Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has been named the richest person on the African continent for the 11th year in a row.
According to Forbes Magazine, Dangote is worth an estimated $13.9 billion, up from $12.1 billion last year following a 30% increase in the stock price of Dangote Cement, his most valuable asset.
The magazine’s analysts found that a surge in housing developments in Nigeria and growth in government infrastructure spending drove higher demand for cement in the first nine months of 2021.
In second place on Africa’s rich list is South African luxury goods magnate Johann Rupert who placed fourth last year.
A more than 60% surge in the share price of his Compagnie Financiere Richemont–maker of Cartier watches and Montblanc pens–pushed his fortune to $11 billion, up from $7.2 billion a year ago, making him the biggest dollar gainer on the list.
South African Nicky Oppenheimer, who formerly ran diamond mining firm DeBeers before selling it to mining firm Anglo American a decade ago, ranks No. 3, worth an estimated $8.7 billion.
The biggest gainer in percentage terms–up 125%—is Strive Masiyiwa of Zimbabwe, worth $2.7 billion, up from $1.2 billion last year. Shares of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which he founded, rose more than 750% in the past year, helping to drive up the size of his fortune.
Nigerian cement tycoon Abdulsamad Rabiu is $1.5 billion richer after taking yet another of his companies public. In early January 2022, Rabiu listed his sugar and food firm BUA Foods on the Nigerian stock exchange. He and his son retained a 96% stake in the company, which recently had a market capitalization of nearly $2.8 billion. (Forbes discounts the values of stakes when the public float is less than 5%.) BUA Cement, in which he and his son have a 96% stake, listed in January 2020.
Only two of the 18 billionaires are worth less than last year: Koos Bekker of South Africa, who dropped to $2.7 billion from $2.8 billion as the share prices of consumer Internet firms Naspers and Prosus fell more than 20% each, and Mohammed Dewji of Tanzania, whose fortune declined to an estimated $1.5 billion from $1.6 billion a year ago due to lower multiples for publicly traded competitors.
The 18 billionaires from Africa, none of whom are new to the ranks, hail from seven different countries. South Africa and Egypt each have five billionaires, followed by Nigeria with three and Morocco with two. All of the continent’s billionaires are men; the last woman to appear in the ranks, Isabel dos Santos of Angola, fell off the Forbes list in January 2021.
METHODOLOGY
Our list tracks the wealth of African billionaires who reside in Africa or have their primary business there, thus excluding Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim, who is a U.K. citizen, and billionaire London resident Mohamed Al-Fayed, an Egyptian citizen. Strive Masiyiwa, a citizen of Zimbabwe and a London resident, appears on the list due to his telecom holdings in Africa.
Net worths were calculated using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of business on Wednesday, January 19, 2022. To value privately held businesses, we start with estimates of revenues or profits and apply prevailing price-to-sale or price-to-earnings ratios for similar public companies. Some list members grow richer or poorer within weeks-or days-of our measurement date.
Forbes list of Africa’s riches people;
1 Aliko Dangote – $13.9B – cement, sugar
2 Johann Rupert – $11B – luxury goods
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4 Nassef Sawiris – $8.6B – construction, investments
5 Abdulsamad Rabiu – $7B – cement, sugar
6 Mike Adenuga – $6.7B – telecom, oil
7 Issad Rebrab – $5.1B – food
8 Naguib Sawiris – $3.4B – telecom
9 Patrice Motsepe – $3.1B – mining
10 Koos Bekker – $2.7B – media, investments
10 Strive Masiyiwa – $2.7B – telecom
12 Mohamed Mansour – $2.5B – diversified
13 Aziz Akhannouch – $2.2B – petroleum, diversified
14 Michiel Le Roux – $1.7B – banking
15 Othman Benjelloun – $1.5B – banking, insurance
15 Mohammed Dewji – $1.5B – diversified
15 Youssef Mansour – $1.5B – diversified
18 Yasseen Mansour – $1.1B – diversified