Dangote wealth soars to $20bn, now among top 25 richest men in the world

Nigerian billionaire and Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, has seen his wealth swell to over $20 billion, making him the first African to hit that mark.

At  $20 billion, Dangote now ranks among the top 25 richest men in the world.

Dangote, the president/chief executive of the pan-African conglomerate, new status was helped massively by the spike in the stock value of the flagship of his holding, Dangote Cement.

The stocked has jumped  about three-fourths since March, when Forbes last released its annual ranking of the world's richest people.

With a current market cap of $20.5 billion, Dangote Cement becomes the first Nigerian company to achieve a market capitalisation of over $20 billion.

The world renowned business and financial intelligence news magazine, the Forbes has reported that Dangote's 93 percent stake in the cement company is now worth $19.5 billion.

Added to this are his controlling stakes in other publicly-listed companies like Dangote Sugar and National Salt Company of Nigeria and his significant shareholdings in other blue-chips like Zenith Bank, UBA Group and Dangote Flour; his extensive real estate portfolio, jets, yachts and current cash position, which includes more than $300 million in recently awarded Dangote Cement, Dangote is now worth more than $20 billion.

To put in the right context, the Forbes reported that the Nigerian billionaire is now among the top 25 richest people in the world. With his fortune, Dangote is richer than Russia's richest man, Alisher Usmanov, richer than India's Lakshmi Mittal and running neck and neck with India's Mukesh Ambani. He is catching up to such Americans as Google's billionaire founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Dangote Cement has recorded an unprecedented surge in its share price largely due to market response to the company's impressive results in the first quarter of this year.

The cement manufacturer's unaudited results for the three months ending

March 31 had showed that the company's pre-tax profit rose to $339 million, representing an 80.6% increase from last year and a strong indicator of the company's future earning potential. The results also indicate a 79.5 % rise in its earnings per share over the corresponding period last year.