Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has seen his wealth plummet significantly following the crash of the naira against the dollar and a recent crash in the shares of his cement firm.
On Friday, July 26, 2024, Africa’s richest man lost a whopping $651 million and has seen his fortunes dip by $1.3 billion in 2024.
Data from the NGX on Friday, July 26, 2024, shows investors sold off their Dangote Cement shares.
However, the company remains Nigeria’s most valuable on the NGX.
The company is on track to exceed its turnover from the previous year, reaching a total revenue of N1.8 trillion in the first quarter of 2024.
The cement company benefited from early gains in cement prices, earning about N127,614 billion, up from N71,766 the year before.
The depreciation of the Nigerian currency and the naira added to the decline in Dangote’s wealth.
The Nigerian currency has lost about 43% of its value since the beginning of 2024
Meanwhile, Dangote has remained Africa’s richest man for 12 years.
Data from the Bloomberg Billionaire Index shows that Dangote is ranked 152 globally, the only Nigeria to rank on the list since its launch.
Dangote is currently entangled in a misunderstanding with Nigeria’s oil industry regulators over his $20 billion refinery.
The Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NMDPRA) said the refinery’s products are inferior to imported ones, a claim the refinery’s management debunked.
The refinery has also accused the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) of starving it of crude oil, leading to the facility buying crude from Brazil and the US.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that the chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that his company received $2.7 billion in loans from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to finance the refinery.
The Nigerian billionaire disclosed this in a statement at the refinery recently in Lagos amid an ongoing feud with Nigeria’s regulatory authorities.
According to him, he chose to sidestep project financing due to the challenges of securing funds from international lenders.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
