President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has retained his position as the richest person in Africa, with a net worth of $13.9 billion, in the 2024 Forbes list of 20 Africa’s Richest billionaires released yesterday.
According to Forbes, the fortunes of Africa’s wealthiest people rebounded slightly in the past 12 months, reversing the decline in their fortunes from a year ago, though, they were still off their all-time highs.
The New Jersey-based media outfit pointed out that the 20 billionaires on the 2024 Forbes list of Africa’s Richest were worth a combined $82.4 billion, up $900 million from last year’s $81.5 billion
Dangote is followed by Johann Rupert and Family from South Africa, with net worth of $10.1 billion; another South African businessman, Nicky Oppenheimer and his family, with net worth of $9.4 billion; Nassef Sawiris with net worth of $8.7 billion.
Nigeria’s Mike Adenuga with net worth of $6.9 billion; and Chairman of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu, with net worth of $5.9 billion, are fourth and fifth respectively on the list. Femi Otedola with a net worth of $1.1bn is 19th on the 20-person list.
This year, South Africa claimed six spots on the ranking, followed by Egypt with five, and Nigeria with four. Algeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, have one billionaire each on the list, while Morocco has two.
Forbes stated that Africa “remains one of the world’s toughest places to build – and hold onto – a billion-dollar fortune, as global investors remain leery of its stock exchanges, businesses struggle against strained economies, poor infrastructure and volatile exchange rates, while changing political winds can make, boost or bust private fortunes”.
Meanwhile, Executive Chairman of Geregu Power Plc and a Non-Executive Director FBN Holdings, Mr. Femi Otedola, was named among the 20 richest persons in Africa. Otedola was listed as the 19th richest person in Africa with net worth of $1.1 billion.
Otedola last appeared on the Forbes Africa list in 2017, when he held a controlling stake in fuel distributor, Forte Oil.
