The number of billionaires in Africa--and the size of
their fortunes--continues to drop. On this year's list, FORBES is only
including African billionaires living in Africa, instead of featuring Africa's
50 richest people. There are 21 billionaires on this year’s list, worth a
combined $70 billion. On the November 2015 Africa Rich List, there were 23
African billionaires worth a combined $79.8 billion. That in turn was down from
28 African billionaires in 2014.
Nigerian cement tycoon Aliko Dangote remains Africa’s
richest person for the sixth year running with a $12.1 billion fortune, despite
a nearly $5 billion drop in his net worth for the second year in a row. Dangote
is joined by just two other Nigerian billionaires on this year’s list --
telecom tycoon Mike Adenuga, who is Africa’s third richest person with an
estimated $5.8 billion fortune, and oil billionaire Folorunsho Alakija, who has
an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion. Two Nigerians dropped off the
Billionaires List this year--oil marketer Femi Otedola, whose net worth dropped
from $1.6 billion in November 2015 to just $330 million today, and sugar
billionaire Abdulsamad Rabiu, whose net worth dropped below $1 billion in the
wake of a weakened Nigerian currency.
South Africa retains its dominance on the Africa List.
While the country is tied with Egypt for the largest number of individual
billionaires, South Africa’s six billionaires are worth a combined $22.7
billion -- $7 billion more than Egypt’s six billionaires. The richest South
African billionaire and the continent’s second richest person is diamond
magnate Nicky Oppenheimer, who has maintained a low profile since selling his
family’s stake in diamond giant DeBeers to Anglo American for $5.1 billion in
cash in 2012. Luxury goods tycoon Johann Rupert and retail magnate Christoffel
Wiese are tied as South Africa’s second richest and Africa’s fourth richest
billionaires, each with a $5.5 billion fortune. Wiese’s fortune has dropped $1
billion since the November 2015 Africa list, while Rupert’s net worth is down
$800 million.
Egypt’s richest billionaire is Nassef Sawiris, whose
$5.3 billion fortune is up $400 million since November 2015. Sawiris runs OCI,
one of the world’s largest nitrogen fertilizers. The country’s next richest person
is his brother Naguib Sawiris, who was Egypt’s biggest gainer on the list. His
net worth increased $700 million to $3.7 billion. In December 2016, Naguib
Sawiris announced that he would be stepping down as CEO of his telecom company,
Orasom Telecom Media & Technology.
FORBES counts only two female billionaires in Africa:
Angola's Isabel dos Santos -Africa’s richest woman with a $3.2 billion
fortune, and Nigeria’s Alakija. Dos Santos is the daughter of Angola’s
president, who appointed her as head of Angola’s state oil firm Sonangol in
June 2016. Alakija is the vice chair of Nigerian oil exploration company, Famfa
Oil.
At 41, Tanzanian Mohammed Dewji is Africa’s youngest
billionaire, well below the average age of 63. He is CEO of conglomerate METL, which
his father founded in the 1970s. Eighty-six-year-old Onsi Sawiris of Egypt is
the continent's oldest billionaire and the father of two other African
billionaires -- Nassef and Naguib Sawiris.
Thirteen out of Africa’s 21 billionaires have self-made
fortunes, while the other eight inherited their fortunes. The 21 billionaires hail from 7 countries:
South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco (which has 3 billionaires), Algeria ( 1
billionaire), Angola (1 billionaire) and Tanzania (1 billionaire).
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