Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, announced a few weeks ago a devaluation of Nigeria’s currency (Naira) by about 10% as a result of the drop in oil prices and reduction in dollar reserves which was making it difficult to defend the value of the Naira. In a recent Forbes report, it was mentioned that the naira devaluation has knocked out more than $40 billion off the value of Nigeria’s economy and the Naira is now trading at N187 to $1, compared to N165 in November.
The aftermath of the naira devaluation and plunge in stock prices has consequently resulted in the loss of almost $7.8 Billion from Aliko Dangote’s $25 Billion fortune since February. Forbes also reported that “as of market close on Tuesday, he’s worth $17.2 billion. More than half of the drop in his fortune has happened since early November. As of Nov. 7, Dangote was worth $21.6 billion, $4.4 billion more than now.”
Other blue chip companies that were hugely impacted apart from Dangote Cement include Zenith Bank, Transcorp, and United Bank of Africa.
