transition, the board appointed Arnold Ekpe, a veteran of Africa’s banking and industrial sectors, as his successor.
Both departures are said to be in line with “principles of good corporate governance and succession planning,” a move that signals a new generation of leadership at the helm of the Dangote Group’s flagship companies.
How rich is Aliko Dangote?
Dangote is the richest man on the African continent, with a $23.9 billion (KSh 3.09 trillion) net worth.
His net worth significantly boosted in 2025 after the Dangote Refinery began full operations.
South African tycoon Johann Rupert is second to Dangote with $10.1 billion (KSh 1.31 trillion), while Egypt’s Nassef Sawiris, Nigeria’s Mike Adenuga, and South Africa’s Nicky Oppenheimer round out the top five richest people in Africa.
The wealthiest in Africa reflect diverse economic strengths, with wealth rooted in cement, oil, diamonds, luxury goods, telecoms, and banking, and largely concentrated in Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
