How Rich is Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote?

A look at how Africa’s richest man, Dangote stacks up against his counterpart from across the world.

Aliko Dangote is the world’s richest black person. It’s a groundbreaking achievement, but when you consider that Africa is one of the continents with the fewest billionaires, some questions begin to arise: How rich is Aliko Dangote, and how well does the multi-billionaire stack up against his counterpart from across the world? 

Dangote is an epitome of business excellence, and one cannot help but think that if Africa was better positioned he’d be counting his net worth in hundreds of billions. Just like the Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos of the world. 

Where did Africa get it wrong? Ours is a continent blessed with vast resources, yet the people languish in poverty. Sadly, Africa is only rich on paper, the harsh economic realities on the street are proof. To proceed, we must answer the question: How rich is Aliko Dangote?

Dangote’s $14 Billion Makes Him Richer than Six Thriving African Countries.

At the time of writing, Aliko Dangote’s net worth places him above six thriving economies in Africa. Drawing from the  World Population Review, here are the African countries with GDPs below Dangote’s $14 billion net worth. 

Aliko Dangote no doubt has the greatest economic influence of any individual on the continent. Nonetheless, his milestones in the cement, consumer good and fertilizer industries would have made him a far richer person if Africa was allowed to grow as it should. 

When you take out external economic influences, crushing debt, and bad government policies, Dangote would probably see his net worth grow by 10 folds. His job creation efforts and philanthropy will also scale by epic proportions. Unfortunately, Dangote and his billionaire cohorts are confined to a continent plagued by the looting of the colonial era and the prevailing neo-colonialism that keeps the continent in a bubble. 

Despite Africa being ‘rich’, it’s second to the last in global GDP.

Some will even argue that Nigeria and the rest of Africa are merely companies for the West. You’ll find countries on the continent with an attractive GDP, but the high figures mostly favour international firms that deal with the government and the ultra-rich. The impact of such a GDP is yet to be felt by the average African. 

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