Big fortunes | Nigeria, the incredible blessed land of billionaires

Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangoté, boss of the eponymous group, the cement giant, once again finds himself in first place in the ranking just published by the Bloomberg agency. Dangote dethrones the South African Johann Rupert who had taken the head of the richest men in Africa for a few months. Nigerians outrageously dominate Bloomberg rating

With his fortune increasing by $400 million, Aliko Dangote, with an estimated fortune of $28.1 billion, takes first place and remains the richest man in Africa in 2024. At 66 years old, the Nigerian businessman who created the Dangote Group, made his fortune in cement and sugar. It opened an oil refinery last year in Nigeria’s economic hub, Lagos.

Dangote Cement is the leading cement producer in Africa, and is present in 10 countries on the continent. 50 million tonnes is the annual cement production of this industry. In 2023, it inaugurated its refinery, Lekki, the largest petrochemical infrastructure in Africa which, ultimately, will bring it annual revenues of $30 billion.

The Dangote Foundation, which is the largest foundation in sub-Saharan Africa, exercises charity across the continent and focuses its actions mainly on nutrition, health, education, empowerment and humanitarian relief.

South African Johann Rupert, whose fortune is estimated at $13.7 billion, is the second richest person on the continent. He succeeded his father as head of a conglomerate, Remgro, and controls Richemont, one of the world’s largest luxury goods companies, owner of brands including Montblanc and Cartier.

Johann Rupert grew what he inherited from his father into a multi-billion dollar luxury goods company. He has received several awards for his business activities.

In addition to his properties in Geneva and London, Johann Rupert lives in a sumptuous house in Cape Town, South Africa. Let us also remember that he was a fierce opponent of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Nicky Oppenheimer: It’s one of South Africa’s entrepreneurial success stories. It has huge areas of land classified as nature reserves in Zimbabwe and Botswana. Nicky Oppenheimer belongs to the dynasty that founded De Beers, the famous diamond mining and trading company. He is a major shareholder in Anglo American, a group created by his grandfather, to whom he sold his shares in De Beers for $5.1 billion. Nicky Oppenheimer has a fortune of $11.7 billion.

Nathan Kirsh is the continent’s oldest billionaire (96 years old). Originally from Eswatini where he today contributes to the development of the poorest country in the world with young entrepreneurship, he built his fortune in the corn trade in the early 1960s. He then created the Brooklyn Jetro Cash & Carry, a depot specializing in wholesale sales, for grocery stores and restaurants. His fortune is estimated at $9.48 billion.

Nassef Sawiris, the pharaoh: Apart from his main asset which is OCI NV, today one of the leaders in the production of fertilizers, the Egyptian billionaire also has assets in the cement manufacturer LafargeHolcim, the sports clothing brand Addidas, of the Madison Square Garden Sports group. His assets are estimated at $8.7 billion.

Naguib Sawiris: His fortune is estimated at $7.03 billion. Born in Egypt in 1954 and son of industrialist Onsi Sawiris, Naguib worked to make Orascom (a telecoms branch) a giant in the sector. The Egyptian businessman and billionaire also built his fortune in the mining sector where the leading gold mining group is located in West Africa, Endeavour Mining.
Naguib Sawiris also played a big role in the 2011 revolution in his country. He is a political activist, an opponent of the Muslim Brotherhood, who financed the civil movements which led to the dismissal of President Mohamed Morsi in 2013 in Egypt.

Mike Adenuga: At 72, Nigerian Mike Adenuga is the 5th richest man in Africa.
He inherited the family sawmill in the 1970s. An important personality in the Nigerian business world, he is nicknamed “gold digger” and with his inheritance built an empire that makes billions of dollars in annual sales figures. business. His fortune is estimated at $6.9 billion. His business Conoil operae in the oil sector. He is also interested in the financial sector with his bank Sterling Bank.

Abdulsamad Rabiu: Originally from Nigeria, he operates in the cement industry, agro-industry, port logistics and real estate sectors, with his company BUA Group. The 8th richest man in Africa managed last June to obtain a credit facility from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of around $500 million. This allowed it to expand its cement plant located in northern Nigeria, with a production of 6 million tonnes per year.

His fortune is estimated at $5.9 billion

Mohamed Mansour, from poverty to luxury: This Egyptian who started from nothing is today at the head of a real empire, Mansour Groupwith a personal fortune of $3.2 billion. His company employs more than 60,000 people and holds exclusive distribution rights in Egypt for the American groups General Motors, Caterpillar and McDonald’s. His son Loutfy runs theand Man Capitalthe branch of the group that deals with investment. Mohamed Mansour served as Egypt’s transport minister under former president Hosni Mubarack from 2006 to 2009.

Koos Bekker, South African businessman: He is the president of the first South African press group, Naspers. She company operates in 130 countries and is listed on the London and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges. In 2000, he bet $32 million on the Chinese market, in the messaging service, notably Tencent which was notit only in its beginnings. This investment in this Chinese digital giant brings it more than 100 million dollars 20 years later. His personal fortune is estimated at $2.7 billion.

Par AJ.SEditorial Committee