Dangote withdrew $10m, a third of Nigeria’s entire budget, just for the heck of it

Aliko Dangote isn’t just Africa’s richest man; sometimes he has to prove it to himself, just to be sure.

On Saturday, the magnate revealed he once withdrew $10 million from a bank, just to look at it and prove to himself that he is indeed rich.

In today’s monetary terms, that’s N3.6 trillion, close to the entire budget of Nigeria.

He spoke in Abidjan at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation governance weekend, while chatting with Ibrahim himself.

A video of the chat has been posted on YouTube.

“The way it is that your target when you first start business, your target is to make your first million. Fine, I did that,” Dangote said.

A year later, he realized he had much more, but all that money was just “written numbers,” he said.

Back then there was no restriction requiring banks to report withdrawals or deposits by individuals or corporates exceeding certain thresholds to anti-graft agencies.

Dangote walked into a bank, wrote a cheque for $10m and cash it. He put it in the back of his vehicle and drove home.

“I opened it and I looked at $10m, and I said, ‘now I believe I have money,’” he said.