'Humble beginning' - Rare picture of Dangote as a young man with Dantata stirs emotions

Nigerian netizens have gathered the picture of Nigeria and Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, with his wealthy uncle, Aminu Dantata.

In the picture, the young Dangote was seen posing for a photo with his uncle as they descended from what seemed like a private jet.

Dangote has described his uncle's impact on his life and business in several interviews.

It is reported that Dantata reportedly loaned him about N500,000 Dangote to start a cement business in the early 1980s.

The billionaire who commissioned Africa's biggest refinery worth more than $18 billion has remained Africa's richest man for 12 years and has repeatedly stated how much he learned about the business from his uncle.

The billionaire businessman said the refinery currently employs 33,000 Nigerians.

He revealed that the 650,000bpd capacity refinery targets the population in its employment drive.

Africa's richest man disclosed this at the commissioning of the refinery, which was hailed as the biggest in Africa and the world's largest single-train refinery.

He stated that the refinery would generate over $21 billion in revenue and save Nigeria the much-needed foreign exchange which would have been used for fuel imports.

The statement suggests that the refinery will sell refined products to Nigeria in the local currency, contrary to speculations that it plans to sell the products to the country in dollars.

According to him, 40% of products from the refinery will be available for export, generating raw materials for plastic and other products.

At the refinery commissioning, members of Nigeria's National Assembly, eminent persons, and other dignitaries joined Dangote at the commissioning.