LAGOS, Nigeria – For the first time in over a decade, Aliko Dangote has been dethroned as Africa’s wealthiest individual.
South African billionaire Johann Rupert, with a fortune primarily rooted in luxury goods, has ascended to the top of the continent’s rich list.
According to Forbes‘ Real-Time Billionaires ranking at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 Rupert’s estimated net worth stood at $11.7 billion.
Dangote, aged 66, falls to second place among African billionaires with a wealth estimate of $10.4 billion. This marks a significant drop of $3.7 billion from Dangote’s net worth of $14.1 billion just a week prior, on June 14.
This stark decline in Dangote’s fortune follows the Central Bank of Nigeria’s decision on June 14 to float the national currency, the naira.
Having abandoned its fixed exchange rate with the U.S. dollar, the naira plummeted approximately 40% against the dollar on June 16 and hit a low of N690 to the dollar on June 20. Prior to this, the naira was trading around 465 per U.S. dollar.
Most of Dangote’s wealth is tied up in his 85% stake in Dangote Cement, Africa’s largest cement producer. Despite shares of Dangote Cement experiencing a modest 1% rise following the Central Bank’s decision to float the naira, the sharp devaluation of the currency has significantly impacted Dangote’s wealth.
Meanwhile, the newly-crowned richest person in Africa, Johann Rupert, is the chairman of Compagnie Financière Richemont.
The Swiss-listed luxury goods behemoth is home to brands such as Cartier, Montblanc, and Van Cleef & Arpels.
Rupert’s wealth has surged by nearly $3 billion since early 2022 and more than doubled since early 2020, when Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.6 billion.
The decision by the Nigerian Central Bank to float the naira is part of the broader economic strategy by Nigeria’s recently-elected President Bola Tinubu. The aim is to encourage investment into Nigeria and curb black market profiteering from the gap between official and unofficial financial markets.
Nimi Wariboko, a former investment banker in Nigeria and ex-strategic consultant at Nigeria’s Central Bank, believes that Dangote could turn Tinubu’s decision to scrap state fuel subsidies to his advantage with the launch of a new oil refinery in Lagos last month.
Wariboko told Forbes, “So he’s going to have a monopoly on [refining oil in Nigeria] and also be able to sell at a higher market price. So this fall seems temporary.”
Representatives for Rupert and Dangote did not respond to requests for comment.
