In 1957, Dangote was born in Kano, then a part of British Nigeria, into a prosperous Hausa Muslim family.
The businessman Sanusi Dantata’s daughter, Mariya Sanusi Dantata, was his mother. Mohammed Dangote, his father, was Dantata’s business partner. He is the great-grandson of Alhassan Dantata, who at the time of his death in 1955 was the richest person in West Africa, through his mother.
Sani, the brother of Dangote, was a businessman as well. Dangote attended the Sheikh Ali Kumasi Madrasa for his early education before attending Capital High School in Kano. He received his diploma from Birnin Kudu’s Government College in 1978. Al-Azhar University in aCairo, Egypt, awarded him a bachelor’s degree in business studies and administration.