Billionaire Aliko Dangote has seen his wealth nearly double to $23.9 billion (approximately N36trn as of February 19, 2025), making him to rejoin the 100 richest people in the world along Telsa CEO, Elon Musk and others.
This is coming a year after the $20bn Dangote Petroleum Refinery commenced operations in Lagos.
According to Forbes on Tuesday, which ranks the Nigerian entrepreneur as the wealthiest person in Africa, Dangote rose from 144th position in 2024 to become the 86th richest man in the world as his wealth increased from $13.4bn to $23.9bn.
Forbes estimated Dangote’s net worth at $23.9bn, primarily due to his 92.3 per cent stake in the Dangote refinery.
The 67-year-old businessman 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 Africa’s Johann Rupert, who is ranked 161st in the world with an estimated wealth of $14.4bn, and Nigeria’s Mike Adenuga, who is the second richest in Nigeria and 481 in the world, with a net worth of $6.8bn.
Dangote disrupted the government’s oil monopoly by constructing the largest petroleum refinery in Africa, facing serious challenges from those he called the oil mafia.
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.”
