Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person and CEO of Dangote Group, has seen his fortune rise to $51.1 billion, placing him 36th among the world’s wealthiest people as of 14 September 2026. The latest estimate is up $196 million, or 0.38%, on the day.
Dangote built much of that wealth through Dangote Cement, which he founded and still chairs. He owns about 85% of the publicly traded company through a holding firm. The business is Africa’s largest cement producer, with operations in about 10 to 11 countries and installed capacity now above 50 million metric tons a year. Nigeria remains its core market.
He has also expanded beyond cement. His fertilizer plant in Nigeria started operations in March 2022 and has become one of the group’s major industrial assets. The Dangote Refinery, which began construction in 2016, started refining in early 2024 and is now the largest single driver of his wealth. A private placement earlier this year lifted the refinery’s implied value and pushed Dangote’s net worth over the $50 billion mark.
The refinery is now opening what is expected to be Africa’s biggest IPO, offering a small public stake while Dangote keeps control. If demand is strong, his fortune could rise further.
