Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, has climbed to the 86th position on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, with his net worth rising from $13.4 billion in 2024 to $23.9 billion in 2025.
This marks his return to the top 100 richest individuals worldwide, a position he last held in 2018. His wealth increase is primarily attributed to his 92.3% stake in the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which began operations in Lagos last year.
The refinery, the largest in Africa and seventh-largest globally, has disrupted Nigeria’s oil industry by reducing the country’s reliance on fuel imports, impacting European refiners. Dangote described the project as the biggest risk of his life, stating that failure would have been devastating. He aims to set a blueprint for Africa’s industrialization, emphasizing self-reliance over foreign investment.
His success places him far ahead of South Africa’s Johann Rupert ($14.4bn) and Nigeria’s Mike Adenuga ($6.8bn). Zainab Usman, Director of the Africa Programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, highlighted Dangote’s role as a transformative industrialist in Nigeria.
