Dangote, Rabiu lose $3.8bn as Otedola returns to Forbes’ billionaires list
THE combined wealth of Aliko Dangote and Abdulsamad Rabiu declined by $3.8 billion in one year, according to Forbes World’s Billionaires List 2024.
Forbes’ wealth-tracking platform provides ongoing updates on the net worth and ranking of each individual confirmed to be a billionaire. The value of individuals’ public holdings are updated every five minutes when respective stock markets are open.
Africa’s biggest economy has four billionaires on the annual list, while South Africa has six and Egypt five.
Dangote and Rabiu saw their wealth drop by 16.9 percent to $18.6 billion on the 2024 world’s billionaire list from $22.4 billion in the previous year.
A breakdown of the data shows that Dangote’s fortune fell by $0.8 billion to $13.4 billion and Rabiu’s wealth declined by $3.0 billion to $5.2 billion. But Mike Adenuga’s wealth rose by $0.6 billion to $6.7 billion.
Forbes reported last June that Dangote had fallen from his perch as Africa’s richest person for the first time in 12 years. It said Johann Rupert of South Africa, who built a fortune in luxury goods and more, overtook the Nigerian industrialist.
“The decline of Dangote’s fortune comes in the wake of the CBN’S decision to float its currency, the naira, on June 14, abandoning the fixed exchange rate with the U.S. dollar,” it added.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last June merged all segments of the FX market into the Investors and Exporters window, and reintroduced the willing buyer, willing seller model.
The official exchange rate fell from N463.38/$ to N1,278.58/$ as of April 2. At the parallel market, the naira depreciated to 1,260/$ from 762/$.
“The devaluation of the naira would have affected their wealth because the currency has lost its value against the dollar,” Abiodun Keripe, managing director at Afrinvest Consulting Limited, said.
He added that the billionaires have most of their businesses in Nigeria and that when they convert the value of their businesses from naira to dollar, they would record losses.
In January, Dangote reclaimed his position as the richest person in Africa as he overtook Rupert.
The Forbes list also revealed that Otedola, chairman of Geregu Power, returned with a net worth of $1.4 billion.
“All of that gain can be attributed to the return of Otedola, who last appeared on the Forbes Africa list in 2017 when he held a controlling stake in fuel distributor Forte Oil,” Forbes said.
In its latest billionaire index, the American business magazine said there are now more billionaires than ever with 2,781 in all, 141 more than last year and 26 more than the record set in 2021.
“They’re richer than ever, worth $14.2 trillion in aggregate, up by $2 trillion from 2023 and $1.1 trillion above the previous record, also set in 2021. Two-thirds of the list’s members are worth more than a year ago; only one-fourth are poorer,” it said.
It added that much of the gains come from the top 20, who added a combined $700 billion in wealth since 2023, and from the US, which now boasts a record 813 billionaires worth a combined $5.7 trillion.
“China remains second, with 473 (including Hong Kong) worth $1.7 trillion, despite weak consumer spending and a real estate bust that helped wipe out some $300 billion in wealth. India, which has 200 billionaires (also a record), ranks third.”
Here are further details on the Nigerian billionaires
Dangote
Dangote, founder and chairman/ceo of Dangote Group, maintained his top position as the richest man in Africa. His fortune rose to $13.4 billion — earning him the 144th position.
“He owns 85 percent 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,” Forbes said.
It added that after many years in development, Dangote’s fertiliser plant in Nigeria began operations in March 2022. Dangote also has an oil refinery, which was inaugurated in May 2023.
Adenuga
According to Forbes, Adenuga, chairman/ceo at Globacom Limited has a $6.7 billion net worth, and was ranked at 409th spot.
“Adenuga built his fortune in telecom and oil production. His mobile phone network, Globacom, is the third largest
N68/kwh.
The move by NERC aims to shift the cost burden away from base rates and towards a consumption-based model, meaning lower overall bills for those who use less power and potentially significant increases for high-volume users.
Musiliu Oseni, vice chairman of the commission, announced the tariff hike during a press briefing in Abuja, saying the increase would take effect immediately.
According to him, the new rate of N225/kwh is expected to affect only customers under the Band A feeder, who are offered at least 20 hours electricity per day.
He said only 15 percent of the 13,162,572 electricity customers nationwide would be affected by the tariff increase while others would continue to pay the old rate until supply improves.
He said the commission had downgraded some customers from ‘Band A feeder’ to Band B after reviewing the electricity supply to them and realising that they were not receiving up to 20 hours of electricity daily.
He said: “We currently have 800 feeders that are categorised as Band A feeders, but upon reviewing those feeders’ performance, the commission has now reduced it to under 500. This means that 17 percent now qualify as Band A feeders. Those are the feeders that are currently meeting the average 20 hours average.
“So, we have just 17 percent of the total feeders of the distribution companies now qualify as Band A feeders. That is when you look where those feeders are critically, it is estimated that under 15 percent of the total customers are currently connected to those feeders.
“So based on that, feeders that are not meeting the 24-hour supply have been asked to be downgraded immediately, with strict compliance and strong enforcement action.
“And in that order, the commission has approved a rate review of N225 per kilowatt hour for the under 15 percent of the customer population. So that means that less than 15 percent of the customer will be affected.”
The tariff hike follows the recent increase in base price for natural gas from $2.18 to $2.42 per metric million British thermal unit (mmbtu) by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
The eleven electricity distribution companies (Discos) had in July 2023 applied for rate review with the commission, stressing the need to incorporate changes in macroeconomic parameters and other factors affecting the quality of service, operations and sustainability of the companies.
Removing electricity subsidies is part of President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda after he last year scrapped a popular but costly fuel subsidy and allowed the currency to devalue sharply.
The reforms that Tinubu hopes will revive growth have stoked inflation to more than 30 percent and worsened a cost of living crisis, angering workers.
The World Bank has in the past recommended subsidy cuts to help Nigeria improve the state of its public finances.
The country’s electricity sector faces a myriad of problems including a failing grid, gas shortages, high debt and vandalism. The country has 12,500 megawatts of installed capacity but produces only about a quarter of that, leaving many Nigerians reliant on expensive diesel-powered generators.
State-controlled power tariffs are too low to attract new investors and allow distribution firms to recoup costs and pay generating companies - leaving the sector with ballooning debts.
Oseni stressed the need for investment in infrastructure, stating that there are certain locations where without any additional investments, the Discos as well as the transmission companies, based on the investment previously made, can deliver a minimum of 20 hours while in other locations, there will be need for improvement in quality of the infrastructure before quality of supply can improve.
He said: “So the customers that are going to be affected are the customers that are living in locations where no investment is required to meet the 20-hour electricity supply.
“In addition to that, the commission is working on having some sort of liberalisation in the determination of the price and demand for meters; that is currently being worked on and in due course, you will be notified of the final decision of the commission.”
He said that efforts were ongoing to ensure that the affected customers are prioritised in the deployment of meters.
Efforts to reach Joe Ajaero, president of Nigeria Labour Congress, to get the official position of the organised labour last night proved abortive.