{"id":3671,"date":"2026-10-29T19:01:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T19:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/29\/dangote-fortune-rises-to-55-4bn-as-cement-reclaims-nigerias-most-valuable-firm-title-businessday-ng\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T19:01:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T19:01:08","slug":"dangote-fortune-rises-to-55-4bn-as-cement-reclaims-nigerias-most-valuable-firm-title-businessday-ng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/29\/dangote-fortune-rises-to-55-4bn-as-cement-reclaims-nigerias-most-valuable-firm-title-businessday-ng\/","title":{"rendered":"Dangote fortune rises to $55.4bn as cement reclaims Nigeria\u2019s most valuable firm title \u2013 Businessday NG"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Aliko Dangote\u2019s estimated fortune rose to $55.4 billion on Thursday as shares in Dangote Cement surged, restoring Africa\u2019s largest cement producer to the top position among 146 companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).\n<\/p>\n<p>Dangote, Africa\u2019s richest man and founder of Dangote Group, added $4.4 billion to his estimated wealth from $51 billion on October 20, according to BusinessDay\u2019s analysis of Forbes\u2019 real-time billionaire tracker.\n<\/p>\n<p>Despite the increase, the industrialist remained the world\u2019s 35th-richest person, with his fortune approaching that of Ken Griffin, founder and chief executive of Citadel, whose estimated wealth stands at $57 billion.\n<\/p>\n<p>The latest increase reflects gains in the valuation of Dangote\u2019s publicly traded holdings, particularly Dangote Cement, alongside the earlier reassessment of his stake in the privately held Dangote Petroleum Refinery.\n<\/p>\n<p>Data from the NGX showed that Dangote Cement\u2019s share price rose by 5.82 percent to N1,420 on Thursday from N1,341, lifting its market capitalisation to N23.96 trillion. The gain pushed the company past Airtel Africa, which had held the position of Nigeria\u2019s most valuable listed company since July 8.<\/p>\n<p>Airtel Africa ranked second, with a market capitalisation of N23.68 trillion and a share price of N6,300, while MTN Nigeria came third at N17.3 trillion.\n<\/p>\n<p>The broader market also advanced, with the NGX\u2019s total market capitalisation climbing to a record N164.97 trillion. The All-Share Index rose to 254,083 points from 252,882.78 points.\n<\/p>\n<p>Analysts at CSL Research said the Nigerian equities market had remained resilient in 2026 despite intermittent profit-taking and volatility, supported by strong corporate earnings, improving macroeconomic conditions and policy reforms.\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cement rally boosts Dangote\u2019s fortune<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p>Dangote Cement\u2019s latest rally extends a strong run for the stock, which has more than doubled in value this year, according to NGX data cited in the analysis.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, the company\u2019s market capitalisation crossed N20 trillion for the first time, after its shares rose 10 percent to N1,222.10 from N1,111 on Friday. Its market value increased to N20.6 trillion from N18.5 trillion.\n<\/p>\n<p>The stock\u2019s rally also pushed it to a 52-week high, reflecting growing investor interest in the Nigerian equities market.\n<\/p>\n<p>Dangote Cement operates across several African markets, including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Senegal, Zambia, Cameroon, Ghana, the Republic of the Congo and South Africa. Its position in the market reflects the scale of Dangote\u2019s industrial interests and the growing influence of large listed companies on Nigeria\u2019s equity market.\n<\/p>\n<p>The rally coincided with the initial public offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, which closed on October 27. The refinery offered 4.1 billion shares at N525 each, targeting N2.15 trillion ($1.6 billion) in what was expected to be one of Nigeria\u2019s largest capital-market transactions.\n<\/p>\n<p>The refinery\u2019s valuation has also contributed to changes in Dangote\u2019s estimated wealth. Forbes\u2019 real-time billionaire tracker adjusts estimates to reflect movements in publicly traded holdings, while privately held assets are assessed periodically.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, changes in his fortune can reflect both share-price movements and revisions to private-business valuations.\n<\/p>\n<p>Reports last week indicated that Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo, was considering increasing his investment in Dangote Cement, potentially targeting a stake of up to 5 percent. The reported plan has not been independently confirmed.\n<\/p>\n<p>If completed, the investment would give Otedola a substantial minority interest in one of Dangote\u2019s flagship businesses, linking two of Nigeria\u2019s prominent businessmen through the cement producer.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bday-read-also\">\n<h4>Related News<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"bday-ad bday-ad--gam\" id=\"bday-ad-2\" data-bday-ad=\"\" data-unit=\"bd-body-2\" data-placement=\"below_share_buttons\" data-partner=\"gam\" data-category=\"display\" data-device=\"all\"><span class=\"bday-ad__label\">Advertisement<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bday-google-badges\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=businessday.ng\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Dangote-fortune-rises-to-55.4bn-as-cement-reclaims-Nigerias-most-valuable-firm-title-\u2013-Businessday-NG.jpg\" alt=\"Add BusinessDay as a preferred source on Google\"\/><br \/>\n\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKQgKIiNDQklTRkFnTWFoQUtEbUoxYzJsdVpYTnpaR0Y1TG01bktBQVAB?hl=en-NG&amp;gl=NG&amp;ceid=NG%3Aen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Dangote-fortune-rises-to-55.4bn-as-cement-reclaims-Nigerias-most-valuable-firm-title-\u2013-Businessday-NG-1.jpg\" alt=\"Follow BusinessDay on Google News\"\/><br \/>\n\t<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p>Source: <\/p>\n<div class=\"nSourse\">Businessday NG<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aliko Dangote\u2019s estimated fortune rose to $55.4 billion on Thursday as shares in Dangote Cement surged, restoring Africa\u2019s largest cement producer to the top position among 146 companies listed on&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}