BTA Admin Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has suggested that his actual fortune could be significantly larger than the figures currently published by global wealth trackers, arguing that many of his most valuable businesses are still privately held and therefore difficult to fully value.
The Nigerian billionaire made the comments during an interview with entrepreneur and content creator James Dumoulin, founder of the School of Hard Knocks platform, where he discussed his business empire, earnings and the future of the Dangote Group.
“They say I’m worth $38 billion, but most of our businesses are not listed yet,” Dangote said.
“It will come out soon,” he added, hinting that the true scale of his wealth could become clearer once some of the group’s largest private assets are publicly valued.
Why Dangote says wealth trackers underestimate him
Dangote’s comments highlight a major challenge in calculating billionaire fortunes in emerging markets: many of Africa’s largest companies are privately owned and lack transparent market valuations.
While Forbes currently estimates Dangote’s net worth at around $31.6 billion and Bloomberg places it closer to $35.6 billion, those estimates rely heavily on the market value of his listed businesses.
The Dangote Group’s publicly traded companies include:
- Dangote Cement
- Dangote Sugar Refinery
- NASCON Allied Industries
However, several of the group’s most valuable assets remain private, including the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the group’s fertiliser operations.
Those businesses are widely believed to account for a substantial share of Dangote’s actual wealth.
The refinery could change everything
At the centre of the valuation debate is the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, the world’s largest single-train refinery and one of Africa’s most ambitious industrial projects.
Industry estimates place the refinery’s value between $25 billion and $30 billion, although no official public market valuation currently exists because the company is still privately held.
Dangote has previously confirmed plans to partially list the refinery through an initial public offering (IPO).
According to earlier disclosures, the group plans to sell up to 10% of the refinery through listings on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), with discussions also involving potential secondary listings on other African exchanges and possibly the London Stock Exchange.
If completed, the transaction could become the largest IPO in African capital markets history.
Estimates suggest the offering could raise between $2.5 billion and $3 billion in equity capital.
More importantly, it would provide the first public market valuation for one of Dangote’s biggest assets — potentially reshaping perceptions of his fortune.
“First quarter, we did about $10 billion”
During the interview, Dangote also made another headline-grabbing remark when asked about the most money he had made in a single year.
“Well, first quarter, we did about $10 billion,” he said.
Although he did not specify whether he was referring to revenue, transactions, business turnover or valuation growth, the comment underscored the enormous scale of the Dangote Group’s operations across cement, refining, fertiliser, food processing and industrial manufacturing.
The conglomerate remains one of Africa’s largest privately controlled business empires.
Africa’s billionaire rankings could shift
Dangote’s comments come at a time when African billionaire wealth rankings are becoming increasingly tied to industrial infrastructure, energy and privately held assets rather than only publicly traded stocks.
As more African conglomerates consider stock market listings, analysts expect significant changes in how wealth across the continent is measured.
If the Dangote refinery and fertiliser businesses are eventually publicly valued near current projections, Dangote’s fortune could rise substantially above existing estimates from Forbes and Bloomberg.
That could widen his lead as Africa’s richest individual and further cement his position as one of the world’s wealthiest industrialists.
More than personal wealth
Beyond the billionaire rankings, Dangote’s remarks also reflect the growing scale of African-owned industrial enterprises.
For decades, many of Africa’s largest fortunes were built around trading, commodities and financial services.
Dangote’s empire, however, has increasingly focused on heavy industry, energy infrastructure and manufacturing at a scale rarely seen on the continent.
The refinery alone has been positioned as a project capable of reshaping fuel markets across Africa by reducing dependence on imported petroleum products.
As the group moves toward potentially listing some of its biggest assets, investors may soon get a clearer picture of just how valuable Africa’s largest privately held industrial empire really is.
