Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote suffered a huge loss due to coronavirus on Wednesday, March 11, as he lost N240 billion in five hours.

Dangote’s firms under the parent-company 'Dangote Group', suffered huge losses just after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared coronavirus a pandemic (spreading in multiple countries around the world at the same time).

The Nation reported that Dangote Cement Plc which is Nigeria’s most capitalized quoted company and accounts for more than 20 percent of the total market capitalization, led the decline with the maximum daily allowable drop of 10 percent 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.