One of the most crucial lessons I have learned over time is that being able to look at the world with clear eyes is half the battle in life. Regardless of our nationality, religion or other affiliation, we are all part of a global landscape where individuals and entire groups of people are constantly engaged in fierce competition for wealth, power, and the vast array of human aspirations. Inevitably, there are winners and losers.

The good news is that any victory or defeat in this endless war called life does not confer a permanent status on anyone. Individuals and groups whose victories endure are those who remain cognizant of the fact that they cannot rest on their laurels. And some of the most successful people in the world happen to be those who experienced crushing failures at some points in their lives and didn’t let those setbacks derail their dreams but instead, used them as motivation to work even harder.

The natural world we inhabit is not an ideal place. More often than not, the competition for prizes does not run as fairly as one would hope. There are always people and nations that are more powerful than others. Those lucky mighty have frequently used their advantages to exploit the weak. That is the unfortunate reality of life.

How we deal with these injustices, whether we are individuals or nations, can heavily influence our life outcomes. It is possible to let our anger from being treated unfairly consume us to the point where we become paralyzed. When anyone falls into that state of incapacitation, nearly everything grinds to a halt. It is a trap that everyone must avoid getting sucked into.

There is no other continent on this planet that others have exploited as much as Africa has been. Through slavery and colonialism, several major powers plundered Africa’s resources, both human and natural. That pillaging occurred over several centuries. It explains why today, Africa is the continent that is struggling the most to provide a decent socio-economic life for its citizens. Therefore, any objective person has to acknowledge that wealthy nations, which did much of that plundering, have an obligation to help the continent get its economy off the ground.

There is endless debate about whether rich nations have done enough, and in the most effective ways, to help Africa’s socio-economic development. My view is that the verdict is mixed, at best. Given the scale of the exploitation, and how long it went on, compensating for it appropriately would require massive deployments of resources on a sustained basis over a lengthy period of time. But that is asking for the impossible in today’s highly polarized world. Therefore, Africans must learn to work with whatever little they are able to obtain externally to supplement what they can muster internally. That is where the continent’s leaders haven’t helped themselves and their people.

Slavery effectively ended nearly two centuries ago. Unfortunately, colonialism continued long into the twentieth century. Ghana’s declaration of independence from Britain in 1957 was the event that galvanized other sub-Saharan African countries to free themselves from colonial rule. All of the continent’s nations have thankfully managed to do so successfully.

Today, many African nationals say that the independence gained was largely in name only. They argue that the colonial masters left decades ago but they continue to plunder the continent’s resources from their remote locations. There is some truth to that claim. But for me, the far bigger problem is the inability, or failure, of Africans to properly shift their mindset from being a victim of exploitation to one of a player vying with others for rewards in a highly competitive world.

This victim mentality is holding Africa back in major ways. It is also the primary source of the disrespect that much of the rest of the world apparently has for the continent. As a native African, it has been quite painful for me to watch large groups of African heads of state being regularly summoned to economic summits in Washington, Beijing, St. Petersburg, Seoul, and elsewhere. They often travel en masse to those cities with begging bowls in hand. Their hosts know full well that many of the governments that these guests lead are leaky barrels. Whatever is put into those faulty containers drains out quickly because of uncontrolled corruption and gross mismanagement. So, those highly publicized conferences are often nothing more than photo ops.

What will really propel Africa forward is a willingness on the part of its people to take the global playing field as underdogs who are willing to fight tenaciously to win games, even against the strongest of opponents. That, exactly, is what one of the continent’s most illustrious sons has done. His accomplishments, and the paths he took to make his dreams come true, should become case studies in every institution of higher learning in Africa.

Aliko Dangote is a name that should be familiar to even the most casual observer of business and politics in Africa. Mr. Dangote is a Nigerian multi-billionaire and the wealthiest person in Africa. He founded Dangote Group, an industrial conglomerate with divisions that include cement production plants, sugar refineries, flour production facilities, and many others. Recently, he completed construction of the much-anticipated Dangote Petroleum Refinery, a 650,000 barrels per day integrated oil refinery in Nigeria.

The refinery is expected to meet 100 percent of Nigeria’s refined oil products requirements, with plenty left over for export. Its single-train facility is said to be the biggest in the world. At nearly 700 miles, the pipeline infrastructure serving the refinery also happens to be the largest globally, and is capable of handling up to 3 billion standard cubic feet (scf) of gas daily. According to a recent publication by Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), a U.S.-based energy commodities price reporting agency, the Dangote Refinery is already operating at 85 percent capacity. The facility is said to be sourcing much of its feedstock from Nigeria, but is also importing West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil from the U.S. The OPIS report went on to say that the facility is currently testing light sweet crude in preparation to export ultra-low sulfur gasoline to Europe and the U.S. in the early part of this year.

I have worked in the energy industry for over two decades. That long experience has provided me a comprehensive view of the global energy markets. I can’t even begin to explain how impressive Mr. Dangote’s accomplishment is. As most people know, the global oil market is dominated by state actors—Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, and others—and large, deep-pocketed multinational companies such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell. Energy markets are extremely volatile, and such large projects in the industry are some of the riskiest investments anywhere in the world. The fact that one person’s company, regardless of where that individual is from, is able to take on these formidable opponents, break all those barriers, and make such an entry into this ultra-competitive space, is quite astounding. Every African should be proud of this man.

African leaders have long complained that they are not given seats at the global table when important decisions affecting the world are being made. It may sound like unfair treatment, and it probably is. But the harsh truth is that in this world, you have to bring something to the table to merit a seat at the table. Mr. Dangote has beautifully demonstrated how to gain access to that coveted piece of furniture. African heads of state should learn from his excellent example.

Mr. Dangote’s singular accomplishments are almost beyond comprehension. Today, there are thousands of other African men and women who, in their own small ways, are channeling their entrepreneurial spirits into highly successful small businesses on the continent. Those people should all be highly celebrated. Together, they are helping to create a different image for Africa on the world stage.