The President/Chief Executive of the
pan-African conglomerate, the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has become
the first African entrepreneur to lay claim to a $20bn fortune, thus
becoming one of the 25 richest men in the world.
This is on account of the stock value of his largest holding, Dangote Cement, leaping about three-fourths since March when Forbes released its annual ranking of the world’s richest people.
Dangote’s 93 per cent stake in the cement company is now worth $19.5bn, according to the magazine.
Dangote Cement becomes the first Nigerian company to achieve a market capitalisation of over $20bn.
Added to this are his controlling stakes
in other publicly-listed companies like Dangote Sugar and National Salt
Company of Nigeria, and his significant shareholdings in other
blue-chip companies like Zenith Bank Plc, UBA Group and Dangote Flour;
his extensive real estate portfolio, jets, yachts and current cash
position, which includes more than $300m in recently-awarded Dangote
Cement.
Forbes reported that the Nigerian
billionaire was now richer than Russia’s richest man, Alisher Usmanov;
India’s Lakshmi Mittal; and running neck and neck with India’s Mukesh
Ambani.
According to the magazine, he is catching up to such Americans as Google’s billionaire founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
It will be recalled that Dangote Cement
had recorded an unprecedented surge in its share price largely due to
market response to the company’s impressive results in the first quarter
of this year.
The cement manufacturer’s un-audited
results for the three months ending March 31, 2013, had showed that the
company’s pre-tax profit rose to $339m, representing an 80.6 per cent
increase from last year, and a strong indicator of the company’s future
earning potential.
The results also indicated a 79.5 per cent rise in its earnings per share over the corresponding period last year.
The Head of Investor Relations in the
United Kingdom, Dangote Cement, Mr. Carl Franklin, explained in an email
response to Forbes that the company’s share boost in the first quarter
of 2013 was because it had a huge increase in demand across Nigeria,
considerable improved gas supply and ramped up capacity.
Franklin said, “So, Q1 was the first
sign of just how profitable we can be in Nigeria. The amazing thing is
that 66 per cent of our gas-fired production in Q1 was done at 84 per
cent gas. Imagine what would happen to margins if we did the same amount
at 95 per cent. This has given investors a good sense of what we can
really do when everything goes in the right direction.
“It’s certainly a landmark for a
Nigerian company and we’re proud to be the first to achieve it.
Obviously, we are focusing on building long-term and sustainable value
for shareholders through our investments in Nigeria and Africa. Nigeria
is a very entrepreneurial country and I can assure you that other
companies will follow us in achieving this.”
Forbes in its report reasoned that other companies might eventually achieve this, but it was going to take a bit of time.
Dangote Cement currently accounts for
more than a quarter of the total market capitalisation of the Nigerian
Stock Exchange. The second largest company on the NSE is currently
Nigerian Breweries Plc, West Africa’s largest manufacturer of alcoholic
and non-alcoholic beverages, which has a market capitalisation of
$8.5bn.
Dangote made a debut on the Forbes
billionaires list in 2008 with a fortune pegged at $3.3bn. His fortune
dropped to $2.5bn in 2009 and plunged further to $2.1bn in 2010.
His fortune surged 557 per cent in 2011
to $13.8bn after he took Dangote Cement public. Dangote dropped to
$11.2bn in last year’s rankings, but rebounded at $16.1bn this year.
Since March, his fortune has jumped another 30 per cent.
Dangote started building his fortune
over three decades ago after taking a loan from Sanusi Dantata and
started trading in commodities like flour, sugar and cement.
From Nigeria Punch
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