Despite the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and spilling into 2021, it has been a year like no other for Nigerian-born business magnate, Aliko Dangote. For Africa’s richest man, he has significantly moved up in the world billionaires’ list as his fortune increased to $17.8 billion as against last year’s $14.8 billion to emerge as the only Nigerian in the Bloomberg’s yearly top billionaire lists. Dangote, who remains the richest man in Africa for the eighth year running, was the only Nigerian on the list of the top 120 billionaires, as released on Monday by Bloomberg in its yearly billionaires list. This was coming on the heels of Dangote being recently named the sixth most charitable man in the World by Richtopia, a digital periodical that covers business, economics, and financial news, based in the United Kingdom.
This recognition came after he endowed his foundation, the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) to the tune of $1.25 billion. Despite his stupendous wealth and loads of recognition coming his way, Dangote seems to project an image of a modestly successful encyclopaedia salesman. The billionaire, with his improved worth of $17.8 billion, controls Dangote Industries, a closely-held conglomerate that owns sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest cement producer, Dangote Cement. According to Forbes, the subsidiary produces 45.6 million metric tons of cement every year and operates in 10 African countries. As of 31 March 2021, Dangote Cement Group reported quarterly revenue of N332.7 billion —approximately $808.5 million. He also owns the world’s third-largest sugar refinery. But unlike many wealthy Nigerians who made their fortune in oil, Dangote initially chose to go down a different path —he also has interests in sugar, salt, fertiliser and packaged foods— but he has since entered that same oil and gas industry. To put some of his cash reserves to work, Dangote invested part of his fortunes on a massive oil refinery in Lagos. The $15 billion refinery is the largest industrial project ever in Nigeria, and on completion, it’s expected to produce 650,000 barrels of oil per day to significantly reduce Nigeria’s reliance on international suppliers for oil and gas and end the import of $7 billion fuel a year. It is noteworthy that the state has to look towards the billionaire in its effort to safeguard the country’s energy security. Dangote’s ambitious stride has convinced the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to buy a 20 per cent share of the oil refinery at a whopping sum of $2.76 billion. Some people assume that Dangote is tougher than the next guy and seen as a monopolist who squeezes favours from the government of the day. But despite a lot of mud thrown at him, soft-spoken Dangote has maintained his charm and remains a networker extraordinaire. For the Kano-born billionaire who always loves to relax with select friends inside his 108-foot yacht, moored in Lagos Lagoon, it is evidentially confirmed that he’s financially capable and stable, and there is no gainsaying that he will continue to rub shoulders with his peers —the world’s richest people— and remain on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index daily ranking.