Africa’s richest man opens first business school in northern Nigeria

Africa’s richest man, Nigerian Aliko Dangote has commissioned a business school in northern Nigeria, the first business school to offer Doctor of Business Administration (PhD) program in the country.

The owner of Dangote Group which has a stake hold in commodities in Nigeria, Benin, Ethiopia, Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa, Togo, Tanzania, and Zambia, donated the $3.5 million building to the Bayero University, Kano in northern Nigeria.

The premises of the newly established Dangote Business School houses a 650-seating capacity auditorium, two theaters, four lecture halls, two libraries, and an incubation center.

Dangote, worth over $14 billion told attendees at the commissioning ceremony that the school was part of his contributions towards driving entrepreneurship education at the highest level in Nigeria.

“My interest for supporting higher education in Nigeria stems from the belief that we can and we should provide the same quality of education here in Nigeria like anywhere else in the world. Good quality education is fundamental in breeding a vibrant economy and society. My goal for this business school is for it to become a reference point when it comes to learning how to do business successfully in Nigeria and in Africa. This means that this business school should carry out studies and researches that are specific to our needs and ways of doing business which would allow more information to be shared globally on how Africans can do business,” he explained.

The Dangote Business School is accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC). Dangote shared that talks are ongoing to develop strategic partnerships between the Dangote Business School and the Harvard Business School in the U.S.

The business school is among a series of investments in the country’s education and skills development by the business mogul. Dangote Group of companies announced yesterday that it has also trained about 10,000 employees in an effort to address the industrial skills gap in the country through its Dangote Academy.