Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, says he withdrew $10 million just to look at it and convince himself that he is rich.
Dangote, worth 10.6 billion according to Forbes, said he knew he was rich on paper, but had to convince himself that he was indeed rich.
He was peaking at the Mo Ibrahim governance weekend, ongoing in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
“The way it is that when you first start business, your target is to make your first million. Fine, I did that,” Dangote told Mo Ibrahim.
“After a year or so, I realised that I had much more, and I said ok, fine, all these numbers are just written numbers.
“One day I went to a bank, and at that time, there were no restrictions, and I wrote a cheque and cashed $10m from the bank and put it in the boot of my vehicle, and I went home and I opened it and I looked at $10m and I said ‘now I believe I have money’.”
According to him, he took it back to the bank the next day — after his mission was concluded.
Dangote, a Nigerian businessman, is reckoned as the 74th richest man in the world.
