How Dangote, Rabiu lost $5.85bn to Naira devaluation

The naira devaluation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reduced the wealth of Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote and his countryman, Abdulsamad Rabiu, by $5.85 billion.

On Thursday, Bloomberg Billionaire Index disclosed that the net worth of Dangote, the founder of Dangote Group, the majority shareholder of Dangote Cement and Dangote Sugar, lost $3.12 billion.

Dangote’s estimated wealth fell from $20.92 billion to $17.8 billion, as the value of his cement and food businesses was affected by the unification of the multiple exchange rates.

Similarly, Rabiu, the founder of BUA Group, majority shareholder of BUA Cement and BUA Foods also saw his net worth fall to $5.54 billion from $8.27 billion, after losing $2.73 billion to the naira devaluation.

READ ALSO: MTN, Dangote, Zenith Bank among Nigeria’s most profitable companies

Both Dangote Group and BUA Group are significantly exposed to the Nigerian market, where their companies predominantly operate, as their revenue is majorly in naira denominations.

Nigeria previously reported that the CBN has adopted the ‘willing seller, willing buyer’ model, which led to the devaluation of the naira by 40.7 percent or N192.37 kobo on Wednesday.

This increased the dollar exchange rate to N664.04/$1 at the end of trading in the official market on Wednesday, from N471.67/$1 reported on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the value of the naira further declined by N38.15 kobo or 5.74% to N702.19/$1, up from the N664.04/$1 the dollar closed the previous day.