Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote is going to pocket N292.12 billion ($640.6 million) in dividend from its cement business for 2022 financial year as the largest builder of the building materials continues to thrive amid a challenging operating environment.
The $640.6-million dividend, which will be paid directly from Dangote Cement’s retained earnings of N969.48 billion ($2.1 billion) as of Dec. 31, 2022, is higher than the annual government expenditures of African countries such as Rwanda, Burkina Faso, and Malawi.
Dangote Cement is Africa’s largest cement producer, with a total production capacity of 51.55 million tonnes of cement per year across 10 countries.
Interestingly, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist has total share holdings (direct: 27.42 million shares and indirect: 14.62 billion shares) out of 14.89 billion shares, which is 87.40 percent of total shares outstanding of the company.
The directors of Dangote Cement approved a final dividend of N20 per share, subject to the appropriate withholding tax, and which translates to a total dividend of N340.18 billion.
The final dividend payout, which is scheduled for April 14, will see Dangote, who holds an 86-percent majority stake in the cement company receive a dividend of N295 billion ($640.6 million).
It is noteworthy that the dividend that Aliko Dangote will be paid is 76.43 percent of full year profit after, which means he has enough cash in hand to reinvest into the business to finance future expansion.
The cement maker has a dividend yield of 7.33 percent with a price to earnings multiples of 15.33.
Many owners of the thirty most liquid and capitalised firms or NGX 30 index earn hefty dividends from distributable profit because of their overwhelming shareholdings.
In law it is said that minority shareholders have a say while the majority ones have their way.
