Aliko Dangote has retained his position as the richest man in Africa, with a net worth of $13.9 billion (N5.7trillion), 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.
According to the report, for the 11th year in a row, Aliko Dangote of Nigeria is 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 a combined $96.5 billion.
The 18 billionaires from Africa, who was not new to the ranks, also hailed from seven different countries, South Africa and Egypt each had five billionaires, followed by Nigeria with three and Morocco with two
On average, the continent’s billionaires were worth $4.7 billion now, worth $3.4 billion in 2014 with soaring stock prices from Nigeria to Zimbabwe lifting the fortunes of these tycoons, as demand for products from cement to luxury goods ticked up.
Jumping into the number two from the list, spot–up from number four last year–was luxury goods magnate, Johann Rupert of South Africa.
Another gainer: Nigerian cement tycoon Abdulsamad Rabiu, who is $1.5 billion richer after taking yet another of his companies’ public.
According to the release, only two of the 18 billionaires are worth less than in 2021: 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 20per cent each.
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.
All of the continent’s billionaires were men; the last woman to appear in the ranks, Isabel dos Santos of Angola, fell off the Forbes list in January 2021.
Forbes noted that the list tracked the wealth of African billionaires who resided in Africa or had their primary business there, thus excluding Sudanese-born billionaire, Mo Ibrahim, who is a U.K. citizen.
The billionaire London resident, Mohamed Al-Fayed, is an Egyptian citizen. Strive Masiyiwa, a citizen of Zimbabwe and a London resident appeared on the list due to his telecom holdings in Africa.
It added that the Net worth was calculated using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of business on Wednesday, Jan. 19.
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