Dangote’s wealth drops by $3.46bn to four-year low

The net worth of Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, has dropped for the second straight year to the lowest since 2019. 

Dangote finished the year as the 128th wealthiest man in the world, down from 79th position in 2022, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people.

The president and chief executive of Dangote Cement saw his wealth fall to $15.2 billion on Friday from $18.7 billion at the end of last year and $19.1 billion in 2021.

“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.

Dangote Cement, Africa’s biggest cement producer, had revenue of N1.38 trillion ($3.4 billion) in 2021.

Dangote’s other publicly traded assets include stakes in Dangote Sugar, Nascon Allied Industries and United Bank for Africa.

His stakes in the publicly traded companies are held directly and through Dangote Industries, which also owns closely held businesses operating in food manufacturing, fertiliser, oil and other industries.

“His most valuable closely held asset is a fertiliser plant with capacity to produce up to 2.8 million tonnes of urea annually. Its net value is based on a discounted cash flow analysis by KPMG. The valuation was confirmed by outside analysts,” Bloomberg said.

It said a $19 billion oil refinery that is currently being developed in Nigeria is not included in the valuation because it is not yet operational.

“The billionaire owns six residential and commercial properties in Lagos. They are valued using the capitalisation method, using rental income provided by Dangote’s spokesman, Anthony Chiejina, and capitalisation rates from CBRE Broll Nigeria. His cash holdings are based on an analysis of dividends, taxes, insider transactions and other expenditures.”