- Emerges As only African on World’s top Riches 100
By Abiola Olawale
Nigerian billionaire businessman and the President of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has accomplished a remarkable financial milestone, with his net worth soaring up to $27.8 billion.
This significant surge in fortune comes after the successful launch and operationalization of his ambitious multibillion-dollar oil refinery.
According to a report by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote’s net worth increased by $15.1 billion to $27.8 billion as of October 18.
This means the billionaire businessman moved up to 65th position, making him the only African in the top 100 spot.
Also, the development places Dangote more than 100 spots ahead of Johann Rupert, the South African billionaire, who is ranked 174th.
The New Diplomat reports that this comes after the Dangote Refinery began refining crude oil.
Situated in Lagos State, the 650,000 barrel-per-day plant facility has been poised to transform the nation’s oil industry, dramatically reducing the country’s reliance on imported petroleum products.
The facility began the production of diesel on January 12, but petrol production did not commence until September 3 due to several factors.
The refinery had issues with accessing crude feedstock from international oil companies (IOCs) in Nigeria. Dangote had revealed that the development forced his company to import crude from countries like Brazil and the United States to bridge the supply gap.
However, after the intervention of President Bola Tinubu, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery and other refineries in naira on July 29.
Eventually, on October 5, the federal government said Nigeria officially commenced the sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in naira.
The refinery and the national oil firm also started trading in naira.
