Nigeria’s stock market rally is boosting the fortunes of the country’s richest industrialists, with Aliko Dangote and Abdulsamad Rabiu recording the biggest wealth gains among African billionaires so far in 2026.

compiled by BusinessDay from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows the duo’s combined net worth rose by $4.97 billion between January 1 and February 20, outpacing their continental peers.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index, launched in 2012, is a daily ranking of the world’s 500 wealthiest individuals, updated at the close of trading in New York and based on public and private asset valuations, market movements and reported holdings.

Among the seven Africans tracked on the index during the period, Dangote and Rabiu’s gains were more than double the total $1.56 billion increase recorded by South Africa’s Johann Rupert & family, Nicky Oppenheimer & family and Natie Kirsh. Egypt’s Naguib Sawiris and Nassef Sawiris posted a combined $814 million rise.

“Dangote and Rabiu companies are now more valuable due to the rally we have seen in the Nigerian stock market,” said Temitope Omosuyi, a United Kingdom-based investment strategist. “For the Dangote refinery that is not listed yet, the positive news about how capacity utilisation has improved, and expansion plans to take more market in Africa would have also affected Dangote’s worth.”

A breakdown of the index revealed that Dangote recorded the largest wealth increase of $2.79 billion, followed by Rabiu with $2.18 billion. Among peers, Naguib Sawiris gained $688 million, Kirsh $663 million, Oppenheimer & family $250 million and Nassef Sawiris $126 million. Johann Rupert & family were the only decliners, with wealth down $644 million.

Equity rally drives wealth surge

The wealth gains mirror the strong performance of Nigeria’s equities market, which emerged as Africa’s best performer in 2026. Africa’s most populous nation currently hosts the continent’s best-performing stock market, supported by a stronger naira, rising foreign participation and robust corporate earnings.

According to African Markets, the benchmark index gained 34.4 percent in dollar terms year to date. The All-Share Index stood at 194,989.8 points, with total market capitalisation at N125.2 trillion ($92.9 billion) — the highest performance among 17 African bourses tracked.

On January 5, the market crossed the N100 trillion ($70 billion) mark for the first time, implying a $22.9 billion increase in dollar market value so far this year.

Total wealth of Africa’s billionaires

Dangote’s refinery momentum

Bloomberg noted that Dangote’s $32.8 billion fortune has surged following the start-up of his 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery, which began operations two years ago. The Dangote Group plans to expand capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2028, potentially making it one of the world’s largest refining complexes.

Dangote, Africa’s richest person, founded and chairs Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer with a capacity of 48.6 million metric tonnes annually across 10 African countries. His conglomerate spans cement, sugar, salt, fertiliser and petroleum refining.

After years of development, the fertiliser plant began operations in March 2022, while the refinery commenced refining activities in early 2024. Dangote has indicated plans to list both the fertiliser and refinery businesses on the Nigerian Exchange.

In a further sign of long-term positioning, a staff memo seen by Bloomberg shows Dangote has handed greater operational responsibilities to his three daughters as part of a plan to build the group into a $100 billion business within four years — a move that reflects a broader global trend of founder-led succession planning.

Rabiu’s listed bets pay off

Rabiu, founder of BUA Group, has also benefited strongly from the equity rally. He re-entered the Bloomberg billionaires ranking in January 2024 and has continued to climb.

BUA Foods — one of his flagship listed companies — briefly became Nigeria’s most valuable listed firm last year after its market capitalisation hit N10.4 trillion, overtaking MTN Nigeria, before later ceding the top spot. As of Friday, BUA Foods was valued at N15.2 trillion ($11.3 billion) with a share price of N845.

Its sister company, BUA Cement, currently commands a market capitalisation of N7.11 trillion ($5.3 billion).

Among the country’s major cement producers, BUA Cement delivered the highest earnings growth for the second consecutive quarter in the three months to September 2025, with after-tax profit surging 640.8 percent year on year — far ahead of Dangote Cement’s 149.8 percent and Lafarge Africa’s 144.1 percent growth.

Shift in Africa’s wealth map

The surge reinforces Nigeria’s rising weight in Africa’s billionaire rankings.

BusinessDay reported last month that the country’s four listed billionaires — Dangote, Rabiu, Mike Adenuga and Femi Otedola — overtook their South African counterparts in combined wealth in 2025, driven by stronger equity valuations and corporate earnings.

data shows the four Nigerians’ combined net worth rose to $43.1 billion as of December 30, surpassing the $42 billion held by South Africa’s seven billionaires.

“For the Nigerian economy, it shows that the size is now bigger. Hence, the country is becoming more important to the transformation of the continent than ever,” Omosuyi said. “More wealthy people in Nigeria means more resources to drive capital formation and growth.”

Peers remain significant

Despite the West African nation’s momentum, other African billionaires continue to feature prominently.

South Africa’s Johann Rupert remains among the continent’s wealthiest through his stake in luxury goods group Compagnie Financière Richemont, while Nicky Oppenheimer retains significant wealth following the sale of the family’s De Beers stake.

Egypt’s Nassef Sawiris continues to build his fortune through fertiliser giant OCI and construction firm Orascom Construction, alongside international investments including Adidas and Aston Villa Football Club.

For now, however, Nigeria’s equity rally — underpinned by currency stability and institutional flows — is reshaping Africa’s billionaire leaderboard in 2026. (BusinessDay)