Billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote, has retained his position as the richest African man.
Dangote remains number one with a net worth of $12.1 billion, according to the 2022 edition of the Forbes’ Top 10 Africa’s Billionaires List.
This is contained in a post on their verified Twitter account @Forbes.
Chairman of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu, and chairman of Glo, Mike Adenuga, also made the list, occupying 5th and 6th positions respectively.
According to the report, Aliko Dangote of Nigeria is for the 11th consecutive time occupying the first position of the continent’s richest person, worth an estimated $13.9 billion, up from $12.1 billion in 2021.
This according to the magazine, followed a 30 per cent increase in the stock price of Dangote Cement, his most valuable asset.
A surge in housing developments in Nigeria and growth in government infrastructure spending drove higher demand in the first nine months of 2021, analysts found.
The report added that Africa’s billionaires were richer than they had been in years, despite the global pandemic.
As a group, the continent’s 18 billionaires were worth an estimated $84.9 billion, a 15 per cent increase from twelve months ago and the most since 2014, when a larger number of billionaires, 28,were worth $96.5 billion combined.
On average, the continent’s billionaires were worth $4.7 billion now, compared to $3.4 billion in 2014 as soaring stock prices from Nigeria to Zimbabwe lifted the fortunes of these tycoons, with demand for products from cement to luxury goods increasing.
Jumping into the the number two from the list, spot-up from number four last year–was luxury goods magnate, Johann Rupert of South Africa.
More than 60 per cent 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, ranked number three, worth an estimated $8.7 billion.
The biggest gainer in percentage terms–up 125 per cent was 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 percent in the past year, helping to drive up the size of his fortune.
Another gainer: Nigerian cement tycoon, Abdulsamad Rabiu, is $1.5 billion richer after taking yet another of his companies’ public.