Aliko Dangote suffers $157-million loss in single day as Dangote Cement stock falls

Africa’s richest man and Nigerian billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote saw his net worth plummet by $157 million in a single day as his wealth was valued at less than $21 billion.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote’s net worth has dropped from more than $21 billion at the start of business yesterday to $20.9 billion at the time of writing this report.

Dangote is the founder of Dangote Industries Limited, a Nigerian conglomerate with diverse interests.

The decrease in Dangote’s net worth can be linked to a drop in the value of his 86-percent stake in Dangote Cement, as the company’s share price declined on the Nigerian Exchange.

Dangote Cement shares have fallen from an all-time high of N300 ($0.72) at the start of trading on the local bourse on Tuesday to N297 ($0.66) at the time of writing this report.

The recent share price decline follows the Central Bank of Nigeria’s decision to raise the benchmark interest rate to 13 percent after two years of expansionary monetary policy.

The rate, which had been locked in at 11.5 percent since September 2020 as the Central Bank sought to spur recovery from the recession caused by COVID-19, has now been raised by the apex bank after the country’s inflation rate surpassed 16 percent.

Led by Dangote, Dangote Industries Limited has grown into Africa’s most diversified conglomerate, with a controlling stake in Dangote Cement and a stake in future petrochemical industry players through its fertilizer and oil refinery businesses.

Dangote has finalized a new $700-million local bond program to help finance the completion of his $19-billion integrated refinery and petrochemical plant.

According to the U.S. credit rating agency Fitch Ratings, the refinery project is still on track to be completed by 2023 and will require an additional $1.1 billion in capital expenditure, which will be partially funded by the new bond.