Aminu Dantata is dead, here is biography, life history and all you need to know about the man who made Aliko Dangote.
Nigerian billionaire and philanthropist Alhaji Aminu Alhassan Dantata has passed away, kikio.ng can confirm on 28th June 2025.
Aminu Dantata was born in 1931 in Kano, Nigeria, and expanded his family’s trading empire, Alhassan Dantata & Sons, into sectors like construction, oil, and banking. He joined the business in 1948 and became its leader by 1960 after his brother’s death. His disciplined approach and mentorship shaped his nephew, Aliko Dangote’s, business path.
Aliko Dangote started trading with a ₦500,000 loan from his uncle and guidance from Aminu Dantata in 1977. Leveraging the family’s trading network, he built the Dangote Group into a conglomerate spanning cement, sugar, and oil. Aminu’s mentorship helped Aliko become Africa’s richest man, with a net worth of $10.8 billion as of January 2025.
Late Aninu Dantata Biography Profile
Full Name: Alhaji Aminu Alhassan Dantata
Date of Birth: 19 May 1931 (Kano)
Date of Death: 28 June 2025 (Dubai)
Children: Seven
Born on May 19, 1931 in Kano, Alhaji Aminu Dantata was a major figure in Nigeria’s business landscape for decades. He was the fifteenth of seventeen children in the wealthy Agalawa trading family of Alhassan Dantata.
Dantata was a respected industrialist and a key player in the country’s private sector growth.
He is survived by seven children and many grandchildren. Among his children is Alhaji Tajuddeen Aminu Dantata.
Educated at Dala Primary School from 1938 to 1945, he completed his studies at a private school built by his father in 1949. Joining the family business, Alhassan Dantata & Sons, in 1948 as a produce buyer, he later became Sokoto district manager in 1955 and led the company after his brother Ahmadu’s death in 1960.
Aminu Dantata Net Worth
Aminu Dantata’s net worth is not publicly documented, but his leadership of the Dantata Organization, with investments in real estate, oil exploration through Express Petroleum & Gas Company Ltd, and significant shareholdings in companies like Mentholatum and SCOA, reflects substantial wealth. The conglomerate’s diverse portfolio, including a Mercedes Benz dealership and a terminal at Warri Port, underscores his financial success. His role in founding Jaiz Bank and contributions to Kano’s economy further highlight his economic influence.
Aminu Dantata Children
Specific details about Aminu Dantata’s children are not widely available in public records. He was married to Rabi Dantata, who passed away in 2023, and together they raised a family. His legacy continues through his extended family, including his grandnephew Aliko Dangote, whom he mentored in business.
In 1955, following his father’s passing, the family business underwent restructuring, with shares distributed among the siblings. By 1958, Dantata assumed the role of deputy managing director alongside his brother Ahmadu, who held the position of MD. Upon Ahmadu’s demise in 1960, Dantata ascended to lead the enterprise.
His leadership marked an era of expansion, diversifying business interests across Nigeria’s political and economic landscape. By the early 1960s, Dantata oversaw a construction firm that garnered government contracts, notably contributing to the development of the School of Aviation in Zaria. In 1961, he represented Nigerian business interests as part of a pioneering economic mission, comprising three other entrepreneurs, within a 23-member delegation—the first of its kind dispatched by an independent Nigerian government on a global scale.
In 1964, Dantata assumed a pivotal role as one of the founding board members of the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank. Four years later, in 1968, he was entrusted with the position of Kano State commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, and Industry, serving under the administration of Audu Bako until 1973.
Amidst the indigenization era of the 1970s, the Dantata group strategically acquired shares and established substantial holdings in Mentholatum, SCOA, Funtua Cotton Seed Crushing Co, and Raleigh Industries.
The company retained divisions including a Mercedes Benz dealership and a terminal at Warri Port. Evolving into the Dantata Organization by the 1990s, it diversified further, venturing into oil exploration via Express Petroleum.
Dantata’s philanthropic endeavors extended to Kano, with donations to various institutions including the Alhassan Dantata Haemodialysis Center at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. Serving as the inaugural chancellor of Al-Qalam University, Katsina, he remains a proud benefactor in Nigeria’s second most populous state.
