Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa, has seen his net worth decline by $200 million since the beginning of October due to a persistent decline in the value of his cement company, Dangote Cement Plc, which has harmed his net worth after printing billion-dollar gains in the first five months of 2022.

His net worth had already dropped by $400 million in September due to a market-wide sell-off of shares on the Nigerian Exchange in reaction to the Central Bank of Nigeria's tightening monetary policy.

Dangote, Africa’s richest man and the world’s richest Black person, derives the majority of his wealth from his 86-percent stake in Dangote Cement, which is presently worth $8.13 billion.

An additional $5.15 billion of his wealth is linked to his closely held fertilizer plant, which has the capacity to produce up to 2.8 million tonnes of urea per year.

With the recent decline in Dangote’s net worth, his year-to-date wealth loss is now estimated to be $611 million, joining a long list of African billionaires such as Johann Rupert, Patrice Motsepe, Strive Masiyiwa, and Mohammed Al-Amoudi, whose wealth has declined noticeably since the start of the year.

The decline in his net worth since the year began can be attributed to the sustained decline in the shares of Dangote Cement, as investors continued to sell down stakes in the leading cement firm.

Dangote Cement is Africa’s largest cement manufacturer with a total capacity of 51.55 million tonnes of cement per year across ten countries.

Its profit fell by more than 10 percent in the first half of 2022, from N191.63 billion ($460.8 million) to N172.1 billion ($413.8 million) due to an increase in selling and distribution costs, as well as an increase in direct production costs driven by energy costs.

Following a recent ownership tussle between Dangote Industries Limited and the Kogi State government — a state government in Nigeria’s north-central region — its largest cement plant, Obajana Cement Company, was placed under lock and key nearly three weeks ago.

The Obajana Cement Factory, which opened in 2008 and has a capacity of 16.25 million tonnes per annum across five lines, is the group’s flagship plant. The factory has 647 million tonnes of limestone reserves that are estimated to last 45 years and is supported by a fleet of 2,370 trucks.