By Emmanuel Uffot
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group has retained the number one spot as the richest person in Africa.
This was contained in the Forbes list of 20 Africa’s billionaires, released on January 22, 2024.
According to the New Jersey – based media outfit, the Kano born business mogul retained his first position in Africa as the richest person in the continent with a net worth of $13.9 billion.
To justify his enlistment as the number one in the year under review, Forbes said Dangote’s fortunes improved by $ 400 million to $ 13.9 billion from $ 13.5 billion the previous year.
Retaining the number one spot for 13 consecutive years in a row and for the current survey according to industry watches, may not be unconnected with the Investment of six billion Naira stake in Dangote Cement by another listed billionaire Femi Otedola. That investment contributed in catapulting Dangote Cement equity to hit N10 trillion mark in the stock exchange.
What is believed to have shot up the fortunes of Dangote, is his refinery which has already started producing.
Dangote is closely followed by South Africa’s luxury magnate Johann Rupert and family, with net worth of $ 10.1 billion in number two position.
Rupert’s worth however slide by $ 600 billion from $10.7 billion in 2023 given the slide in shares of his company Compagnie Financiere Richemont – maker of Cartier Wrist Watches and Montblanc pens.
Another South African Nicky Oppenheimer and his family is number three in the list. The South African who formerly ran a Diamond mining firm DeBeers before selling it to another mining company Anglo American a decade ago got the number 3 spot with net worth of $9.4 billion which reflects an increase of one billion dollars from 2023 figures of $8.4 billion.
The South African is followed by Egyptian Nasseff Sawiris in number four with net worth of $8.7 billion.
Nasseff is the greatest gainer as his fortunes improved by $1.4b from $7.5 b previous year.
The increase in his fortune is attributed to the rise in shares of Addidas which he is said to own six percent shares as well as dividends from the German Sneaker Company and family conglomerate OCI.
Coming 5th in Forbes list of 20 richest persons in Africa is another Nigerian Mike Adenuga. Adenuga who owns mobile telecommunication giant Globacom and other chains of business is worth $6.9billion.
He is followed in 6th position by another Nigerian Abdulsamad Rabiu, the Chairman of BUA Group, with net worth of $ 5.9 billion.
Another notable rich business man in Nigeria who made the list as number 19 is Femi Otedola.
Otedola who formerly had controlling shares in Forte Oil, Transcorp and recently bought controlling shares in Dangote Cement is listed as worth $1.1billion.
It is interesting to note that the return of Otedola to Forbes list has been acknowledged by the latter as one of the major reason for the improvement in the combined net worth of those listed.
Otedola who is the Executive Chairman of Geregu Power Plc and Non- Executive Director of FBN Holdings last appeared in Forbes list in 2017 when he held controlling shares in Forte Oil. He later divested his oil investment during government move to privatise the country’s energy sector in 2013. Consequently, he had reportedly used the investment from Forte Oil to purchased Geregu Power Plc in Kogi State. He is said to own 90 percent stake in the power company when it was listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange at the instance of Otedola, but he has sold some of his shares in the company to institutional investors like Afreximbank’s fund for Export Development in Africa and the State Grid Corporation of China.
His 73 percent stake in Geregu Power Plc is said to worth $850 million of his current total worth.
Similarly another gainer whose fortune appreciated according to Forbes is South African Christopher Wiese. Wiese who rejoined the ranking list last year at number 18 with $1.1 billion after rebounding from an accounting scandal, maintained his position with $1.2b net worth. This is attributed to his rising shares of his largest holdings in Shoprite and the Spinoff of Good business Premiere Group from Brait Plc.
However, while Dangote, Otedola, Adenuga, Rabiu all of Nigeria, Sawiris of Egypt and Oppenheimer of South Africa all had rise in their fortunes according to Forbes, the biggest decline in his fortune on the list is Algerian Issad Rebrad, an industrial magnate.
He was reportedly barred by a court in May last year from exercising any commercial or management duties at his conglomerate Cevital.
Rebrad, we gathered denied doing any wrong had previously served 8 months on jail on corruption charges before his release on January 2020.
The Algerian who shares his cumulative wealth with his wife and five children had his net worth deep by half to $2.5 billion from previous $5b is ranked 11th on the 20 richest billionaires list.
In all while 13 billionaires including Dangote and Otedola had improved their fortunes, seven including second place Rupert had a decline in their fortunes.
In countries ranking, South Africa top with 6 spots from the 20 man list, Egypt followed with 5, Nigeria with 4, Morocco with 2 and the trio of Algeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe had one each.
Forbes said it’s current 20 billionaires list of Africa’s richest men were worth a combined $82.4 billion representing an increase of $900 million from $81.5 billion recorded previous year.
The media outfit also noted that the turbulent investment environment in Africa especially in 2023 made African equities less attractive for foreign investors ” You have got two negatives for investors. Weakening domestic currencies pushing up inflation and tax rises which is hurting the companies”.
The criteria used by Forbes in arriving at the list were stock prices and currency exchange rate from January 8, 2024.
Forbes ” The list we gathered tracks the wealth of African billionaires who reside in Africa or have their primary business there.
” Net worth are calculated using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of business on January 8, 2024″.
Forbes has been in this business of ranking richest Africans for more than 15 years now.
Like Bankers Magazine that ranked banks and regarded as very reputable, the same is said of Forbes.
LIST OF FORBES 20 RICHEST BILLIONAIRES IN AFRICA
1, Aliko Dangote – $13.9b
2, Johann Rupert & family -$10.1b
3, Nicky Oppenheimer & family – $9.4b
4, Nasseff Sawiris – $8.7b
5, Mike Adenuga – $6.9b
6, Abdulsamad Rabiu – $5.9b
7, Naguid Sawiris – $3.8b
8, Mohamed Mansour – $3.2b
9, Roos Bekker – $2.7b
10, Patrice Motsepe – $2.7b
11, Issad Rebrad & family – $2.5b
12, Mohamed Dewji – $1.8b
13, Strive Masiyiwa -$1.8b
14, Aziz Akhannoch & family – $1.7b
15, Othman Benjelloun – $1.4b
16, Youseff Mansour – $1.3b
17, Yassen Mansour – $1.2b
18, Christoffel Wiese – $1.2b
19, Femi Otedola – $1.1b
20, Michael Roux – $1.1b