Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote could have been $120 billion richer if he had invested the billions of dollars used in building his refinery in big tech, according to the Nigerian government.
The country’s vice president, Kashim Shettima, said that the business magnate could have opted to put his resources into lucrative international companies like Microsoft, Amazon, or Google. He however chose to build his country by investing as much as $19 billion in the Dangote Refinery.
The Dangote Refinery is reportedly the largest single-train facility in the world and Africa’s biggest, and it is Dangote’s most ambitious project helping in Nigeria’s economic transformation.
“I want to celebrate the greatest black man in the last 300 years, who single-handedly established the largest single train refinery in the world,” Shettima said of Dangote at the opening of the Taraba International Investment Summit 2025 in Jalingo last week.
“He [Dangote] started this project in 2007/2008. If he had invested the $19 billion that it took him to set up the Dangote Refinery in Microsoft, in Amazon, in Google, he is going to be worth $120 billion now.”
“But he decided to invest in his own country. Alhaji Aliko Dangote, we are mightily proud of you,” the vice president said.
READ ALSO: Africa just got a new billionaire you should know about
Even though it delayed for some years, the Dangote Refinery started producing diesel, naphtha, and jet fuel in January last year, with petrol production also beginning in September, the Insider reported.
The refinery is designed to process 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day and this should help reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported refined petroleum products, experts say.
Dangote’s net worth surged from $13.9 billion last year to $23.9 billion in 2025, largely due to the inclusion of the Dangote Refinery’s valuation in Forbes’ calculations.
Dangote has been making his money largely from Dangote Cement, one of Africa’s most successful and recognizable brands. In addition to his cement factory, Dangote is also into the production of sugar and until recently, fertilizer and oil refinery.
What is more, he is also into the assembling of cars under the name Dangote Peugeot Automobiles Nigeria Limited (DPAN).
