Africa's richest man regains the billions he lost after Nigeria’s largest market dip this year

Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man, has quickly rebounded from last week's severe paper loss, bringing his worth back to $36.5 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as Nigerian shares steadied.

• Aliko Dangote's net worth has rebounded to $36.5 billion after last week's significant loss due to a Nigerian stock market selloff.
• Last week, Dangote's wealth dropped by $1.2 billion in a single session, mainly due to a 10% fall in Dangote Cement's share price.
• Despite market volatility, Dangote Cement and his other companies remain financially strong, continuing to deliver strong results.
• Dangote is expected to collect nearly $490 million from Dangote Cement's upcoming dividend, making up most of the $564 million payout to shareholders.

According to the most recent Bloomberg rankings, Dangote's fortune is now $36.5 billion, up $5.40 million from his previous value and a remarkable $6.55 billion year-to-date gain.

The comeback comes only about a week after the billionaire had one of the greatest single-day drops in his net worth this year.

Last week, a broad selloff on the Nigerian Exchange Group resulted in huge losses in some of the country's top industrial firms, wiping out about $1.2 billion from Dangote’s wealth in a single trading session.

Bloomberg’s index showed at the time that Dangote's net worth had decreased from $35.5 billion to $34.3 billion, owing mostly to a 10% drop in the share price of Dangote Cement Plc, the maximum daily loss permitted on the Nigerian stock market.

The decrease brought his worth below $35 billion for the first time since early May.

Because Dangote holds a majority position in Dangote Cement, changes in the company's share price have a direct influence on his net worth.

However, because he did not sell any shares, the decline was only a paper loss and not a fall in his actual company interests.

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Nigeria's market dip and Dangote's net worth decline

The significant fall coincided with the Nigerian Exchange's worst trading session in 2026.

During that session, the NGX All-Share Index fell 2.35% to 235,074.54 points, and investors lost N3.64 trillion (approximately $2.64 billion) in market value. The whole market capitalization declined to N150.85 trillion (about $110 billion).

The selloff was led by heavyweight industrial companies, with Dangote Cement, BUA Cement Plc, and Geregu Power Plc all falling below the maximum daily trading limit.

Given their major weight on the market, the simultaneous loss pulled the Industrial Goods Index down 8.31%, its worst performance of the year.

Despite the current market slump, Dangote's companies remain strong, as the dip last week did little to affect the earnings capacity of his flagship companies, particularly Dangote Cement, which continues to deliver strong financial results.

Investors are now expecting one of the company's largest shareholder distributions to date. Dangote Cement's board has authorized a final dividend of N45 per share for fiscal year 2025.

Dangote, the company's largest stakeholder, is set to collect around N659.2 billion (nearly $490 million) from the dividend payment due next month.

His compensation will make up the vast bulk of the company's overall dividend to shareholders, which is N759.3 billion (about $564 million).