Four Nigerian billionaires lost a combined $2.25 billion in estimated wealth on Wednesday as investors took profits after a strong stock market rally, pushing Nigeria’s benchmark index to a six-week low.
Data from Forbes’ real-time billionaire tracker showed that Aliko Dangote, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Mike Adenuga and Femi Otedola lost $1 billion, $1.2 billion, $26.3 million and $20.8 million, respectively.
Forbes updates billionaire net worth estimates every five minutes during trading hours, reflecting changes in the value of publicly listed holdings, while privately held assets are reviewed periodically.
The one-day decline in wealth came as the Nigerian Exchange Limited’s market capitalisation fell to N155.4 trillion on Wednesday, its lowest level since July 13, from N155.97 trillion at Tuesday’s close, according to NGX data.
The NGX All-Share Index also fell to 240,750.47 points, its lowest level since July 7, from 241,611.23 points on Tuesday.
The pullback follows a rally that briefly made the exchange the world’s best-performing stock market in dollar terms and lifted the fortunes of some of Nigeria’s wealthiest investors.
“The slowdown is a combination of normal third-quarter seasonality, profit-taking, limited near-term catalysts and investor positioning ahead of major events,” said Abiodun Keripe, managing director of Afrinvest Consulting Limited. “Q3 is also typically a quiet period for the equities market, with fewer corporate actions and dividend-related catalysts than earlier in the year.”
He added that the staggered release of half-year results, with some major banks such as Zenith yet to report, has also limited the flow of fresh corporate information into the market.
Billionaires’ listed holdings
Femi Otedola, with an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion, emerged as Africa’s fastest-rising billionaire this year, driven largely by his increasing stake in First HoldCo.
The share price of the parent company of Nigeria’s oldest bank remained unchanged at N132 on Wednesday. First HoldCo, which has become the country’s most valuable banking group with a market capitalisation of N6 trillion, traded as high as N142 on August 7.
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man with a fortune of $30.2 billion, also saw limited movement in his publicly listed holdings. Dangote Cement, with a market capitalisation of N17.5 trillion, remained unchanged at N1,034, while Dangote Sugar gained 1.23 percent to N69.9, giving the company a market value of N848.5 billion.
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Valued at $11.5 billion, Abdul Samad Rabiu’s BUA Foods, which became Nigeria’s most valuable listed company in the second half of 2025 before losing that position earlier this year, remained unchanged at N760.60, giving the company a market capitalisation of N13.69 trillion. BUA Cement also remained unchanged at N316, valuing the company at N10.70 trillion.
Despite limited movement in most of their listed holdings on Wednesday, the billionaires’ estimated wealth declined as Forbes’ real-time calculations reflected changes in the value of their publicly traded assets.
Nigeria slips from global stock market lead
The latest pullback comes after Nigeria’s stock market slipped to third place globally in dollar terms, behind South Korea and Ghana, following a brief stint at the top spot on July 10.
As of August 14, South Korea’s Kospi had gained 68.52 percent year to date in dollar terms, compared with 66.68 percent for Ghana’s Composite Index and 65.23 percent for the NGX All-Share Index, according to Bloomberg data tracking 92 global stock exchanges.
Nigeria’s loss of the global crown, however, has been driven largely by the sharp rebound in South Korean equities rather than a collapse in the Nigerian market.
The market in Africa’s most populous nation has also come under profit-taking pressure following its strong run, with analysts describing the recent decline as a normal correction rather than a broad deterioration in market fundamentals.
The domestic equities market fell 1.2 percent week-on-week last week to 242,619.20 points, reversing gains recorded in the previous week.
The market advanced in only one of five trading sessions, moderating its year-to-date return to 55.9 percent from 57.8 percent in the preceding week.
Despite the decline in prices, trading activity strengthened significantly. Total volume and value traded rose 126.8 percent and 26.6 percent week-on-week, respectively, to 12.2 billion shares and N176.1 billion.
Analysts at CSL Research maintained a cautiously positive outlook on the domestic bourse.
“The recent pullback appears to reflect profit-taking following the strong rally in preceding weeks rather than a broad-based deterioration in market fundamentals,” they said in a note on Monday.
They expect investor sentiment to remain supported by the continued release of corporate earnings and ongoing corporate actions.
However, elevated valuations, recent profit-taking and the availability of Open Market Operations bills to retail investors could sustain near-term volatility as investors rotate some capital into fixed-income securities, CSL Research said.
What is driving Nigeria’s rally?
Temi Popoola, group managing director and chief executive officer of Nigerian Exchange Group, attributed Nigeria’s market rally to the Investments and Securities Act 2025, foreign-exchange reforms, banking recapitalisation, stronger corporate earnings and higher dividend payouts.
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Popoola made the remarks during a visit to President Bola Tinubu earlier in August.
He described the performance as more than rising share prices, calling it a broad “re-rating of Nigeria” driven by returning investor confidence, deeper capital formation and improved corporate fundamentals.
Keripe said he expects the market’s current weakness to be temporary.
“I therefore view the current softness as largely cyclical rather than a fundamental deterioration in market sentiment, with activity expected to strengthen in Q4 ahead of 2027 corporate results, while corporate actions provide renewed catalysts,” he said.
