Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote’s worth has risen by N8.4 trillion due to recent demands for his cement unit, Dangote Cement and the recently completed fertilizer plant.
According to a Bloomberg’s report, his wealth surged to $20.1 billion (N8.4 trillion) last Friday.
Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index put his networth at $26.27 billion (N11 trillion) which he achieved in 2014.
Dangote bounced back because of the surging price of his Dangote Cement. Higher oil and fertilizer prices also helped to shore up his wealth by as much as N8.2 trillion this year to N8.4 trillion ($21.2billion). This is the richest he has been since 2014, Bloomberg reports.
High Cement demand and the rising price of construction materials in Nigeria have helped to boost revenue at Dangote Cement, one of his main assets.
The 64-year-old is about to complete a $19 billion (N7.8 trillion) refinery with the capacity to supply Nigeria with refined petroleum products.
He also started exporting fertilizer to the U.S and Brazil after the completion of his fertilizer plant with a capacity to produce 3 million tons of urea and ammonia yearly.
Of the 54 countries in Africa, only 20 are richer than Dangote. He will be on number 21 in the list in comparison to other African countries if he were a country, according to VON Digest.
He is richer than Burundi, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Mozambique and others.
Dangote was born into a wealthy Muslim family of traders in the north. He incorporated his own business and started selling cement at 21. He changed to manufacturing building material in the 1990s. He was also helped by government strategies that enabled ways to reduce the need for imports.
He has been accused by critics of taking advantage of his close ties to the government to gain an unfair advantage. He has consistently dismissed the claim.
