Victor EzejaPresident of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, retains the richest man status in Africa according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
This is despite the volatility of the Nigerian currency against the dollar.
The Bloomberg’s daily top billionaire lists, released on Tuesday, showed that Dangote with a wealth of $15.6 billion topped other Africans in the Index.
According to the American-based financial publication, Dangote, who remains the richest man in Africa for the 12th year running, was the only Nigerian on the list of the top 500 billionaires.
A few other Africans listed in the latest top 500 world billionaires list for the year 2023 include Johann Rupert and family from South Africa, now worth $13.3 billion, while Nicky Oppenheimer of South Africa ($9.0 billion); Nassef Sawiris of Egypt ($7.47 billion), Natie Kirsh of South Africa ($7.37billion), and Naguib Sawiris ($5.93 billion). These are the only five other Africans that made the list.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world’s richest people.
The index measures personal wealth based on changes in markets, the economy on daily basis.
Each net worth figure is updated every business day after the close of trading in New York. Stakes in publicly traded companies are valued using the share’s most recent closing price. Valuations are converted to U.S. dollars at current exchange rates.
Twitter billionaire owner, Elon Musk, and French business magnate, Bernard Arnault, are the richest in the world with $219 billion and $194 billion respectively in their kitties. American entrepreneur, investor, and commercial astronaut, Jeff Bezos and co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, followed with $151 billion and $130 billion respectively. Larry Ellison was the fifth richest with $130 billion on the world’s billionaires’ chart.
The Africa’s richest man, with his new worth of $15.6 billion, controls Dangote Industries, a closely-held conglomerate. The company which is based in Nigeria, owns sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest cement producer, Dangote Cement. It also has interests in sugar, salt, fertiliser and packaged foods such as, pasta, noodles, etc.
Recently the company also commissioned the $19 billion petroleum refinery plant, located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos which is now Africa’s largest refinery having the estimated capacity to produce 650,000 bpd of oil.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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