Billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote has described the floating of the Naira by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration as the biggest “mess” that affected Nigerian businesses in 2023.
Tinubu announced a policy of a single exchange market while taking office on May 29, at which time the Nigeria Exchange Rate against the USD averaged N460.702/$1.
Estimates said the policy sank a $5.85 billion hole in the fortunes of Dangote and fellow Billionaire, Abdulsamad Rabiu, erstwhile listed among the 500 world’s richest men.
The Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited made this assertion on Tuesday during his remarks at the Annual General Meeting of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc.
He said: “The biggest mess created was the devaluation of the naira from N460 to N1,400.
“You can see that almost 97 per cent of companies in the food and beverage business, none of them will pay dividends this year. But we will try and get out of it.”