11th January, 2021
By Taiwo Okanlawon
Nigerian billionaire business magnate and the richest Black person in the world, Aliko Dangote has dropped from 106th to 114th position in the wealthiest people in the world list.
The net worth of the president of Dangote Group Aliko Dangote dropped by $900 million after his flagship company emerged the biggest loser at the end of trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s 500 richest people, showed that his wealth fell from $18.4 billion on Thursday to $17.5 billion on Friday.
Dangote is the only Nigerian on the list.
Dangote closed 2020 at $17.8 billion. He gained $600 million 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 percent to close at N225 on Friday from N244.90 on Thursday.
“The majority of Dangote’s fortune is derived from his 86 percent 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 fertilizer plant with a capacity to produce up to 2.8 million tonnes of urea annually, according to the international news agency.
Dangote’s $12 billion oil refinery which is currently being developed in Lagos was not included in Bloomberg’s valuation.