Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote’s worth has risen by N8.4 trillion due to recent demands for his cement, Dangote Cement and the recently completed fertilizer plant.

Dangote was born into a wealthy Muslim family of traders in the northern Nigeria. He incorporated his own business and started selling cement at 21. He changed to manufacturing building material in the 1990s. He was also helped by government strategies that enabled ways to reduce the need for imports.

The 64-year-old is about to complete a $19 billion (N7.8 trillion) refinery with the capacity to supply Nigeria with refined petroleum products.

In January 2021 Africa’s richest man, reportedly lost a total of $900 million within 24 hours, according to Bloomberg reports.

Converting it means Dangote group lost N343,125,000,000 as his company was rated the biggest loser at the end of trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

With the loss, Dangote’s wealth reportedly fell from $18.4 billion to $17.5 billion on Friday, January 8, 2021 as published by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

According to a Bloomberg’s report, his wealth surged to $20.1 billion (N8.4 trillion) last Friday.

Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index put his networth at $26.27 billion (N11 trillion) which he achieved in 2014.

Of the 54 countries in Africa, Aliko Dangote is richer than 30 countries including Burundi, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Mozambique and others.