Naira Float: Aliko Dangote Loses $3.7 billion And Drops 25 Places On Billionaire List

The foreign exchange policy which has seen the Naira float and drop in value by over 40% to N288 will surely have unintended casualties. Already, we opine that the country’s GDP might somehow be impaired by the new exchange rate when an average based on the new exchange rate is taken sometime this year. Another major casualty is our dear billionaires.

According to Bloomberg, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, fell 25 places on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on Monday as the naira tumbled on its first day of trading without a peg to the U.S. dollar.

According to Bloomberg, Dangote’s fortune fell $3.7 billion, knocking him to No. 71 on the Bloomberg ranking, down from No. 46 on Friday. The majority of Dangote’s $12.7 billion fortune is derived from a 91 percent stake in Dangote Cement Plc, which shed 2 percent in trading Monday.