The news of the lockdown hit raw nerves across all sectors in Nigeria. One thing that was obvious from the onset was that everyone was going to be hit somehow, but what no one could say for sure, was how.

Nairametrics had earlier examined the first 12 weeks of COVID-19 in Nigeria, and found that Nigeria’s billionaires lost billions between February and April. However, the gradual easing of the lockdown which started on May 1, appears to have brought some relief to these men, giving them room to recover some of the earlier losses.

Jim Ovia
Zenith bank founder Jim Ovia is the largest individual shareholder with 3,546,199,395 direct shares and 1,513,137,010 indirect shares.

Zenith bank closed April at N14.3, putting the value of Ovia’s total 5,059,336,405 shares at N72,348,510,591.5 (N72.35 billion).

During the month of May, the share appreciated by 18.2%, and was worth N16.9 at the end of trading on May 29.

With this, the worth of Ovia’s 5,059,336,405 shares increased by N13.15 billion to N85,502,785,244.50.

The volatility of the shares in the previous quarter had seen the billionaire lose about N21.2 billion, but May 2020 sure gave him a chance to recover some of this.

Herbert Wigwe
Group MD/CEO of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, has 201,231,713 direct shares and 1,184,680,195.5 indirect shares with the bank, totalling to 1.39 billion shares.

At N6.60 per unit, the total shares were worth N9.15 billion (N9,147,018,596.1) on April 30.

Access bank stocks moved upwards to N7.1, bringing the worth of the stocks to N9.84 billion (N9,839,974,550.35).

Wigwe’s stock value gained N692.96 million, a mild compensation for losing N2.22 billion in the first 12 weeks of COVID-19 presence in Nigeria.

Aliko Dangote
Dangote Cement shares were worth N130 at the end of April, having had a rough first quarter. However, the price improved over the next four weeks and ended May 29 at N139 per unit.

Aliko Dangote directly owns 14,500,315,501 shares in Dangote Cement Plc, as well as 27,642,637 shares which he controls through Dangote Industries Limited.

All 14,527,958,138 shares were worth N1.88 trillion (N1,888,634,557,940) on April 30, and the value increased to N2 trillion (N2,019,386,181,182) by May 29, an increase of N130 billion (N130,751,623,242).

A similar trend is also seen in Dangote Sugar where share price increased from N12.45 on April 30 to N12.90 at the close of trading on May 29.

The billionaire directly owns 653,095,014 shares and indirectly owns 8,122,446,281 shares through the Dangote Industries Limited in Dangote Sugar, summing up to 8.77 billion shares.

All shares were worth N109 billion (N109,255,489,123) on April 30, and appreciated through the month of May to close at N113 billion on May 29.

From the increase in the market share price of Dangote Sugar, Aliko Dangote became N3.9 billion (N3,948,993,583) richer.

Summing up the gains in Dangote Cement and Dangote Sugar, we can see that the billionaire added another N134.7 billion (N134,700,616,825) to his worth.

This article does not include calculations for NASCON. Aliko Dangote is not listed on the board, hence, there is no way to confirm the exact amount of stocks he owns in the company.

However, NASCON allied shares were worth N10.05 on April 30 and made a 10.4% increase to N11.10 by May 29.

Tony Elumelu
The popular TOE, as he is called, controls a total of 2,304,211,118 units of shares – 190,100,234 direct and 2,114,110,884 indirect shares.

UBA’s shares tried to regain losses from earlier months, and moved from N6.05 on April 30 to N6.65 on May 29.

The total worth of Elumelu’s 2.3 billion shares appreciated from N13,940,477,263 on April 30 to N15,323,003,934 on May 29, giving the billionaire an additional N1.38 billion (N1,382,526,670.8).

Compared to the N1.49 billion lost in the preceding 12 weeks, Elumelu clearly recovered most of the earlier losses.

Abdulsamad Rabiu
The merger of CCNN and Obu cement gave birth to BUA cement. The 2019 financials from the company shows that Rabiu owns 19 billion (19,044,995,225) direct shares.

He also has indirect shareholdings through 3 companies, totalling to 12.2 billion (12,225,657,346) units.

BUA cement stocks ended April 30 at N32.60 and appreciated by 28% to N42 per unit at the close of trading on May 29.

By April 30, Rabiu’s 31.27 billion shares (direct and indirect) were worth N1.01 trillion (N1,019,423,273,814.60) at N32.6 per unit, and by the end of trading on May 29, the market value of the same shares had risen to N1.31 trillion (N 1,313,367,407,982.00).

The billionaire’s worth added N293.94 billion (N 293,944,134,167.40) representing a 28% gain, and making him the highest billionaire gainer in the period under review.

Mike Adenuga
As Chairman of Conoil Nigeria Plc, Mike Adenuga directly controls 516,298,603 units of shares, as well as 103,259,720 units of shares controlled through Conpetro Limited, making for about 74.4% of Conoil’s issued share capital.

Conoil’s stock prices closed at N17.4 on April 30, putting the value of Adenuga’s indirect shares at N1.79 billion (N1,796,719,128), and his direct shares at N8.9 billion (N8,983,595,692.2), totalling to N10.78 billion.

Conoil gained 20.7% in May, and ended at N21 per unit share at the end of trading on May 29.

With this, the total shares were worth N13 billion; direct – N10,842,270,663 and indirect – N 2,168,454,120.

After losing N371 million in the preceding 12 weeks, it must have been refreshing to gain some N2.23 billion in four weeks.

Austin Avuru
However, the month of May was not profitable for the co-founder of Seplat, Austin Avuru, who indirectly owns about 58,970,463 indirect shares in the oil and gas company.

A stock price of N494.4 as at April 30 showed that these stocks were worth N29.15 billion (N29,154,996,907.2).

At the share price of N476.4 on May 29, Austin Avuru’s shares were worth N28,093,528,573.20.

He lost another N1.06 billion, after an earlier loss of N6.5 billion between February to April.

In all, Seplat stocks have fallen some 28% from January till May 29. Sad loss for Avuru.