Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote experienced a remarkable upswing in his net worth within a span of 24 hours. The impressive wealth gain can be attributed to the rebound in the shares of his flagship company, Dangote Cement.
According to data tracked by Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote, the founder and chairman of Dangote Group, Africa’s most diversified manufacturing conglomerate, witnessed a remarkable surge in his net worth of $400 million within the past 24 hours, raising his net worth to $19.7 billion from $19.3 billion.
Dangote’s net worth took a wild ride in the past few days, as he suffered a $300-million loss on Tuesday due to selling pressures on the Nigerian Exchange that resulted in a decline in Dangote Cement’s share price.
On Wednesday, his net worth rebounded significantly, surging by $400 million within 24 hours.
The recent development has increased his year-to-date net worth gains to $1.05 billion, setting him apart as one of the few African billionaires who have experienced substantial growth in their net worth since the beginning of the year.
Apart from the increase in his net worth since the beginning of the year, Dangote is set to receive a staggering dividend of N295 billion ($640.6 million) from his cement company, Dangote Cement, following an outstanding performance in its fiscal year 2022.
The $640.6-million dividend, which will be paid directly from Dangote Cement’s retained earnings of N969.48 billion ($2.1 billion) as of Dec. 31, 2022, is higher than the annual government expenditures of African countries such as Rwanda, Burkina Faso, and Malawi.
The group reported a 4.9-percent increase in profits from N364.44 billion ($791 million) to N382.31 billion ($830.3 million) due to higher revenue and the successful negotiation of its tax expense down to N142.7 billion ($310 million) from N173.9 billion ($377.7 million) the previous year.
