Why Nigerian billionaires dropped on global billionaires ranking

Nigerian billionaires, Aliko Dangote – President/Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, AbdulSamad Rabiu – BUA Group chairman, and Mike Adenuga – Globacom chief, have dropped on the global billionaires ranking.

This is coming less than one year after Forbes magazine named three Nigerians among its 2460 individual billionaires in its 2023 Billionaires list.

According to the February 2023 rich list, Dangote was the 125th richest man and Africa’s first with an estimated wealth of around $14.2 billion after an estimate of $14bn in 2022. Rabiu on the other hand moved from $1.6 billion in 2019, to $6.9 billion in 2022 and $8.2 billion in April 2023 to become the 249th richest person in the world.

Adenuga whose wealth was estimated at $7.3 billion in 2022 suffered a drop in 2023 with an estimation of $6.1 billion but was ranked 418th richest in the world according to Forbes last year.

However, in 2023, the Nigerian billionaires navigated through a harsh economy, flanked by fallen stocks, and rising interest rates, amongst others as a result of new policies such as the the liberalization of the foreign exchange regime in June as part of measures to revive the economy which led to a large devaluation of the naira.

The Central Bank of Nigeria merged all segments of the FX market into the Investors and Exporters window and reintroduced the willing buyer, willing seller model. Ever since the naira has continued to depreciate against the dollar and other major foreign currencies.

These, according to reports forced them to drop on the global billionaires ranking.

AMBusiness reported that Nigeria has only three dollar-billionaires after the executive vice-chairman of FamFa Oil Limited, Folorunso Alakija dropped off the list.

Following the CBN’s decision to loosen its grip on the official exchange market, South African billionaire, Johann Rupert, overtook the founder of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote as the richest man in Africa, a crown he had worn for the past twelve years.

Dangote now ranks as the 220th richest man globally and Africa’s third, with Rabiu moving from 249th to 475th, followed by the third surviving Nigerian on the global billionaires’ list, Adenuga who dropped from 418th to 1010th on the rich list as of the 1st of January, 2024.

According to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires ranking which provides ongoing updates on the net worth and ranking of each individual confirmed to be a billionaire, the value of individuals’ public holdings is updated every five minutes when respective stock markets are open.

The ranking revealed that the combined wealth of Aliko Dangote, Abdulsamad Rabiu and Mike Adenuga declined by $9.3 billion in 2023.

A breakdown of the data reveals how Dangote’s fortune fell by $4.1 billion to $9.4 billion; Rabiu’s wealth declined by $1.9 billion to $5.7 billion; and Adenuga’s dropped by $3.3 billion to $3 billion.

According to the managing director at Afrinvest Consulting Limited, Abiodun Keripe, “The devaluation of the naira would have affected their wealth because the currency has lost its value against the dollar.”

Here are some updates on Nigeria’s billionaires currently:

Dangote, the founder and chairman/CEO of Dangote Group, ranks second in Africa and the first in Nigeria with a net worth of $9.4 billion as of December 29, 2023.

According to Forbes, he owns 85 per cent of publicly traded Dangote Cement through a holding company. Dangote Cement has a production capacity of 48.6 million metric tonnes annually and has operations in ten countries across Africa,”

It added that after many years of development, Dangote’s fertilizer plant in Nigeria began operations in March 2022. Dangote also has an oil refinery, which was inaugurated in May 2023. When in full operation, it is expected to have the capacity to process about 650,000 barrels per day of crude oil, making it the largest single-train refinery in the world.

Rabiu, the founder of BUA Group and a Nigerian conglomerate active in cement production, sugar refining and real estate on the other hand has a net worth of $5.7 billion as of December 29, he ranks second in Nigeria.

He merged his privately-owned Obu Cement Company which he controlled with the listed firm Cement Company of Northern Nigeria in January 2020.

“The combined firm, called BUA Cement plc, trades on the Nigerian stock exchange; Rabiu owns 98.2 per cent of it. He set up his own business in 1988 importing iron, steel and chemicals,” Forbes said.

Forbes also revealed that Adenuga, the chairman/CEO at Globacom Limited ranks third in Nigeria with a net worth of $3 billion as of December 29.

“Adenuga built his fortune in telecom and oil production. His mobile phone network, Globacom, is the third largest operator in Nigeria, with 55 million subscribers,” it said.

It added that his oil exploration outfit, Conoil Producing, operates six oil blocks in the Niger Delta.

In 2022, the naira depreciated against the dollar, dropping to as low as 448/$1 from 157/$1 in 2012 at the official market. It depreciated to 740/$1 from N159/$1 at the parallel market. Ever since, particularly in 2023, it got as high as over a thousand to a dollar.

These exchange rates directly affected the cost of goods and services in international trade and had a substantial impact on a company’s revenue and profit margins.