President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has stressed the importance of business connections, collaboration and cross-border partnerships in expanding opportunities for entrepreneurs across Africa and beyond.
Dangote spoke after he was appointed Grand Patron of the Global Entrepreneurship Festival (GEF) during a visit by the festival’s board to the business mogul.
Receiving the certificate of appointment, Dangote, in a brief speech, said the major benefit of his new role was the opportunity to connect entrepreneurs and businesses from different parts of Africa and other regions.
‘The main benefit of this is actually the connection. It is about connecting, merging and seeing what people can do together,’ he said.
He added: ‘You have people from North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and different countries coming together.’
The appointment was formally presented by a delegation led by the President of GEF, Dr Summy Smart Francis, who said Dangote’s experience in building businesses and investing across key sectors of the African economy would add value to the global entrepreneurship platform.
Francis, while presenting the certificate, said the appointment was made on behalf of the GEF Board, chaired by Mr Dan Vatovic in Colorado, United States.
He said Dangote’s involvement would strengthen the platform’s efforts to bring entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders and institutions together to create opportunities and promote enterprise development.
Also speaking during the engagement, Vice Chairman of GEF, Dr Elizabeth Jack-Rich, said her experience as a mentee had encouraged her to support the expansion of mentorship opportunities to millions of entrepreneurs.
‘For me, as a mentee, I have seen tremendous growth since I joined the mentorship programme. That was why I reached out to extend such mentorship to millions of entrepreneurs out there, and I am so grateful for its acceptance,’ she said.
Dangote, in response, said he was pleased to receive the appointment and pledged to contribute to the initiative.
‘It is a great pleasure to receive this award, and I promise I will do my best,’ he said.
The Global Entrepreneurship Festival is scheduled to hold its 2026 edition in Cairo, Egypt, from November 6 to 8, bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders, innovators, policymakers and other stakeholders from different parts of the world.
The festival is expected to provide a platform for networking, business collaboration, investment opportunities and engagement among entrepreneurs and institutions within and beyond Africa.