Aliko Dangote loses US$500 million as cement firm shares fall

African billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote has seen his net worth fall by more than $500 million in the past 27 days, as shares of his flagship company, Dangote Cement Plc, dropped by a single-digit percent on the Nigerian Exchange.

Dangote, the continent’s wealthiest man who has retained his position for the eleventh year in a row, has seen his net worth dip below $20 billion in recent times, owing to recent profit-taking and portfolio-rotation activities in the shares of his cement firm.

Dangote Cement, Africa’s largest cement firm, has seen its share price fall by four percent in the last 27 days, from N284.9 ($0.685) per share at the close of the market on Jan. 26 to N273.5 ($0.657) at the time of writing.

The recent dip in the cement maker’s stock can be attributed to profit-booking actions by investors roughly four weeks after it repurchased 126,748,153 shares, or 0.74 percent, of its issued and fully paid ordinary shares at an average price of N276.89 ($0.667) per share.

As a result of the price depreciation, Dangote’s net worth has fallen from $20.4 billion at the close of business on Jan. 26 to $19.9 billion at the time of writing this report.

This amounts to a total loss of $500 million for the billionaire businessman in the past 27 days.

Despite a multimillion-dollar drop in his net worth due to the volatility of his stake in Dangote Cement, Dangote’s net worth has risen by a whopping $865 million since the start of the year, making him one of only a few African billionaires to see his wealth increase by more than $700 million since the year began.

Another billionaire who has seen his wealth increase by over $700 million in 2022 is Zimbabwe’s richest man Strive Masiyiwa.

Masiyiwa has seen his fortune climb from $2.7 billion at the start of the year to $3.4 billion at the time of writing this article.