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BREAKING: Dangote bounces back big time! *From Africa’s riches to world’s 86th
With a whopping $23.9 billion in his kitty, Aliko Dangote, surged from 144th place in the world to 86th richest in the world position, while regaining the number one position, which he previously lost to Johann Rupert, South African billionaire, recently.
Reports quoting the current Forbes ranking, said the Nigerian billionaire, who is not only the first private individual to own a refinery in the country and the whole of Africa but owner of the single chain refinery in the world, had doubled his wealth which hit $23.9 billion, by the entrance of the Dangote Refinery, which hit the market last year.
Forbes, which ranks the Nigerian entrepreneur as the wealthiest person in Africa and 86th in the world, up from 144th in the previous report with just $13.4 billion, now estimates his net worth at $23.9 billion, primarily due to his 92.3 per cent stake in Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals.
The 67-year-old mogul, which interests spreads across a different spectrum of businesses, including trading and manufacturing, by the current outing is once again one of the top 100 richest individuals worldwide, a position he has not held since 2018, according to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List.
This places him significantly ahead of South African Johann Rupert, who is ranked 161st in the world with an estimated wealth of $14.4 billion and very far above Mike Adenuga, who is the second richest in Nigeria and 481, in the world, with a net worth of $6.8 billion.
Dangote disrupted the government’s oil monopoly by constructing the largest petroleum refinery in Africa. After 11 years, a $23 billion investment, and numerous challenges, the Dangote Refinery began operations last year. Located on a vast 6,200-acre site in the Lekki Free Zone, the refinery, at full capacity, will process a remarkable 650,000 barrels per day (b/d), making it the seventh-largest refinery in the world and the largest in Africa. Additionally, the refinery’s adjacent petrochemical complex has an annual production capacity of 3 million metric tons of urea, making it Africa’s largest fertiliser producer.
The Dangote Refinery is already having a significant impact on global energy markets. Imports of petroleum into Nigeria are on track to reach an eight-year low, affecting European refiners that have traditionally sold to Nigeria, according to energy intelligence firm Vortexa. Furthermore, Nigeria has become a net exporter of jet fuel, naphtha (a solvent used in varnishes, laundry soaps, and cleaning fluids), and fuel oil, according to S&P Global.
Dangote sees the refinery as part of a larger vision to transform Nigeria, one of the world’s largest crude oil producers, into a major producer of refined petroleum products. This would enable Nigeria to compete with European refineries and supply gasoline to Nigerian consumers.
“I want to provide a blueprint for industrialisation across Africa,” Dangote says in an interview with Forbes. “We have to build our nation by ourselves. We have to build our continent by ourselves, not [rely on] foreign investment.” He believes Africa has long been “a mere dumping ground for finished products,” and his refinery represents “a pivotal step in ensuring that Africa can refine its own crude oil, thereby creating wealth and prosperity for its vast population.”
Dangote said the refinery is the biggest risk of his life and without success, it would have affected him greatly.
“It was the biggest risk of my life,” says Dangote about his decision to embark on the project. “If this didn’t work, I was dead.”
Zainab Usman, director of the Africa Programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, according to Forbes, said Nigerians see Dangote as a hero and a real industrialist transforming the country.
“He is seen in most parts of Nigeria as a hero. He is seen as a real industrialist who builds things,” she said.
A professor of African studies at the Soka University of America, Chika Ezeanya, also corroborated this view, noting that Dangote is meeting the needs of consumers on the continent.
“I think he’s believed staunchly in the fact that Nigerians need products that he has to offer,” he said while adding, “Governments can come and go, policies can be changed, but the needs of the Nigerian consumer will only grow and expand.”
Hours after Mohammed Hayatu-Deen did, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday, also flatly rejected the outcome of the presidential primaries, of the African Democratic Congress, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement and electoral malpractice.
Amaechi former Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, described the announced results as “concocted,” insisting that the process failed to meet the standards of transparency and fairness earlier promised by the party.
He said in a statement: “I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced,” Amaechi stated.
He said he had previously maintained that he would only accept the outcome of the primaries if the process was free, fair and transparent, stressing that the exercise did not reflect the democratic values the ADC claimed to represent.
“I will not accept results from a process that does not reflect the values that the ADC had pledged to uphold, to rescue Nigerians from the impunity and gross mismanagement that our country is currently facing in the hands of the ruling party,” he said.
Amaechi alleged that a significant number of party members were denied the opportunity to vote during the exercise.
“There’s no way that about eighty percent of members of the party were not allowed to vote, and you expect me to accept such results,” he stated.
The former Rivers State governor questioned the moral basis of the ADC criticising the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over alleged electoral malpractice while allegedly engaging in similar conduct internally.
“A party that criticizes the ruling APC and INEC for vote buying, rigging and writing of results, cannot be engaged in vote buying, writing of results, and other electoral malpractices that leads to the disenfranchisement of voters who are party members. This is not acceptable!” he declared.
Amaechi said the ADC was envisioned as a platform to amplify the voices of ordinary Nigerians and provide credible political alternatives irrespective of ethnicity, religion or social background.
His rejection of the outcome is expected to deepen tensions within the opposition party following the conclusion of its presidential primary election.
“These timeless virtues of devotion, selflessness, and submission to divine will are values our nation desperately needs today,” were the exact words with which Godswill Akpabio, attempted to rouse Nigerians to the ethos of unquestionable faith and service to the country.
Akpabio, Chairman of the National Assembly, who drew example from Prophet Ibrahim, admonished Nigerians to emulate his unwavering faith, obedience, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Almighty Allah.
The Senate President, who conveyed his sentiments via a statement by Eseme Eyiboh, also used the specifically hail President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his vice, Kashim Shettima and Muslim faithful in Nigeria and around the world as they celebrate Eid El Kabir.
Stressing that the occasion called for prayer and sober reflection on the theme of sacrifice, he added: “This sacred occasion reminds us of Prophet Ibrahim’s unwavering faith, obedience, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Almighty Allah.
“To our dear President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his vice, Senator Kashim Shettima and Muslim brothers and sisters, I felicitate with them on behalf of my family, constituents and the Senate on this blessed Eid. May the lessons of sacrifice, compassion, and generosity that define this season strengthen your faith and bring peace to your homes.
“As you share with the less privileged and extend love to neighbours of all faiths, you embody the true spirit of Nigeria. To all Nigerians, I urge us to use this solemn period to pray fervently for peace, security, and prosperity in our land. Let us pray for our troops in the frontlines, for farmers to return safely to their fields, and for unity to prevail over division in our Nation.
“Eid El Kabir also calls us to deep reflection on the future of our country. Just as Prophet Ibrahim was tested, Nigeria is in a season of testing. The sacrifices we make today in patience, in tolerance and in choosing hope over despair will determine the Nigeria our children inherit.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of this administration, supported by the National Assembly, is anchored on that same principle: that meaningful progress often requires collective sacrifice.
“May Almighty Allah accept your prayers and sacrifices. May He heal our land, guide our leaders, and bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Barka da Sallah. Eid Mubarak.”
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”
These were the exact words of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with which he cast a slur on the ongoing presidential primaries of the party, hinging his position on reports of fraud trailing the exercise.
Hayatu-Deen, a second timer in the search for the nation’s number one job, ran against Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
In a statement on his assessment of the exercise which began on Monday, the renowned economist Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), used his X platform to convey his dissatisfaction with the process.
The ADC which said the collation for the exercise would take place in Abuja had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, who described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative, maintained that it remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” he said adding that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
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