Sales of hides and skins is popular in Borno
In 1957, at the age of 10, Muhammadu Indimi, was working with his father in his hides and skins trading business. He did this until about 1965 at the age of 18. It was the beginning of his business.
2. Father’s loan
Mohammed Indimi received a loan from his father
Indimi’s father gave him a loan of £100 in 1963, which he invested in the hides and skins business, and which he also used to get some land to farm wheat.
3. Ready-made clothes
Ready made clothes are a booming business
Another business Indimi went into was the clothing business. He states in an interview with Forbes that at the age of 20 he would cross into Cameroon to buy ready-made clothes which he sold in Maiduguri.
4. Flour
The flour business is one many should take advantage of
Indimi shares the interest in the flour business with Dangote. He made his first big profit from the flour business at the age of 26, £50,000. This is a large amount of money now. Back then, it was a fortune which set him on his way to being extremely wealthy.
5. Water pumps
Water pumps contributed to Indimi’s wealth
Mobile water pumps were next in line for the business-savvy Indimi. He tells the story in a Forbes interview of how he bought mobile water pumps for about $1.3 million and sold them to make a fortune under the Obasanjo administration.
6. Oil
Oil is almost always a source of income for Nigeria’s billionaires
In 1991, while still in the water pump business, Indimi also moved into the oil business, for which he is known throughout Africa today.
Now we move to Aliko Dangote and the secrets behind his wealth:
7. Apprenticeship
Sani Dangote is Aliko Dangote’s uncle and current VP of Dangote Group
Dangote got his first chunk of cash from apprenticeship to his uncle Sani Dangote. Who later gave him money with which he started his business, about NGN 500,000.
8. Commodity trading
Commodity trading is one of Dangote’s strengths
Sugar, rice, pasta, salt, cotton, millet, cocoa, textile and vegetable oil are some of the commodities with which Dangote started building his empire.
9. Import license
Dangote’s cement is a household name in Nigeria
The importing license Dangote got for cement is one reason he had monopoly on the sale of cement for a very long time.
10. Family relations
Alhassan Dantata
Family wealth is also one reason, Aliko Dangote is wealthy. He is the great grand son of Alhaji Alhassan Dantata, the richest African at the time of his death in 1955.
