Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has been ranked among the world’s richest manufacturing billionaires in 2023.

CEOWorld Magazine said Dangote is the only African on the list, dominated by Asian and European billionaires.

Dangote’s wealth crashes

The Nigerian industrialist, whose wealth comes primarily from his 85.2% stake in the Dangote Cement, attributes his success to his grandfather.

Dangote’s fortune has crashed significantly recently as Nigeria embarked on Forex reforms affecting the local currency, which hit its lowest in recent months.

He momentarily lost his position as Africa’s richest man on the Forbes list to South Africa’s Johann Rupert in July, which he quickly regained a few weeks after.

He is ranked Africa’s richest man on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with an estimated $16 billion, dropping out of the top 100 wealthiest men in the world.

Dangote Refinery to begin production in December

His refinery, the $18 billion Dangote Refinery, is expected to begin production in December with the initial production of diesel and aviation fuel.

The Nigerian government reportedly asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to supply the 650,000-capacity refinery with crude for production in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.

He owns the largest cement manufacturing company in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an annual turnover of $30 billion, according to the company’s website.

Dangote speaks on manufacturing

Dangote described manufacturing as one of the most powerful ways to lift people out of poverty via job creation.

He reportedly said that smaller countries like Singapore and South Korea have an average per capita GDP of $65,233 and $31,846, respectively, due to high levels of industrialization.

He said: “It is evident that manufacturing is pivotal to industrialization. No country in the world has ever industrialized or attained ‘developed nation status’ without having a thriving manufacturing sector.”

Top billionaire manufacturers

Reinhold Wuerth & family: $25.7 billion

Michael Hartono‌: $22.3 billion

He Xiangjian & family: $21.2 billion

Takemitsu Takizaki: $18.7 billion

James Ratcliffe: $18.2 billion

Goh Cheng Liang: $11.3 billion

Li Shuirong: $10.9 billion

Viktor Rashnikov: $10.5 billion

Aliko Dangote: $10.5 billion

Anthony Pratt: $9.8 billion