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Moroccan Prime Minister and leading businessman Aziz Akhannouch’s stake in Afriquia Gaz is now worth more than $600 million thanks to the recent single-digit rise in the shares of the leading oil and gas group on the Casablanca bourse.
Afriquia Gaz SA is a Morocco-based group engaged in refining and marketing liquefied petroleum gas. The group is 30-percent owned by Akwa Group, a conglomerate led by Akhannouch.
In the first nine months of 2021, the group reported a 22.5-percent increase in revenue from MAD4.3 billion ($469.2 million) in 2020 to MAD5.2 billion ($567.2 million).
Throughout 2021, Akhannouch recorded a $179.5-million gain from his stake in Afriquia Gaz thanks to a double-digit surge in the group’s shares for the year.
As of press time, Jan. 19, shares in the group were trading at MAD5,410 ($583), unchanged from their opening price this morning as bullish and bearish pressures were evenly balanced out.
At the current price, the market value of Akhannouch’s stake is MAD5.58 billion ($601.2 million), making him one of the wealthiest investors on the Casablanca bourse.
Since the start of the year, his stake has grown in value by more than $12.2 million from $589 million to $601.2 million.
The surge in the market value of his stake coupled with the recent increase in the valuation of his shareholdings in Akwa Group cements his position as one of Morocco’s wealthiest men.
Aside from his equity position in Afriqua Gaz, Akhannounch holds a beneficial interest in Maghreb Oxygene, a Morocco-based company with active operations in the chemical industry.
