Moroccan Prime Minister and leading businessman Aziz Akhannouch’s net worth has plummeted by millions of dollars since the start of the year, as a market-wide sell-off of shares on the Casablanca bourse led to a drop in the value of companies in which he has significant stakes.
Akhannouch, one of Africa’s wealthiest businessmen, has seen his net worth fall by $300 million since the start of the year, from $2.2 billion to $1.9 billion at the time of writing.
This is $100-million more than the figures reported in the first week of June, when his wealth fell by $200 million due to a drop in the valuation of his industrial assets, which offset previous gains.
The performance of his shareholdings in Maghreb Oxygene, a Moroccan chemical industry player, and Afriquia Gaz SA, a Morocco-based group engaged in refining and marketing liquefied petroleum gas, can be attributed to the multimillion-dollar decline in his wealth since the year began.
Akhannouch, one of Morocco’s wealthiest businessmen and the richest investor on the Casablanca bourse, derives the majority of his fortune from Akwa Group, a multibillion-dollar conglomerate founded in 1932 by his father and a partner, Ahmed Wakrim.
The Moroccan billionaire indirectly owns Afriquia Gaz SA and Maghreb Oxygene through the multibillion-dollar behemoth.
Maghreb Oxygene’s profit increased by 9.8 percent in the first quarter of 2022, from MAD67.9 million ($6.9 million) in the first quarter of 2021 to MAD74.5 million ($7.6 million) in the present period.
The management stated that the growth in the group’s strong earnings aligns with its annual revenue forecasts and strategic expansion roadmap, and that the performance will consolidate the group’s position by controlling its growth levers.
Its strong first-quarter financial performance in 2022 follows a double-digit increase in revenue from MAD251 million ($25.5 million) in 2020 to MAD277.3 million ($28.1 million) in 2021.
