Due to a surge in the share price of his cement company, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has grown his fortune by $1.3 billion in less than a month.
Dangote Cement Plc closed at its highest level since 2010, adding to an 11 per cent gain in 2022, compared to 7.59 per cent for the Nigerian exchange’s main board in Lagos. To increase its worth, the Lagos-based company recently completed a share buyback to boost its value.
Dangote is one of only 35 billionaires among the world’s top 100 wealthiest people who saw their fortunes improve in January, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Gautam Adani, India’s second richest man, has seen the biggest increase, climbing $13 billion to $89.5 billion.
The Nigerian cement tycoon is on track to increase his wealth this year after completing a $19 billion refinery project. The crude processor’s capacity of 650,000 barrels per day is enough to meet all of Africa’s domestic fuel needs while also boosting exports.
Dangote was born into a wealthy Muslim family of northern traders, putting him in a good position to start his own cement company at the age of 21. He shifted to manufacturing the building material in the 1990s, backed by government programs emphasizing measures to lessen dependency on imports.
