Nigeria's economic slumps affects Aliko Dangote as his net values falls by $15bn over the last three years

AFRICA'S richest man Alhaji Aliko Dangote has seen his net value fall by about $15bn over the last three years according to Forbes magazine which estimates that he is now worth $10.3bn compared with $25bn in 2015.

It its latest evaluation of African millionaires, Forbes says that Alhaji Dangote still occupies the number one spot despite the setback, followed by Globacom chairman, Mike Adenuga, who is valued at  $9.2bn. According to Forbes, Alhaji Dangote’s estimated net worth dropped by $2.1bn during the course of 2018, which some commentators have attributed to the weakening of the Nigerian economy.

Alhaji Dangote and his Dangote Group conglomerate are responsible for over 10% of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) with huge investments in agriculture, oil, cement, housing and shipping. Over the last three years, Nigeria has seen her GDP growth drop from a high of 6% a year to a mere 1.9% after recovering from going into a recession.

Also, in 2018 Nigeria overtook India as the world's poverty capital after the country was adjudged to have more people living below the poverty line than any other nation on earth. According to the World Bank, Nigeria’s GDP stood at $404.653bn the end of 2016, maintaining its stance as Africa’s biggest economy but this wealth is not evenly distributed.

Dangote Group has investments worth more than $40bn in Nigeria and is currently building the world’s largest greenfield refinery, estimated to be worth upwards of $10.5bn. Alhaji Dangote also runs the biggest cement operation in Africa, with a market capitalisation of over $10bn as  Dangote Cement is the biggest company by market cap on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.