ALIKO DANGOTE, TONY ELUMELU, JIM OVIA LOSE $7.463b FORTUNES IN STOCK MARKET

The continued slide in the naira and falling stock prices have dealt a big blow to fortunes of Nigeria's billionaires, Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu and Jim Ovia.

According to a latest report in Forbes, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, is the biggest loser among Nigeria’s richest people as the current economic downturn have erased more than $7.8 billion of his fortune. In February, FORBES rated him with a $25bilion worth in its annual ranking of the World’s Billionaires. But as market closed on Tuesday, he’s worth $17.2 billion.`

The last few weeks have been a bit of a disaster for many companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Several blue-chip stocks such as Dangote Cement, Zenith Bank, Transcorp and United Bank of Africa among several others have hit one-year-lows as a result of the fall in oil prices, a general uncertainty regarding the 2015 general elections, Central Bank regulatory headwinds, and weak earnings from large cap companies.

After Dangote, the second biggest loser among Nigeria’s ultra-rich isTony Elumelu, the Chairman of
Heirs Holdings, Heirs Holdings, which is wholly-owned by Elumelu, is the controlling shareholder in Transcorp, a publicly-listed conglomerate with interests in power production, hotels and agriculture. Transcorp’s current market capitalization is now $700 million, down from $1.4 billion at the beginning of November. Heirs Holdings has lost an estimated $345 million in paper value on Transcorp, and its stake in the company as at Monday is now worth roughly $400 million, down from $700 million.

Other big loser include Nigerian multi-millionaire banker Jim Ovia, a co-founder of Zenith Bank. The value of his stake in the financial services provider is $240 million as of
late Monday, down from more than $350 million last month. He owns a 9% stake in the bank