Africa’s richest man Dangote loses N343.1bn in 24 hours

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote has reportedly lost a total of $900 million, equivalent to N343 billion in less than 24 hours, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The billionaire magnate lost this after his company, Dangote Industries Limited was rated the biggest loser at the end of the trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people, published that Dangote’s wealth fell from $18.4bn to $17.5bn on Friday, January 8 making him the 114th wealthiest man in the world, down from 106th .

He is now the only Nigerian on the list of 500 billionaires reported by Bloomberg.

Dangote made some further fortunes towards the end of 2020 with his wealth jumping from $15.5 billion on December 13 to $17.8 billion.

It further gained $600m in the first seven days of 2021 but lost all of it and more last Friday.

The share price of Dangote Cement Plc, the country’s biggest listed company and Africa’s largest cement producer, tumbled by 8.13 per cent to close at N225 on Friday from N244.90 on Thursday.

“The majority of Dangote’s fortune is derived from his 86 per cent stake in publicly-traded Dangote Cement. He holds the shares in the company directly and through his conglomerate, Dangote Industries,” Bloomberg said.