Nigeria’s influential business tycoon and Africa’s second richest man, Aliko Dangote, has experienced a significant surge in wealth, gaining an estimated $575 million within the past 24 hours.
This remarkable recovery was observed on Monday, as reported by the Forbes billionaire index and cited by Nairametrics.
With a net worth of $10.5 billion, the 66-year-old billionaire has shown a 5.82% increase in his wealth within the last 24 hours. As of this morning, Dangote’s net worth was around $9.8 billion.
This boost can be attributed to the 10% gain in shares of Dangote Cement Plc during today’s trading session. The surge follows the announcement of the commencement of the Tranche I share buyback program by the company.
Nairametrics previously reported on Dangote Cement’s share buyback program, which involves the repurchase of up to 168,735,593 fully paid-up ordinary shares. This represents 1% of the currently issued shares. The shares of Dangote Cement opened trading at N330.1 per share, marking a 52-week high.
Background
In the first half of this year, Dangote’s diversified conglomerate, with interests in cement, sugar, salt, flour, oil, and gas, among others, gained $504 million from the stock market.
As a result, his net worth increased from $4.9 billion as of December 31, 2022, to $5.4 billion as of June 30, 2023. This growth was primarily driven by the 10% rise in shares of Dangote Cement Plc in the first half of the year.
Dangote’s holdings include Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, and NASCON. He owns 85% of publicly traded Dangote Cement through a holding company.
Dangote Cement has operations in 10 countries across Africa and has the capacity to produce 48.6 million metric tons annually.
Previously, Aliko Dangote held the title of Africa’s richest man for 12 years before being surpassed by South African billionaire Johann Rupert.
Currently, Rupert boasts a net worth of $11.6 billion, according to Forbes Magazine’s Real-time Global Billionaires Ranking.
Dangote’s wealth experienced a decline when the Central Bank of Nigeria loosened its grip on the official exchange market, resulting in a $4.12 billion drop. In 2022, his net worth stood at $14 billion, reaching its highest point of $25 million in 2014.
