600 years after an African made international headlines in business nothing has been arousing in indigenous African business circles worth catching the attention of business big shots. Mansa Musa’s business heroics caught the attention of the world with his $400b gold fortune and made him the talk of the world in the 14th century. Indeed in a business environment that mainly dealt with gold, salt, textiles and spices it was a worthy mention to have an African.
The post-renaissance period dominated by Portuguese, French, and British exploration witnessed the rise of the slave trade as rulers in the continent turned their subjects into commodities of trade. The rise of capitalism saw the British seize the opportunity to establish sugar plants in West Indies and kick off a golden era of economic and military dominance. African became a commodity of trade and a beast to power the sugar, tobacco and cotton industry in South America, North America and parts of Europe.
The British entry in Asia through the British East India company was enlightening period for the Asian continent. It made the continent open its eyes to the power of capitalism in the 17th century. The commercial behemoth exit in the 19th century left a mark that that Indians rode on in their mercantile trade that has tentacles in every part of the world. The African was exposed to modern trade in the 19th century through Cecil Rhodes British South African company and later the British East African Company and British West African company. With civilization came enlightenment and the desire to acquire education. The invention of cars, electricity, telephones, mobile phones, steel and iron presented wide range of opportunities for the African with Dantata the grandfather of Aliko Dangote establishing himself in the groundnut business. It is from this that Aliko Dangote his grand son established himself strongly in trade.
Establishing himself in 1977 Aliko Dangote has a presence in the whole continent with investments in cement, textiles, sugar and rice. A testatment to the ability of indeginious Africans to soar in business, he has come out strongly competing evenly with international brands. This serves a huge psychological boost to Africans learning the ropes in business. The venture into big money business is a further boost to Africans who have held onto retail business and developed cold feet when it comes to venturing into manufacturing. Recent news about Aliko Dangote $2.5b fertilizer plant in Lagos should serve to make Africans to believe in themselves and their ability to compete evenly with other international players. It serves to make many believe that it is possible to dare into the deep waters of big business and succeed. The scale of the business and its impact is head turning and so is its psychological impact on Africans in every village and hamlet.