Aliko Dangote — Africa's Richest Man, Twice Divorced, Still Single

What Happened

Aliko Dangote, the Nigerian industrialist who controls the Dangote Group and the massive Dangote Refinery, is the wealthiest person in Africa and one of the 100 richest people on Earth, with a net worth estimated at approximately $30 billion. Despite this enormous wealth, remarkably little is publicly known about his two marriages and two divorces.

His first marriage, to Zainab, was arranged by his parents in 1977 when Dangote was just 20 years old, following local customs. The couple had two daughters, Mariya and Halima, before divorcing at an undisclosed date. His second marriage, to Mariya Muhammad Rufai — the daughter of the former Bauchi State Commissioner for Women Affairs — produced one daughter, Fatimah. This marriage ended in divorce in 2017.

What makes Dangote's divorces remarkable is their near-total privacy. In a world where billionaire divorces routinely generate massive public interest — Jeff Bezos's divorce cost $38 billion, and Bill Gates's attracted global media attention — Dangote managed to dissolve two marriages with almost no public information about the terms. This level of privacy reflects both Nigerian cultural norms around family matters and the extraordinary control that the ultra-wealthy can exercise over information.

Dangote has remained single since his second divorce, focusing on his business empire. His case raises important questions about how wealth, culture, and privacy intersect in divorce proceedings. In many West African and Nigerian contexts, customary law and Islamic family law may govern divorce differently than Western civil law, often with less public disclosure but also potentially fewer protections for the less powerful spouse.

Legal Breakdown: Billionaire divorces in West Africa

What This Means for Your Divorce