Aliko Dangote has dropped in position as one of the richest men in the world after he moved out of the list of top 60 world’s wealthiest people.
Dangote is presently 72nd on the list of richest men in the world despite the increase in fortune after his wealth surged by over $1.7 billion this year to $20.2 billion as of 8 June 2022.
Quiet recently, Dangote was ranked the 67th richest person on the list, while Johann Rupert overtook Nicky Oppenheimer to reclaim his title as South Africa’s richest man.
Experts say he might soon return to the top 60 or more on the wings of his newly launched fertilizer plant and the Dangote Refinery which is expected to commence operations by 2022 third quarter.
Meanwhile, a report published by Fitch, the world’s biggest global rating agency, alleged that Aliko Dangote was seeking to raise an additional $1.1 billion (900 billion) to complete the refinery but had invested all his cash and even borrowed to finance the refinery project.
According to the report, the Dangote refinery project is still on track to be completed by 2023 and requires an additional USD1.1 billion capex in 2022 to be partly funded by the new bond.
The report adds that Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) is planning to establish a local bond programme amounting to USD750 million to partially finance the completion of its refinery and petrochemical plant. DIL’s subsidiaries – Dangote Oil Refining Company Limited (DORC) and Dangote Fertiliser Limited (DFL) – will be co-obligors under the proposed programme.