The slump in oil prices, the consequent devaluation of the naira and the downturn in the capital market have seen Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, lose half of his fortune, according to the latest ranking by Bloomberg Billionaires.
Dangote, who is the President, Dangote Group, is ranked 83rd by Bloomberg Billionaires on the list of the globe’s richest people, with his net worth estimated at $12.8bn. This indicates that the billionaire, who was estimated by Forbes Magazine to be worth $25bn in February last year, has now lost $12.2bn to the economic headwinds.
On December 23, 2014, Forbes had reported that Dangote had lost more than more than $7.8bn of his estimated $25bn fortune between February and December.
It was learnt that the New Year did not bring better tidings for the billionaire as the naira continued to slide and the stock market, which closed 2014 with a negative return of 16.14 per cent, recorded its worst start to a year, falling by 13 per cent in a week.
In the first three weeks of the year, the report found that Dangote Cement Plc, the billionaire’s largest enterprise and the most capitalised company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange had lost N750bn or 22 per cent of its market capitalisation.
With up to 91 per cent stake in Dangote Cement, Dangote bore an estimated N682.5bn of the N750bn loss.
Since the report was published on January 26, the stock market has continued its decline with its year-to-date return sliding from about 16 per cent to 19.39 per cent as of Thursday. Also, as of Thursday, Dangote Cement Plc had lost an additional N187bn in market capitalisation, bringing its year-to-date losses to N937bn.
The development, based on the Bloomberg ranking has meant more losses for the billionaire, whose conglomerate has continued to be battered as a result of a flailing economy.