Alhaji Aliko Dangote ranks among the world’s richest Black men. With the launch of the Dangote refinery IPO on September 14, 2026, Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s net worth jumped from US$36.7 billion to $53.1 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This is thanks to his successful businesses in cement manufacturing and sugar, as well as his stake in Africa’s largest oil refinery.
Behind today’s successful business owner, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the Dantata-Dangote ancestry was forged from a mix of poverty, wealth, trading, and even a slave woman who played a big role in the life of Dangote’s great-grandfather.
Read on for an in-depth look at the Dantata-Dangote dynasty, from his great-grandfather, Alhassan Dantata, who rose from an Almajiri begging and working to feed to massive wealth and became the wealthiest man in West Africa, and several of his descendants, following in his footsteps and running some of the most successful businesses in Nigeria and the rest of the family.
Who is Alhassan Dantata?
‘Dan Tata’, meaning “Tata’s son,” is a tribute to his mother’s enslaved person who raised him while his mother was away. Alhassan Dantata is Aliko Dangote’s maternal great-grandfather and the founder and Managing Director of Alhassan Dantata & Sons Company. He also served in the Northern House of Assembly from 1956 to 1960. Alhassan Dantata had three wives and nineteen children, including Sanusi Dantata, who is the maternal grandfather of Aliko Dangote
Aliko Dangote’s Great-Grandfather: Alhassan Dantata (1877 – 17 August 1955)
Alhassan Dantata was once the wealthiest man in West Africa, born in Bebeji, Kano, to a largely successful caravan leader of Agalawa origin. Alhassan came from a line of merchants; his grandfather was a prominent Agalawa merchant, and his father, Abdulahi, was a wealthy merchant who traded textiles, cattle, and enslaved people for kola nut and was also married to a big-time trader.
Alhassan Dantata had a rough journey; however, his mother migrated to Accra, Ghana, after the death of her husband, leaving him in the care of an enslaved person known as Tata. Tata encouraged him to save money at a young age and to attend Qur’anic school.
He went to join his mother in Ghana when he turned 15, but she handed him over to a mallam, where he served as an almajiri. While working under this mallam, he sometimes begged for food and still gave the mallam a fraction of his earnings. Following this, several accounts suggest that between 1893 and 1895, Alhassan Dantata was sold into slavery during the period around the Kano Civil War.
By 1906, Alhassan Dantata had begun trading beads, necklaces, and European cloth after initially trading kola nuts. In 1918, he partnered with Niger Company to supply groundnuts, and by establishing a network of agents and sub-agents to purchase groundnuts, he became the company’s largest supplier in 1922. By the 1940s, he handled about 20,000 tons of groundnuts yearly. From 1926, he expanded cattle trade using the newly established Lagos railway and revived the kolanut trade with Western Nigeria.
In 1929, Dantata became the first Kano businessman to use a bank, depositing twenty camel-loads of silver coins in the Kano branch of the Bank of British West Africa.
Aliko Dangote’s Grandfather: Sanusi Dantata 1919 – 15 April 1997
Sanusi Dantata was Aliko Dangote’s grandfather; he had five children, including Hajia Mariya Sanusi Dantata, Aliko Dangote’s mother.
According to reports, Alhassan Dantata favored this trade over formal education; hence, after a few years in school, a sixteen-year-old Sanusi was pulled out and given a few cattle from his father’s herd, which he added to over the years. By 1947, Sanusi Dantata had significantly grown his business and sold much of it to invest in real estate. In the 1960s, he became Nigeria’s largest licensed groundnut-buying agent. By 1980, he transferred portions of his business to his sons, most notably his eldest, Abdulkadir Sanusi Dantata, who went on to co-found Dantata and Sawoe as well as Asada Farms.
Dangote’s Parents: Mohammed Dangote and Hajia Mariya Sanusi Dantata
Dangote’s parents are Mohammed Dangote and Hajia Mariya Sanusi Dantata; they are presumed to have married in the mid-1950s and have four children, including Aliko Dangote. Three of Dangote’s brothers, Sani Dangote, Bello Dangote, and Garba Dangote, have all passed.
Dangote’s father, Mohammed Dangote, was a friend and a close business associate of the Dantata family. He ran a thriving transport company. He sadly passed away in 1957, when Aliko Dangote was 8.
