Meet Billionaire Aliko Dangote’s Little-Known Wives and Children

Aliko Dangote, founder, Group President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, is best known for his business empire, but his family life has also drawn steady public interest.

Dangote began his business career in 1978, trading in rice, sugar and cement before moving into full-scale manufacturing.Photo: Aliko Dangote

The Dangote Group now operates in several African countries, with interests in cement, food, fertiliser, and oil and gas.

He studied at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, and has received honorary doctorates from Coventry University in the United Kingdom and the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.

He has also taken part in international bodies, including the Corporate Council on Africa, the McKinsey Advisory Council and the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum.

In April 2017, he joined the board of the Clinton Health Access Initiative.

Dangote has been married twice. He wed his first wife, Zainab, in 1977 in an arranged marriage that followed family customs.

They had two daughters, Mariya and Halima, before the marriage ended in divorce.

He later married Mariya A. D. Muhammad Rufai, and they had a daughter, Fatima. That marriage ended in 2017.Photo: Dangote’s wife Fatima (L), with one of their daughters (R).

Mariya Muhammad Rufai is the daughter of a former Bauchi State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Human Services and once served in that role herself.

She studied law at Ahmadu Bello University and founded the Senator A.D. Rufai Foundation in memory of her father, a Second Republic lawmaker.

She later became one of the wives of Isa Yuguda, who was Bauchi State Governor from 2007 to 2015.

Reports by Nigerian outlets, including The Cable and the Biographical Legacy and Research Foundation, also identify Abdulrahman Fasasi as Dangote’s adopted son.

All three daughters now hold senior roles in the group.

Mariya is the Group Executive Director of Commercial Operations for the cement and food businesses.

She holds a law degree from Bayero University, Kano, and an MBA from Coventry University.

Halima is Executive Director of the Dangote Family Office and International Offices in Dubai and London.

She began at KPMG in Lagos, joined the group in 2008 and earned an MBA from Webster Business School.

Photo: Aliko Dangote’s daughters Mariya, Halima and Fatima

She has also attended executive programmes at Harvard, Kellogg and Columbia.

Fatima is Group Executive Director, Commercial Operations for Oil and Gas, West Africa Exploration and Production, and Fertiliser. Her portfolio includes the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals.

A lawyer trained at the University of Surrey, she previously worked at Banwo and Ighodalo and is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association.

Dangote’s Family: Ex-Wives, Children and Secrets of Africa’s Richest Man