By Dipo Olowookere
After her resignation from Dangote Flour Mills Plc following its N120 billion sale to Olam, Ms Halima Aliko Dangote has been appointed as the Group Executive Director in charge of Commercial Operations at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), one of Africa’s largest and most diversified business conglomerates.
Ms Dangote, according to a release by the company, is returning to the firm after serving on secondment in several capacities across two of its Business Units over the last five years. She is also a Trustee of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the conglomerate.
In her new role, the daughter of Africa’s richest man, Mr Aliko Dangote, will be responsible for leading the development and implementation of the Dangote Group’s customer strategy to drive customer growth, improve customer relationship management, enhance customer experience and increase long term customer value, according to the release.
She will also be responsible for the implementation of the Group’s shared services strategy with specific oversight for the following functions; Commercial, Strategic procurement, Administration and Branding & Communications.
In her most recent role, she served as Executive Director of Dangote Flour Mills and remarkably led the turnaround of the business from loss in turnover to a profitable status; a feat derived from consistent high performance over time.
Previously, she served as Executive Director of NASCON, a manufacturer of salt, seasonings and related consumer products, which are enjoying huge patronage among consumers. She continues to serve as a Non-Executive Director of NASCON.
Ms Dangote is the president of the Board of The Africa Center in New York, a uniquely focused centre providing a forward-looking gateway for engagement with Africa, while encompassing policy, business and culture. She is a Board member of Endeavour Nigeria, and is also a member of the Women Corporate Directors (WCD).
She has over 12 years of professional experience and has held several executive management roles and has a strong passion for women empowerment, holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Marketing from the American Intercontinental University, London, United Kingdom and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Webster Business School, United Kingdom.
She has attended a number of high-profile leadership development programmes including: the Programme for Leadership Development (PLD) at Harvard Business School; Executive Development Programme at Kellogg School of Management; Finance and Accounting for Non-Financial Executives at Columbia Business School.
The Dangote Group, which recently emerged as the Most Admired African Brand and the Most Valuable Brand in Nigeria for the second consecutive year (2018 – 2019) is actively involved in manufacturing cement, sugar, salt, flour, poly-products as well as logistics, oil & gas and real estate.
