Aliko Dangote: The Richest Black Man (Person) in the World

NIGERIA - Dangote is Africa’s richest man

Nigerian business mogul Alhaji Aliko Dangote emerged as Africa’s richest person on the Forbes’ list for 2011 with a net worth of $13.8bn. This makes him the 51st richest person in the world. His fortunes surged by 557 per cent from the $2.1bn he recorded last year, the steepest surge in wealth by any billionaire, Forbes said. Another Nigerian business mogul, Globacom founder Chief Mike Adenuga, joined the Forbes Magazine’ billionaires list with a net worth of $2bn. Adenuga is rated 597th richest person in the world.

Dangote’s fortune surged during the period after he consolidated all his public and private cement holdings throughout Africa into the continent’s largest cement manufacturer and listed it on the Nigerian stock exchange last October.Dangote Cement now has a market value in excess of $13bn, and accounts for a quarter of the Nigeria Stock Exchange’s total market capitalization.

The dearth of native suppliers to meet increasing cement demand is driving the stock price. Dangote projects demand at 72 million metric tons and growing because of the drive to build infrastructure in Nigeria, Africa’s most populated nation, as well as other countries; current supply is 67 million metric tons, a shortfall of 5 million metric tons.For perspective, he is now richer than long-time white South African billionaires Nicky Oppenheimer of De Beers and Johann Rupert of luxury goods group Richemont, which owns Cartier, Dunhill and other premium brands.

For now he’s gearing up to introduce Dangote Cement to foreign investors. Companies listed on the Nigerian stock exchange are required to have a minimum free float of 25 per cent. Dangote initially listed 5 per cent of shares.According to analysts at Thaddeus Investment Advisors, the Nigerian market is too shallow for a stock of Dangote Cement’s size to be listed on the exchange; this is why the balance of the free float will be listed outside of Nigeria.

Dangote, who recently bought himself a $45 million Bombardier aircraft for his birthday, has been shuttling back and forth to London for months, in anticipation of a public offering in London later this year. According to Forbes, Dangote is certainly one to watch. After a lucrative career in trading, Dangote ventured into manufacturing pasta, salt, sugar, and flour in 1997, in part encouraged by the policies of former president Olusegun Obasanjo.