Dangote slides down Forbes richest people’s list

Africa’s richest man and the President/Chief Executive, Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote has dropped down the Forbes rich list after his total net worth dropped by $2.5bn in the last 30 days.

Bloomberg Billionaires Index reports that the ranking of the world’s 500 richest people, showed that Dangote’s wealth fell from $15.9bn as of February 25, 2020, to $13.4bn on March 26.

Dangote who had risen to a high of $16.5bn on January 27, 2020, was the only Nigerian on the list of 500 billionaires and retained his position as Africa’s richest person in the latest ranking which now makes him the 77th richest person in the world with $13.4bn.

“Africa’s richest person controls Dangote Industries, a closely held conglomerate. The Lagos, Nigeria-based Company owns sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest cement producer, Dangote Cement, which had revenue of N901.2bn ($2.5bn) in 2018. It also has interests in sugar, salt, flour, fertiliser and packaged food,” Bloomberg said.

The share price of Dangote Cement Plc, the biggest listed company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, fell by 23.71 per cent to N129.70 on Thursday from N170 on February 25, 2020, forcing a decline in his earnings.

The founder and Chief Executive Officer of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, remains the richest person in the world with a total net worth of $116bn, followed by Bill Gates ($96.4bn), Bernard Arnault ($77bn), Warren Buffett ($71.2bn) and Mark Zuckerberg ($60bn).