Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index shows Dangote’s net worth fell about $684 million in 24 hours, sliding from $30.5 billion to $29.8 billion on Tuesday.

This is the first significant pullback since he became the first African to surpass $30 billion earlier this month.

Cement Shares Drive the Drop

Dangote owns 87.45 percent of Dangote Cement, Nigeria’s largest listed company and Africa’s top cement producer.

Its shares on the Nigerian Exchange fell nearly 10 percent Tuesday, continuing a weeklong slide tied to investor concerns over a new tax policy.

A law passed earlier this month raises the capital gains tax from 10 percent to a rate that matches company income tax levels, reaching up to 30 percent.

The change, set to take effect in 2026, has prompted caution among investors and slowed trading activity.

The decline erased roughly $650 million from Dangote’s stake in the company, reducing its market value from about $6.7 billion to $6.05 billion.

Strong Profits Cushion the Impact

Despite the stock slide, Dangote Cement reported strong earnings for 2025. For the nine months ending September 30, profit nearly tripled to N743.3 billion ($514.5 million), up from N279.1 billion the previous year.

In the third quarter alone, the company earned N222.8 billion in profit on revenue of N1.08 trillion.

These results put Dangote Cement in close competition with MTN Nigeria Plc to become the first Nigerian-listed company to post an annual profit exceeding N1 trillion.

Fortune Still Tied to Cement Empire

Dangote’s wealth remains closely linked to Nigeria’s stock market and the cement industry, which he has dominated for nearly two decades.

Even with the dip below the symbolic $30 billion mark, Dangote continues to lead one of Africa’s most profitable industrial groups, with exports reaching Ghana, Cameroon, and Congo.