Nigeria’s Naira Woes Hit Billionaires As Dangote Loses $8.6billion

Nigeria’s efforts to curb the naira’s depreciation have proven insufficient, with the central bank’s rate hikes and attempts to clear dollar backlogs failing to arrest the currency’s slide. The sustained weakness has inflicted billions of dollars in losses on the nation’s bilionaires.

Telecoms and oil billionaire Mike Adenuga has weathered the storm relatively well, shedding only $300 million, or less than 5 percent of his January 30th net worth. In contrast, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and Nigeria’s wealthiest individual, has seen his fortune plummet by $8.6 billion since Jan. 30, falling from $23.3 billion to $14.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Aliko Dangote’s early gains evaporate on naira weakness
Aliko Dangote’s wealth has now reversed early gains fueled by a strong performance in his publicly traded businesses. The decline is directly linked to the depreciation of the Nigerian naira.

While Dangote’s holdings in Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, Nascon Allied Industries, and United Bank for Africa saw initial gains in January, those have been erased due to the naira’s weakness. These assets, all denominated in naira, have lost value when converted to U.S. dollars.

The insufficient dollar supply in Nigeria continues to undermine the central bank’s efforts to bolster confidence in the currency. Consequently, Dangote’s year-to-date wealth loss has reached $354 million, pushing him down to the 139th richest person globally.

Despite this decline, Dangote’s most valuable privately held asset, Dangote Fertilizer, remains steady at a valuation of $5.15 billion. This, alongside Dangote Cement (currently valued at $6.7 billion), represents his two largest holdings.…Continue The Full Reading.>’.