I have the honour of paying tribute to one of Africa’s biggest brands, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who turns 60 in the next few days. I came across Dangote’s name from the most unlikely quarter, Sir Shina Peters, in those days of Afro Juju rave, at the beginning of 1990. At the time, I used to wonder at what drove this commodity merchant who was synonymous with rice and sugar. His single-handed monopoly of the commodity market was a stuff of science fiction, both true and untrue. He was in effect The Don that nobody could question. He has never looked back from those days of foundation building. As he built his business empire on that solid foundation, he continued to build bridges that would link the poor and the rich and lift nations.

His foray into the noodles market helped to bring competition into that market and sparked a new beginning for that segment of the food industry.