AFRICA'S RICHEST MAN DOUBLED HIS FORTUNE ON A MASSIVE-AND RISKY-$23 BILLION BET

NIGERIAN BILLIONAIRE ALIKO DANGOTE BROKE HIS GOVERNMENT’S OIL MONOPOLY BY BUILDING THE LARGEST PETROLEUM REFINERY IN AFRICA. SO FAR, ONLY HE HAS REAPED THE REWARDS.

- By John Hyatt

Aliko Dangote takes a deep breath, before reflecting on the odyssey of building Africa's largest oil and gas refinery. "This is a very, very big relief," says Dangote, who is speaking with Forbes via video conference from an office space at the refinery. Between remarks, the tycoon waves away employees off-screen vying for his attention. "It is actually removing something off my chest," he continues, as if speaking with his therapist. "Because nobody ever gave us the chance to prove this through." After 11 years, $23 billion in investment and innumerable headaches, the Dangote Refinery finally began operating last year. Located on a sprawling 6,200-acre campus in Nigeria's Lekki Free Zone about an hour outside Lagos, the refinery processed around 350,000 barrels of crude per day (b/d) in the second half of 2024. In January, it processed 500,000 b/d.

At full capacity-a whopping 650,000 b/d-the Dangote Refinery will be the seventh largest refinery in the world by production and the biggest in Africa. Its adjacent petrochemical complex has an annual production capacity of 3 million metric tons of urea, making it Africa's largest fertilizer producer.

Dangote's refinery is already impacting global energy markets. Imports of gasoline into Nigeria are on pace for an eightyear low, affecting the European refiners that traditionally sold to Nigeria, according to energy intelligence firm Vortexa. And thanks to the refinery, Nigeria has become a net exporter of jet fuel, naphtha (a solvent used in varnishes, laundry soaps, cleaning fluids) and fuel oil, according to S&P Global.

With his project coming to fruition, Dangote is now worth an estimated $23.9 billion-almost double what he was worth last year. (He insists he's even richer). Already Africa's wealthiest person, the 67-year-old Nigerian moves back into the ranks of the top 100 richest since 2018, according to Forbes' RealTime Billionaires List.