According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, the combined wealth of Africa’s richest people rose to $87.3 billion, after falling by $81.5 billion last year due to falling global stock prices.
Aliko Dangote, founder and chairman of Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer, has remained Africa’s richest businessman for the twelfth consecutive year. His wealth is estimated at 19.4 billion dollars according to the index.
South African businessman Johann Rupert is in second place with a fortune of 12.1 billion dollars. Rupert is the chairman of the Swiss luxury goods company Richemont, whose brand portfolio includes brands such as Cartier, Montblanc, Chloé, Dunhill and Van Cleef & Arpels. His wealth has grown by $1.19 billion since the start of the year, largely due to a rise in his stake in Richemont, according to the data.
Nicky Oppenheimer, another South African and heir to the De Beers diamond fortune, is the third richest person on the African continent. He earned $425 million year-to-date, bringing his fortune to $8.5 billion. Oppenheimer supports private equity investments in Africa, Asia, the United States and Europe through Stockdale Street in London and Tana Africa Capital in Johannesburg.
Oppenheimer was succeeded by Nigerian business tycoon Abdulsamad Rabiu, founder of the BUA Group, a conglomerate that includes cement production, sugar processing and real estate. The wealth of Africa’s fourth richest businessman is $8.2 billion.
Egypt’s richest businessman Nasef Sawiris was in fifth place. Sawiris’ most valuable asset is a 38.8% stake in the Dutch fertilizer group OCI, one of the world’s largest producers of nitrogen fertilizers. Its other assets include a 7% stake in German sportswear company Adidas, valued at more than $2.5 billion. His wealth has grown by $198 million since the beginning of the year, reaching $7.34 billion.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people and is calculated based on the share price of the companies they own. This list now includes 19 African billionaires.
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