Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has admitted that his generation has not done enough for Nigeria and Africa, declaring that young people represent the future and deserve greater opportunities to learn from older business leaders.
Dangote made the frank admission while responding to content creator Adebayo Ridwan, popularly known as Bae U Barbie, who challenged him to take his message directly to younger Nigerians through a YouTube interview.
“Honestly, the future that we have is actually you, the youth. Our generation, really, has not done very well for Nigeria or Africa. That’s the truth,” Dangote said.
He added that older Nigerians needed to sit down with younger people and share their experiences, rather than leave them to learn about the country’s development and challenges from a distance.
“So we need to sit down with some of you and discuss our own experience with you,” he said.
The exchange took place at the Vision 2030 event on Monday, October 19, after Bae U urged the billionaire to appear on his programme, Curiosity Made Me Ask.
The content creator argued that many of Dangote’s previous media appearances had been on platforms that younger Nigerians did not ordinarily watch, even though they were interested in his businesses and potential investment opportunities.
Bae U specifically pointed to the interest among young Nigerians in Dangote’s planned company investment offering, arguing that the billionaire needed to engage the generation that wanted to learn about and participate in his business journey.
He clarified that he was not asking Dangote to sack his media team but wanted the industrialist to make time for his programme.
Dangote agreed that younger audiences deserved more attention and indicated that he would honour the invitation.
“We will come,” he assured the content creator, although no specific date for the proposed appearance was announced in the reports reviewed.
The billionaire also explained why he readily agrees to take photographs with members of the public despite his status and demanding schedule.
He recalled accompanying his late grandfather to Washington when he was younger, where they met prominent personalities and requested photographs with them.
The experience, he indicated, influenced his willingness to oblige people who approach him for pictures today.
Dangote’s comments provide a rare moment of reflection from one of Africa’s most powerful businessmen, particularly his candid assessment of the generation that has presided over much of the continent’s post-independence development.
His remarks also raise a question about the responsibility of established business leaders: beyond building successful companies, how much should they do to guide the younger generation and help create opportunities for those coming behind them?
For Bae U, Dangote’s acceptance of the invitation could open the door to a more direct conversation with young Nigerians about wealth creation, business decisions, leadership and the lessons behind the building of one of Africa’s largest industrial empires.
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