Nigerian billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote has witnessed a remarkable financial turnaround, gaining more than $100 million in the first week of 2024 and propelling his net worth further above the $15-billion mark, following a $3.6-billion dip in 2023.
The surge is credited to the robust performance of his diversified investment portfolio on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), driven by a bullish market sentiment that has propelled the local bourse’s all-share index closer to the 80,000 points milestone.
Dangote’s wealth, tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has increased from $15.1 billion at the start of 2024 to $15.2 billion at the time of drafting this report — the $106-million surge in his net worth this year is linked to the performance of his investments on the NGX.
Mastering the markets: Dangote’s billion-dollar holdings
At the heart of his financial resurgence is Dangote’s strategic stakeholdings in key Nigerian companies. These include a 72.7-percent stake in Dangote Sugar Refinery, a 66.5-percent stake in the leading salt processing company NASCON Allied Plc, and an 86-percent ownership in Dangote Cement, his flagship company.
Currently, his stakes in Dangote Sugar Refinery and NASCON Allied Plc are valued at $624 million and $108 million, respectively. Meanwhile, his stake in Dangote Cement, Africa’s largest cement manufacturing company, is estimated at $5.59 billion.
The billion-dollar dilemma: Unpacking the Dangote net worth debate
While Bloomberg identifies Dangote as Africa’s richest man with a net worth of $15.2 billion, Forbes places him second in Africa at $9.8 billion. The main point of contention lies in the valuation of Dangote’s fertilizer plant, Dangote Fertilizer, with a capacity to produce 2.8 million tonnes of urea annually.
Bloomberg factors in the $5.15-billion valuation of Dangote Fertilizer in its calculations, employing a discounted cash flow analysis by KPMG, a valuation confirmed by external analysts.
In contrast, Forbes omits this figure, due to limited access to financial information about the fertilizer plant — this divergence underscores the intricacies in assessing the wealth of a magnate like Dangote, particularly in sectors with limited financial disclosure.