Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has become the 75th richest person in the world after making 354.8bn ($769m) in one day.
The billionaire who had remained around 80 position of the richest people in the world for over a year made the massive leap on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, after his $769m earnings on Tuesday.
According to Bloomberg Billionaire Index, the billionaire’s wealth surged by $769 million in one day, at $21.2 billion from the $20.5 billion it occupied for the past four months.
Dangote, whose 650,000bpd capacity refinery was commissioned on May 22, 2023, made the massive jump, thanks to the strong showing of Dangote Cement, his primary source of wealth.
The development follows the bullish trend of the Nigeria Stock Exchange, which saw significant quoted shares jump on the news of Nigeria’s new President, Bola Tinubu, being successfully sworn in on Monday, May 29, 2023.
The shares of Dangote Cement traded at N290 on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, following investors’ positive sentiments.
The billionaire industrialist has said his refinery will be ready to release the first batch of refined petroleum products into the markets by July ending.
Analysts believe Dangote will rank among the first 20 wealthiest men in the world when his refinery finally comes on stream.
Uche Madubuogu, a financial analyst and banker, told Legit.ng that the Dangote Refinery could catapult him among the top 20 wealthiest men on earth.
Madubuogu said: “We will not be shocked to see his wealth surge when the refinery begins to ship products by August.”
According to him, the refinery holds an enormous promise to revitalise the Nigerian energy industry, especially the petrol import problem Nigeria has faced. “It will help Nigeria reduce dependence on imported petroleum drops. It might help eliminate petrol import,” he said.