WEDNESDAY February 19, 2025 | TheNewsDESK
The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has climbed to the 86th position on the global billionaire rankings, with his wealth reaching $23.9 billion, according to Forbes, ThePUNCH reports.
This marks a significant jump from his 144th position in 2024, with his fortune rising from $13.4 billion to $23.9 billion in just a year.
The growth is attributed to the successful operations of the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos, which has boosted his financial standing.
Dangote remains Africa’s richest person and one of the most influential business figures on the continent.
Forbes estimated Dangote’s net worth at $23.9bn, primarily due to his 92.3 per cent stake in the Dangote refinery.
The 67-year-old businessman is once again one of the top 100 richest individuals worldwide, a position he has not held since 2018, according to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List.
This places him significantly ahead of South Africa’s Johann Rupert, who is ranked 161st in the world with an estimated wealth of $14.4bn, and Nigeria’s Mike Adenuga, who is the second richest in Nigeria and 481 in the world, with a net worth of $6.8bn.
Dangote disrupted the government’s oil monopoly by constructing the largest petroleum refinery in Africa, facing serious challenges from those he called the oil mafia.
The 650,000-capacity Dangote refinery is the seventh-largest refinery in the world and the largest in Africa. Additionally, the refinery’s adjacent petrochemical complex has an annual production capacity of 3 million metric tonnes of urea, making it Africa’s largest fertiliser producer.
The refinery is already having a significant impact on global energy markets. Imports of petroleum into Nigeria are on track to reach an eight-year low, affecting European refiners that have traditionally sold to Nigeria.
“I want to provide a blueprint for industrialisation across Africa. We have to build our nation by ourselves. We have to build our continent by ourselves, not [rely on] foreign investment,” he told Forbes in an interview.
Dangote said the refinery is the biggest risk of his life and without success, it would have affected him greatly. “It was the biggest risk of my life. If this didn’t work, I was dead,” he added.
The Director of the Africa Programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Zainab Usman, according to Forbes, said Nigerians see Dangote as a hero and a real industrialist transforming the country.
“He is seen in most parts of Nigeria as a hero. He is seen as a real industrialist who builds things,” she said.
