Billionaires list: Dangote loses $900m in 24 hours

The President/Chief Executive, Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, saw his total net worth drop by $900m on Friday as his flagship company emerged the biggest loser at the end of trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people, showed that his wealth fell from $18.4bn on Thursday to $17.5bn on Friday, making him the 114th wealthiest man in the world, down from 106th the previous day.

Dangote’s net worth had risen from $15.5bn on December 13 to close the year 2020 at $17.8bn. It further gained $600m in the first seven days of 2021, but lost all of it and more last Friday.

The share price of Dangote Cement Plc, the country’s biggest listed company and Africa’s largest cement producer, tumbled by 8.13 per cent to close at N225 on Friday from N244.90 on Thursday.

Dangote was the only Nigerian on the list of 500 billionaires and retained his position as Africa’s richest person as of Friday.

“The majority of Dangote’s fortune is derived from his 86 per cent stake in publicly-traded Dangote Cement. He holds the shares in the company directly and through his conglomerate, Dangote Industries,” Bloomberg said.

His most valuable closely held asset is a fertiliser plant with capacity to produce up to 2.8 million tonnes of urea annually, according to the international news agency.

“A $12bn oil refinery that is currently being developed in Nigeria isn’t included in the valuation because it’s not yet operational and construction costs are calculated to outweigh its current value,” it said.