The Hajj tradition and the culture of giving, instilled and passed down by the Dantata family patriarch, were evident in the life of Dangote’s mother, Majia Mariya Sanusi Dantata. She was very charitable and known for giving and feeding people experiencing poverty. She sadly passed away during the 2015 Hajj stampede in Saudi Arabia.
Read Also: Otedola Family Tree: Meet Femi Otedola’s Parents, Siblings, Children and Extended Family
Aliko Dangote: Children
Aliko Dangote has been married twice. He married his first wife, Zainab Dangote, whom his parents chose, in 1977, when he was 20. Although his divorce date is not in public records, Dangote married Mariya Muhammad Rufai. The marriage ended in divorce in 2017.
He had two daughters, Mariya and Halima, from his first wife, Zainab Dangote, and his last daughter, Fatima, from his second wife, Mariya Muhammad Rufai. Dangote also has an adopted son named Abdulrahman Fasasi. Dangote has given his children key positions in his business, positioning them to take over someday while, in the meantime, they contribute on their own.
Mariya Aliko Dangote
Mariya Aliko Dangote is Dangote’s oldest daughter. After spending ten years in the Dangote Group, Mariya Aliko Dangote has held four executive and non-executive positions in her father’s company over the last decade. She first joined Dangote Industries Limited as a business strategy and risk specialist and now serves as Group Executive Director of Commercial Operations for cement and foods at the Dangote Group.
Halima Aliko Dangote
Halima Aliko Dangote has a marketing degree from the American Intercontinental University London and a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA). She is Group Executive Director of Sales & Marketing at Sublime Group and, like her sisters, holds an executive position in the Dangote Group.
Halima met her spouse, Sulaiman Sani Bello, while studying at a university in the UK and has been married with children since August 2008
Fatima Aliko Dangote
Ms. Fatima Aliko-Dangote is currently the executive director overseeing commercial operations at Dangote Industries Limited. Like her sister, the heiress has held several roles in the DIL and its parent company, Dangote Group. She has also been a board member of NASCON Allied Industries since 2023. Fatima married Capt. Jamil Abubakar in 2018, and they have children. Jamil Abubakar also joined the Dangote Group, bringing his years of aviation experience to his role as Managing Director for Infrastructure and Logistics.
The Dantata-Dangote Family Tree
Root & founders Sanusi’s branch Aliko Dangote’s branch Aminu Dantata’s branch Other Dantata siblings
† deceased
Root & Founding Generation
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Baba Talatin †Founder-
Abdullahi †-
Alhassan Abdullahi Dantata †-
Ahmadu Dantata † -
Sanusi Dantata † -
Mahmud (Mamuda) Dantata † -
Aminu Alhassan Dantata † -
Mudi (Sulaiman) Dantata † -
Abdullahi Dantata -
Amina “Yaawo” Dantata -
Bara’atu Dantata -
Jamilu Dantata
-
-
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Sanusi Dantata’s Branch
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Sanusi Dantata †
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Abdulkadir Sanusi Dantata † -
Usman Amaka Dantata -
Hassan Dantata -
Nasiru Dantata -
Mariya Sanusi Dantata-
Mohammed DangoteHusband-
Aliko Dangote -
Sani Dangote † -
Bello Dangote † -
Garba Dangote †
-
-
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Aliko Dangote’s Branch
-
Aliko Dangote-
Zainab DangoteWife 1-
Mariya Dangote -
Halima Aliko-Dangote-
Sulaiman Sani BelloHusband-
2 daughters
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-
-
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Mariya Muhammad RufaiWife 2-
Fatima Aliko-Dangote-
Jamil Mohammed AbubakarHusband
-
-
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Abdulrahman FasasiAdopted son
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Aminu Dantata’s Branch
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Aminu Alhassan Dantata †
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Rabi Dantata †Wife -
Tajudeen Aminu Dantata -
Sayyu Dantata -
19 other children
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Other Children of Alhassan Dantata
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Alhassan Abdullahi Dantata †
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Ahmadu Dantata †
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Mahmud Dantata †
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Mudi (Sulaiman) Dantata †
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Abdullahi Dantata
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Amina “Yaawo” Dantata
-
Bara’atu Dantata -
Jamilu Dantata
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Mariam Emily Adama is a copywriter, SEO strategist, and digital marketer passionate about using words to inform, inspire, and influence. With over seven years of experience writing for global brands and managing digital campaigns, she brings a data-driven yet creative approach to content creation. When she’s not writing or analyzing trends, Mariam enjoys exploring new cultures, reading, and documenting stories that celebrate African excellence.