The richest Black man alive, Aliko Dangote, has seen his net worth surge above the $20-billion mark for the first time in seven years, as his personal wealth rebounded strongly to the $20.2-billion valuation recorded in November 2014.
Data retrieved by Billionaires.Africa revealed that, since the start of the year, his net worth has increased from $17.8 billion to $20.2 billion as of the close of business yesterday.
So far this year, his personal wealth is up by more than $2.42 billion, or 13.6 percent, which translates to an average gain of $7.66 million per day for the billionaire.Â
The year-to-date increase in his net worth can be linked to the revaluation of his manufacturing conglomerate, Dangote Group, and a surge in the valuation of his cement business.
The last time the Nigerian billionaire was worth this much was 2014, when his net worth fell from over $25 billion to $16.3 billion as a result of the decline in the value of the naira against the dollar and a slump in the value of his shares in his flagship company, Dangote Cement.
Since the start of the year, the market capitalization of Dangote Cement, Africa’s largest cement manufacturer, has increased from N4.17 trillion ($10.14 billion) to N4.77 trillion ($11.59 billion).
This translates to a market cap increase of N598.12 billion ($1.45 billion).
Aside from Dangote, South Africa’s richest man, Johann Rupert is the only African billionaire who has seen his personal wealth rise by more than $2.4 billion since the beginning of the year.
Rupert’s net worth is currently estimated at 10.6 billion.
The billionaire is currently constructing a $19-billion petroleum refinery through his leading manufacturing conglomerate Dangote Group, which will have a capacity of 650,000 barrels of oil per day.
In addition, he closely holds a $2.5-billion urea fertilizer plant that is in the early stages of production.
The plant is expected to manufacture 3 million metric tonnes of urea per annum and generate $400 million in annual foreign exchange from exports to African countries.
Since the start of the year, Dangote’s cement business has reported a revenue of N1.022 trillion ($2.49 billion), up from the revenue of N761.44 billion ($1.85 billion) reported in the corresponding period of 2020.
Meanwhile, profit increased by 33.3 percent from N208.7 billion ($508.1 million) in 2020 to N278.3 billion ($677.6 million) in 2021.
