By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote has been overtaken as African richest man after his net worth dropped by 20.7% amid the naira devaluation implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Forbes Billionaire Ranking released on Sunday reveals.
Dangote now ranks the second on the continent after South African billionaire, Johann Rupert dislodged him to number one on the list.
CBN had devalued the naira, causing the value of the Nigerian local currency to drop by 40.5%.
The naira to dollar exchange rate closed Friday’s trading with N663.04/$1, up from N471.67/$1 on Tuesday, as a result of the devaluation.
Dangote’s wealth dropped by $2.80 billion to $10.7 billion, from $13.5 billion, costing him the richest man position for the first time since 2008, when he debuted on the Forbes Billionaire Index.
This arose from the decline in the value of the naira, which is the denomination Dangote’s wealth is based on.
Meanwhile, Rupert became the richest man in Africa after his net worth increased by $1.3 billion from $10.7 billion to $13.5 billion.
Although, according to Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Dangote remains the richest man in Africa with $16.8 billion, recording a year-to-date loss of $1.86 billion.
Rupert was placed on the second spot with a net worth of $13.6 billion, with a year-to-date gain of $2.67 billion.
Forbes and Bloomberg use different methodologies to arrive at the richest man.
