Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has reportedly suffered a huge loss of N240 billion in five hours due to coronavirus on Wednesday March 11, 2020.

Some of Dangote’s firms under the parent-company, Dangote Group, suffered big losses at the market due to the coronavirus pandemic which originated from Wuhan, China.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday declared coronavirus a pandemic.

According to the Nation, Dangote Cement Plc which is Nigeria’s most capitalised quoted company and accounts for more than 20 per cent of the total market capitalisation, led the decline with the maximum daily allowable drop of 10 per cent or N17, which is equivalent to net depreciation of N289.68 billion.

Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) Plc and NASCON Allied Industries Plc lost N1.8 billion and N3.05 billion. Dangote Cement’s share price dropped by N17 from N170 to close at N153. NASCON Allied Industries declined by N1.15 to close at N3.05 while DSR lost 15 kobo to close at N9.75 per share.

Allaying public fears about development in the market, the Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) assured investors that the market would soon bounce back.