How Ethiopia’s Richest Man, Mohammed Al-Amoudi Lost Nearly $1 Billion this Year

Mohammed Al-Amoudi, the richest man in Ethiopia, has amassed a portfolio of building, farming, and energy businesses in Sweden, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia. 

He made his first fortune through construction in Saudi Arabia. The biggest fuel firm in Sweden, Preem is one of his most valuable assets.

He has made investments in gold mining, cement manufacturing, and agriculture in Ethiopia. 

For customers in Ethiopia and beyond, his company Saudi Star Agricultural Development has developed hundreds of acres of land into fields of fruits, vegetables, cereals, coffee, tea, flowers, and rice.

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Mohammed Al-Amoudi lost $1 billion

However, Mohammed Al-Amoudi has seen his net worth decline by roughly $1 billion since the beginning of the year. 

The market value of his industrial assets, which include esteemed Swedish oil businesses, continues to decline. This also closely mirrors the decline in European markets.

Mohammed Al-Amoudi is a prominent billionaire who was the wealthiest black person in the world until he was deposed by Nigerian cement magnate Aliko Dangote in 2013.

According to information acquired from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth has decreased from $6.71 billion at the beginning of this year to $5.73 billion.

For the Ethiopian billionaire, this corresponds to a loss of about $1 billion this year.

$1 billion drop

The $1 billion drop in his net worth can be attributed to the performance of his industrial assets, particularly his holdings in Preem, the biggest oil refiner in Sweden, and Svenska Petroleum Exploration.

Al Amoudi’s loss placed him on a select group of African billionaires, including South African billionaire Johann Rupert, Swazi billionaire Natie Kirsh, and Zimbabwean tech tycoon Strive Masiyiwa, who have all had their net worth decline by more than $500 million thus far this year.

Since the start of 2022, Preem’s market value of his stake in the top oil refiner has decreased from $1.7 billion to $1.26 billion because of the unsatisfactory financial performance of his key oil assets.

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