In the aftermath of the Omicron Covid-19 variant and the strong dollar rattling financial markets across board, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, still posted an exponential increase in wealth and cash holdings.
Currently worth $19.2 billion, the 64-year-old Nigerian has gained about $1.44 billion since the beginning of the year. According to estimates retrieved from Bloomberg Billionaire Index, he holds $3.48 billion in cash.
Dangote’s cash holdings are calculated based on dividends, taxes, insider trades, and other expenditures. 260 million barrels of crude oil or 10.8 million troy ounces of gold can be bought with Mr Dangote’s net worth of $19.2 billion.
He is on track to end the year at the highest level of wealth he has ever achieved since 2014, boosted by the second straight year of gains at his cement business. Dangote Cement, the tycoon’s primary asset, is benefiting from strong cement demand in Africa’s biggest economy and rising cement prices.
Aliko is almost completing a huge refinery in Nigeria worth $19 billion that will supply more than Nigeria’s current fuel imports.
Dangote’s fortune is almost entirely derived from his 86% stake in Dangote Cement, which is publicly traded. Dangote Industries, the conglomerate he owns shares in, holds shares directly in the company.
Dangote holds stock in publicly traded companies directly and indirectly through his holding company, Dangote Industries, which also owns closely held businesses in food manufacturing, fertilizer, oil production, and other areas.
Dangote also owns stakes in Nascon Allied Industries and United Bank for Africa.
A fertilizer plant with a capacity to produce 2.8 million tonnes of urea a year is his most valuable closely held asset. KPMG analysed its discounted cash flow to determine its net value. Six residential and commercial properties are owned by the billionaire in Lagos.
Born into a wealthy Muslim family of traders in the northern part of Nigeria, Dangote established his own company selling cement at the age of 21. Government policies that encouraged ways to reduce imports prompted him to switch to manufacturing building materials in the 1990s.