Dangote drops out of World's Top 100 Rich list as Naira crashes

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, has dropped out of the list of top 100 richest people in the world. This is largely due to the devaluation of the Naira. Dangote who owns the second largest sugar-refinery in the world, remains richer than American billionaires, Donald Trump, and Oprah Winfrey who ranks as the second richest black woman in the world.

Dangote is now worth $11.1 billion, while Trump and Oprah are estimated at $4.5 billion and $3.1 billion, respectively.

The devaluation of the Naira against the dollar from about 198 to about 300, has eroded about a quarter of Dangote’s wealth as he continues to invest heavily in Nigeria. At the launch of the new foreign exchange regime on June 23rd, Dangote fell from number 46 on the world billionaire list to 71 and has continued to drop as the Naira continues to crash.

According to Bloomberg billionaires, Dangote, who was worth $15.4 billion (N3.05 trillion) in March, is now worth $11.1 billion (N3.3 trillion) - richer in naira but poorer in dollars.