President/Chief Executive, Dangote Industries Ltd, Aliko Dangote, has been ranked among the world’s 72 most powerful people by Forbes Magazine. The continent’s foremost billionaire is listed as the 68th most powerful person in the world and is one of only two Africans to appear on this year’s list.
Africa’s most powerful man is Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. He ranked 51st on the power list. According to its ranking of the World’s Most Powerful People, Dangote is the second most powerful man in Africa.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, is ranked number one on the list followed by President of United States, Barack Obama, Chinese President, Xi Jinping, Pope Francis and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor.
The magazine writing on Dangote stated: “Heralded by some as the face of the new Nigeria, Africa’s richest man is looking beyond cement, sugar and flour — the three commodities that built his fortune — to the oil business. In April, he announced $9 billion in financing from a consortium of local and international lenders to construct a private oil refinery and fertilizer and petrochemical complex in the country.”
It would be recalled that Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) recently ranked Dangote as one of the 25 most influential people in the world in terms of having a profound impact on business and finance. A CNBC spokesman said: “They have disrupted industries, sparked change and exercised an influence far beyond their own companies. As CNBC embarks on its second quarter-century, it faces a world completely altered from when it started.”
In its latest survey, CNBC, global financial and business outfit, ranked Dangote as 23rd among the first 25 people who have impacted the business world most since 1989. Apple Computers founder, Steve Jobs, topped the list followed by Bill Gates, with other names on the list including Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan, Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt.
Other notable names on the 25-man list included Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Bogle, Larry Ellison, Rupert Murdoch, Jack Welch, Narayana Murthy, Howard Schuldt, Bernard Arnault and Li Ka-shing. Also on the list are Carl Icahn, Meg Whitman, Amancio Ortega, Michael Bloomberg, Sandy Weill, Cher Wang, Martha Stewart and Carlos Slim.
TIME magazine in 2013 named Dangote among the 100 most influential persons on earth.
Bill Gate, Microsoft founder and co-Chair, Bill and Melinda Gates wrote a tribute in honour of Dangote in commemoration of his listing by the TIME magazine. Gates dwelled extensively on the philanthropic gestures of the President of the Dangote Group in the areas of health, especially polio eradication and job creation efforts.
Gates described him as a man who does good in addition to doing well. Wrote he: “His business activities drive economic growth across the continent. That’s impressive but I know him best as a leader constantly in search of ways to bridge the gap between private business and public health. It’s for that reason he helped create the Nigeria Private Sector Health Alliance. And it’s for that reason he is an advocate for agricultural research and malaria control.”
Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world assembled by the American news magazine, TIME. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians and journalists, the list is now an annual event. Although appearing on the list is often seen as an honour, TIME makes it clear that entrants are recognised for changing the world, regardless of the consequences of their actions.
Reorganisation at CBN
As part of measures to make its operation more effective the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has embarked on movement of staff across its 37 branches. The latest staff movement according to the apex bank, was sequel to observed breaches in one of its branches as revealed by the bank’s routine internal audit exercise.
In a terse press statement from the Corporate Communication Department the bank assured stakeholders that necessary control measures have been taken while detailed investigations are on-going with a view to identifying the cause and extent of the breaches.
The movement became necessary to ensure unfettered investigations in the matter.
Source : SunOnline