CBN’s Naira Policy Cost Dangote, BUA’s Chairman Rabiu, Adenuga $7.8bn In 2023

The richest businessmen in Africa’s biggest economy lost an excess of $7.7bn from their net worth after the Central Bank of Nigeria floated the currency in June.

The wealth of the billionaires analyzed from the real-time Forbes Billionaires Index as of December 11, 2023, showed that their combined wealth has plunged to $20.4bn which is 27.65 per cent down from the $28.2bn recorded in December 2022.

The affected billionaires are the Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, the Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu and the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Globacom Ltd, Mike Adenuga.

Dangote who is Africa’s richest man lost $3.5bn from his net worth between December 2022 and December 2023.

In December, Dangote boasted of wealth valued at $14bn from his cement company, sugar and other sources.

However, after the floating of the naira on June 14, 2023 by the CBN which saw the currency depreciate from N465 per dollar to N756 per dollar, Dangote’s wealth fell to $10.5bn by December 11 this year.

The naira closed at N1,099 per dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday.

Dangote is projected to enjoy further dominance as his refinery, the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals, has received one million barrels of crude oil ahead of product release early 2024.

Adenuga who is famous for his telecommunication company, Globacom, enjoyed a whopping $7.3bn, according to Forbes chart as of December 2022.

After naira depreciation, Adenuga’s wealth lost $3.9bn or 53.4 per cent of its value to settle at $3.4bn as of December 11.

Rabiu whose wealth comes majorly from his BUA Cement Plc and BUA Foods Plc had $6.9bn net worth in December 2022 but year on year, his wealth has shed 5.8 per cent which is an equivalent of $400m as of December 11, 2023.