Forbes Real-time Global Billionaires List has placed Aliko Dangote on number 172 with a net worth of $10.7 billion behind South Africa’s Johann Rupert & Family who is ranked 145 with net worth of $12 billion.
This means that South Africa’s Johann Rupert has displaced billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote to become Africa’s richest man.
Aliko Dangote’s dislodgement from the number one position in Africa’s Billionaires Ranking may not be unconnected with the recent foreign exchange rates unification being implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), analysts say.
There have been reports in the media of how Dangote lost $4.12 billion since the CBN decided to float the Naira against the US dollar and other currencies, a development that might have contributed to Dangote’s drop from the list of top 100 richest people in the world, and number one in Africa.
“Aliko Dangote’s wealth has decreased by $4.12 billion since the liberalisation of the naira and the unification of exchange rates by CBN,” a report by Nairametrics was quoted to have said.
The floating of the Naira affects the valuation of Dangote’s assets, including Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, and Bascom Allied Industries.
As a result of this, Forbes and Bloomberg had to recalculate the fortunes of all Nigerian billionaires leading to significant drops in the wealth of Dangote, Abdul Samad Rabiu, founder of BUA Cement, and Mike Adenuga, Chairman of Globacom telecommunications Limited.
However, it is generally believed that the expected commencement of petroleum products refining at the $20 billion Dangote Petrochemical and Refinery commissioned last month, Aliko Dangote may bounce back to number one position in Africa as the richest man.
