Six Nigerians Make List Of Forbes 40 Richest Africans.

American publishing media, Forbes, has released an inaugural list of Africa’s forty richest people with Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote maintaining number 0ne spot in Africa.

This evaluation serves as a global increase for the continent as the combined wealth of the 40 richest is $64.9 billion – more than Thailand’s 40 richest which is placed at $45 billion, but less than Taiwan’s $92.7 billion.

Aliko Dangote of Nigeria is the richest with a $10.1 billion fortune based on his stake in publicly-traded Dangote cement–which has operations across Africa — as well as his interests in flour milling, sugar refining and salt processing.


Nigeria’s top business moguls aside from Dangote that are on the list are Mike Adenuga, Jim Ovia, Oba Otudeko, Theophilus Danjuma, and Hakeem Bello-Osagie.

Dangote and his counterpart, Oppenheimer are according to Forbes, two of 16 billionaires among Africa’s 40 richest.

Egypt boasts the largest number of billionaires in Africa, with 7 (primarily from two families—the Sawiris and Mansours). South Africa, the African country with the biggest gross domestic product (an estimated $357 billion in 2010), is second with 4 ten-figure fortunes but it has bragging rights as home to the most list members—15.

Egypt comes in second with 9 list members while Nigeria has 8 and Morocco has 5. Altogether six African countries are represented in the list. Notable for their absence from the list: women. All 40 members are men. Their average age: 61.

One-quarter of the 40 have diversified fortunes, either through outright ownership of a conglomerate (like Egypt’s Mansour family) or via ownership of assets in diverse realms, such as Mike Adenuga, whose fortune comes from his telecom company Globacom and his oil producer Conoil.

The second biggest industry is finance, accounting for the fortunes of 8 list members, with a heavy representation from South Africa. Six made their fortunes in retailing.

Resource-hungry China directly boosted the fortune of just one list member –Theophilus Danjuma, who in 2006 sold a 45% interest in an oil block to CNOOC, China’s overseas oil company, for $1.7 billion.



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