Dangote's wealth hits $51.3bn as refinery share sale begins
By Aboki Forex —
Aliko Dangote's fortune has climbed to $51.3 billion, more than double the combined wealth of Nigeria's three other Forbes-listed billionaires. Forbes valued him at that figure as of Monday, September 14.
Abdulsamad Rabiu is valued at $12.2 billion, Mike Adenuga at $7 billion and Femi Otedola at $1.9 billion. Together the three hold $21.1 billion. Dangote alone is worth about $30.2 billion more than the three combined and controls roughly 71% of the wealth attributed to Nigeria's four Forbes-listed billionaires.
A $20bn jump in 10 days
Forbes valued Dangote at about $31.5 billion on September 4. In 10 days, his estimated net worth jumped by almost $20 billion.
The surge was driven by a new valuation of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, not by any sudden acquisition. Forbes had applied a conservative valuation to the Lagos-based refinery because it was privately held and had no publicly traded market price. That changed after a private placement reportedly raised $2.5 billion from investors, giving a clearer benchmark for the refinery and for Dangote's controlling interest in it.
Refinery share sale opens
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals is offering 4.1 billion ordinary shares at N525 each. The offer is scheduled to close on October 13. The shares represent about 3.3% of the company and could raise approximately N2.15 trillion if fully subscribed.
The prospectus for the planned initial public offering disclosed that Dangote owns 87.27% of the company.
Trackers disagree on the number
Bloomberg's Billionaires Index values his fortune at about $35.3 billion, a sign of how different methodologies produce widely different estimates for privately held assets. Bloomberg has projected that Dangote's fortune could rise much further once the refinery's valuation is established through the market.
A calculation by Billionaires Africa valued Dangote's stakes in four companies at N71.46 trillion, equivalent to $53.99 billion, using an exchange rate of N1,323.55 to the dollar and Nigerian Exchange closing prices on Wednesday, September 9, 2026.
Where the other billionaires stand
Rabiu built his fortune through BUA Group, with major interests in cement, sugar and food production. His BUA Cement and BUA Foods businesses are listed on the Nigerian Exchange. Adenuga's wealth comes primarily from telecommunications and oil. He founded Globacom and controls Conoil. Otedola has increasingly concentrated on financial services. He owns a substantial stake in First HoldCo, the parent company of FirstBank, and serves as its chairman. His estimated fortune climbed from the $1.3 billion Forbes attributed to him earlier in 2026.
Nigerian-born entrepreneurs Tope Awotona, founder of Calendly, and Adebayo Ogunlesi, founder of Global Infrastructure Partners, are classified as Americans by Forbes and so do not appear in Nigeria's country count.
What it means for the market
The N2.15 trillion offer and the market pricing that follows will give investors a clearer indication of what Africa's biggest refinery is worth. That benchmark will also shape how the market values other large privately held Nigerian assets, and Dangote's own valuation could shift again once the shares trade.