While Dangote’s business acumen, work ethic and family legacy all played roles in his success, the businessman has also made important political connections along the way. In 2003, he used his wealth to contribute to the presidential campaigns of Olusegun Obasanjo, who led Nigeria from 1999-2007 as the country’s first democratically elected president in decades. Despite being from different communities — Dangote is a Muslim from the northern Hausa ethnic group and Obasanjo a southern Yoruba Christian, in a country where ethnicity, region and religion are the main sources of political divides — the two men cooperated closely. In exchange for Dangote’s financial support, Obasanjo protected the domestic cement industry from foreign competition, allowing Dangote Cement to grow even larger.

Dangote’s connection to political power hit a low point during the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who led Nigeria from 2007 until his death in 2010 after a long period of illness. The two men clashed over business policy, with Yar’Adua supporting more cement imports from abroad, while Dangote wished to maintain his local monopoly on the cement industry. The clash between the two men also had a distinct personal dimension, as Dangote was reportedly in a relationship with Yar’Adua’s daughter, Aisha, until she rejected his marriage proposal.

Despite this hiccup, Dangote is again well connected within Nigeria’s political sphere. When his younger brother Sani, who was also vice president of the Dangote Group, died in November, condolences poured in from Nigeria’s political elite, including President Muhammadu Buhari.

Dangote’s association with the political elite has not always been popular among the Nigerian population. When the #EndSARS protests against police brutality rocked Nigeria in 2020, the Dangote company found itself at odds with protesters. Several Dangote trucks were burned by demonstrators after one of the company’s trucks broke through a protestor-erected barricade, striking and killing one person in the process. As the movement grew into a more general protest against corruption and mismanagement among Nigerian authorities, some criticized the Dangote company for contributing to high prices within Nigeria.

In Zambia Dangote sales cement for 55 Kwatcha (1150 naira). But here in Nigeria, the same cement is going for 3,000 to 5,000 naira. Dangote is the biggest problem in Nigeria#EndNigeria
#EndNigeriaNow
#EndNigeriaNowToSaveLives
pic.twitter.com/TyK5Ph7jSS

— #EndSars (@PON_2023) April 7, 2021

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