Aliko Dangote Moves From 76th Position To 43rd Richest Man On Planet Earth According To Forbes 2013 Report.

Nigeria's business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is the 43rd richest man on earth today, according to the 2013 list of world's billionaires, compiled by Forbes Magazine.

He is worth $16.1 billion, with assets from his cement, sugar, flour and other businesses. He is number one in Nigeria and Africa. We recall that Dangote was number 76 on the list last year.

Mexico's Carlos Slim, who has taken a hit from the slump in the share price of his America Movil telecoms group since the list was calculated as of February 14, remained the richest person with a fortune of $73 billion, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates held on to the No. 2 spot with a net worth of $67 billion.

Spain's Amancio Ortega, the co-founder of the Inditex fashion group, leapt over Warren Buffett and France's Bernard Arnault to become the world's third richest person on Forbes' 2013 annual ranking of billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $57 billion.

Ortega's fortune increased $19.5 billion, the biggest gain for any of the billionaires, from the report in 2012. He jumped two places and bumped Buffett, chairman and chief executive of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc, with a fortune of $53.5 billion out of the top three to the No. 4 spot for the first time since 2000.

"Warren had a great year, it's just that Amancio Ortega had a better year," Forbes magazine editor Randall Lane said of the co-founder of Zara. "He has one of the dominant apparel lines in Europe."

Arnault, of the LVMH luxury goods group, dropped to 10th place with $29 billion.

Slim, 73, made much of his fortune in telecommunications but also branched out into retail, commodities, finance and energy.

"To see Carlos Slim again broaden his lead and certify himself as the richest man in the world is a statement that wealth truly is global and not an American monopoly like it sometimes felt for many decades," Lane added in an interview.

Dangote, 55, retains his position as Africa's richest man for the third year in a row. The past year has been eventful for him. In October, he sold off a controlling stake in his flour milling company to Tiger Brands of South Africa. He pocketed $190 million in cash.