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Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that his first grandson wants to gain professional experience at global accounting firms KPMG or PwC before joining the family conglomerate.
Dangote made this known on Tuesday during an investor engagement organised for the proposed initial public offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery with Kenyan and East African institutional investors in Nairobi.
The industrialist said his grandson, an electrical engineer, was currently more interested in acquiring financial knowledge outside the family business before joining the group.
“And my first grandson, he’s not finding it interesting to work with me for now. He wants to go and get experience with KPMG or PWC. Then after, he’ll come and join us. He’s an electrical engineer, but he wants to go and learn about money first,” he said.
Dangote also discussed the group’s long-term planning approach, explaining that the conglomerate did not operate with 10-year visions because such distant targets could encourage complacency among employees.
Instead, he said the group adopted five-year plans involving senior executives, including Group Vice Presidents Edwin and Alaki, Group Chief Financial Officer Murat, David Bird and other directors.
The comments offered an insight into the succession planning and professional development considerations within the family-owned conglomerate, which has interests in cement, sugar, petroleum refining, fertiliser and manufacturing.
Dangote’s three daughters, Mariya, Halima and Fatima, already occupy executive positions across different areas of the business.
At the Nairobi event, the industrialist introduced his first daughter, Mariya, and her husband, Alassane, who were present at the gathering. He described Mariya as shy before inviting the couple to acknowledge the audience.
Dangote has previously said that having a male heir is not a priority for him, expressing confidence that one or more of his daughters could eventually lead the conglomerate.
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