Alinko Dangote reclaims African richest man as net worth doubles with his new refinery project.

In a display of entrepreneurial prowess, African business mogul Alinko Dangote, has regained his position as the continent's richest individual. This remarkable feat is attributed to the phenomenal success of his refinery project, which has effectively doubled his net worth.

Dangote's networth is now $28 Billion, which ranks him at 65th position on the world richest list. According to Bloomberg Billionares' index, the 65th is the best ranking Dangote has had on the Bloomberg list, he was ranked No 2 in Africa behind South African luxury goods magnate Johann Rupert who had a networth of $14.3 Billion in August 2024.

The Dangote refinery which is located in Nigeria's commercial city lagos is the biggest single-train oil refinery in the world which has the capacity of processing most global crude types like disel, jet fuel and petrol. The refinery can process up to 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day and has the potential to transform Nigeria's economy by making the country independent for fuel.

In an interview, Dangote revealed that the cost of setting up the refinery was $20 Billion with loans from banks accumulating the bigger percantage of the capital. The business mogul revealed that the loan was secured from domestic banks across the continent with $5.5 Billion secured to build the refinery.

Dangote revealed to Bloomberg that he faced major challenges in building the refinery, saying he wouldn’t wish the experience on his worst enemy.I didn’t know what we were building was a monster, Dangote said during a recent visit to New York. “The pressure was coming from different directions, people confusing us, disturbing us every day with different media stories that it will never work, it will never work, it will never work.

Also revealing the challenges he had with state oil company NNPC and goverment over delayed issuance of construction permit, confused on regulatory restrictions, as well as concerns of the refinery on the enviroment. NNPC said it wont be the sole buyer and distributor of Dangote refinery's petrol in Nigeria, stating Dangote refinery can freely sell its petrol to oil marketers in Nigeria, which was not the agreement signed by both parties.

Admist all this, Europe and Asia are Dangote refinery's biggest export of fuel. Some of the countries that look up to Dangote refinery for fuel are Ireland, Netherlands, Belguim and Switzerland, accounting to over 90% of its jet fuels to these countries.