On Friday, September 9, 2016, Africa’s richest man and our pride, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, 59, officially lost half of his $25 billion fortunes, recording $12.4 billion net worth as Naira crashes, stock market plummets and confidence in Nigeria’s economy nose dives.
The most prestigious and reliable barometer of wealth in the world, Forbes rich list, put the Kano-born billionaire’s real-time net worth at $12.4 billion, placing him on number 91 on September 9.
At his peak on November 5, 2014, the colossus of manufacturing who is king of cement, sugar, salt, flour and more, was worth $25 billion and perched at number 23 on the list of world’s men of means.
Problems with investors’ confidence, insecurity fueled by Boko Haram insurgents, uncertainty over 2015 general elections, crashing prices of oil, troubled Naira against international currencies and stock market challenges affected the fortunes of our well-established billionaires. Their net worth suffered irreparably.
In one week that November 2014, Dangote lost $5 billion.
Between November 5, 2014 and March 2, 2015, the soft-spoken adulated mogul lost $10.3 billion. And on March 12, 2015, when the annual list was refreshed and re-computed, he broke the record as the greatest loser among billionaires. His net worth dropped to $14.7 billion, and his ranking fell to number 67 from 23.
This current economic crisis also saw two of our dollar billionaires falling off the Forbes’ list. Forte Oil’s elongated shadow, Mr. Femi Otedola, 52, and Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, 55, both lost their spots on the world’s rich list.
From a peak of $1.7 billion, the introduction of flexible exchange rate in June 2016 saw Otedola’s net worth of $1.2 billion reducing to less than $1 billion.
And Rabiu’s peak of $1.2 billion also dropped on account of the flexible exchange rate which saw dollar, hitherto exchanging for N197 jumping nearer N300 in a few days in June. Now, the official rate is nearer N315/$1.
Today, only three Nigerians are officially dollar billionaires – Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Dr. Mike Adenuga, Jnr. and Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija. And they have all suffered huge losses.
For the chairman of Globacom and Conoil, his net worth rose to $11.4 billion on his 63rd birthday on April 29, 2016, settling at number 99 on the Forbes list. By Friday, September 9, he had also lost almost half of his fortunes, with $6.5 billion against his name at number 214.
FAMFA Oil’s Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, 65, stood at number 1,138 with $1.8 billion on Friday, September 9. Africa’s most powerful woman, our continent’s second richest woman and world’s third richest black woman was once worth $2.5 billion.According to encomium.ng
This fierce recession has affected the rich and poor, with millions reduced from billionaires and millionaires as the Naira crashes, inflation skyrockets and production stagnates.
With millions out of job and money scarcer than ever, purchasing power are at its lowest in about 30 years.
Meanwhile, the other billionaires across the world are smiling, with their fortunes multiplying.
That Friday, September 9, the top 5 richest persons were
Amancio Ortega, 80, from Spain with $78 billion;
Bill Gates, 60, American with $77.4 billion;
Warren Buffet, 86, American with $65.9 billion;
Jeff Bezos, 52, American with $65.7 billion and
Mark Zuckerberg, 32, worth $54.7 billion
AS AT FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2016
ALIKO DANGOTE – $25 billion $12.4 billion
MIKE ADENUGA – $11.4 billion $6.5 billion
FOLORUNSHO ALAKIJA – $2.5 billion $1.8 billion
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