Aliko Dangote's net worth increased $5.27 billion since early February, reaching $35.2 billion as his 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lagos completes its global crude sourcing infrastructure and moves toward a public listing. The gain places him above thirty billionaires on the Bloomberg index and marks the steepest eight-week climb for an African principal since 2021.

The refinery began processing U.S. WTI crude in January after eighteen months of Nigerian supply disputes with state oil company NNPC. It now sources from four continents and operates at 68% capacity, with full utilization expected by June. Dangote Industries disclosed $2.8 billion in refining revenue for Q4 2024, triple the prior quarter, driven by diesel and jet fuel exports to South Africa, Ghana, and Togo. The company filed preliminary IPO documents with the Nigerian Exchange and London Stock Exchange on March 12, targeting a 15-20% float at a $22-26 billion enterprise value by September.

The wealth accretion reflects two valuation levers. First, the refinery's shift from Nigerian-only feedstock to international crude eliminates currency risk and aligns its margin structure with Singapore and Rotterdam benchmarks. Gross refining margins widened to $18.40 per barrel in February from $11.20 in November, per industry data. Second, pre-IPO investor meetings in London and New York during February established a 12-14x EBITDA multiple expectation, well above the 8-10x applied to private African industrials. Family office allocators in those sessions reported Dangote's team emphasized the refinery's status as the only sub-Saharan facility capable of producing Euro-V fuels without upgrades.

The timing matters because Nigeria's subsidy removal in May 2023 restructured the country's $20 billion annual fuel import market. Dangote now supplies 42% of domestic gasoline and diesel demand, per February customs data, displacing European and Indian imports that previously held 80% market share. The refinery's integrated petrochemical complex—producing polypropylene and fertilizer—adds $1.1 billion in annual revenue at current run rates. Cement operations, which generated $4.6 billion in 2024 across fourteen African markets, continue independently but will likely be carved out pre-IPO to isolate refining multiples.

Allocators should track three near-term events. First, the company's March 28 earnings call will disclose Q1 utilization rates and confirm whether the refinery hit 80% capacity by end-March as management previously guided. Second, watch for NNPC's April crude allocation decision; the state company still owes Dangote $680 million for prior deliveries and its cooperation affects feedstock cost. Third, monitor whether Dangote's advisors—Goldman Sachs and Chapel Hill Denham—file a formal prospectus by mid-April, which would lock in a Q3 listing window before U.S. election volatility.

The $35.2 billion figure excludes an estimated $1.8-2.2 billion in illiquid West African real estate and port infrastructure holdings. The refinery itself holds $12.5 billion in project debt across seven lenders, manageable against $8.3 billion in projected 2025 EBITDA at full capacity.