Despite worsening poverty in Africa, the
continent has produced 55 billionaires,
far more than previously thought,
Nigeria-based Ventures financial
magazine says.
The richest man is Nigeria’s AlikoDangote,
with a fortune of $20.2bn (£12.5bn),
Ventures said.Of the 55, 20 are Nigerians,
nine are South Africans and eight are
Egyptians, Ventures said.
The richest woman is Nigeria’s
FolorunshoAlakija, who made her $7.3bn
fortune mainly in the country’s oil
industry, it added. She also studied
fashion in London and made dresses for
Maryam Babangida, the late wife of
Nigerian military ruler Ibrahim
Babangida, Ventures said.
Isabel Dos Santos, an Angolan investor
and the eldest daughter of Angolan
President Jose Eduardo dos Santos,
together with Ngina Kenyatta, the mother
of Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, also
made the cut, it added.
Ventures listed Harvard-trained
businessman Allan Gray as South Africa’s
richest man, with a fortune of $8.5bn.
“This media-shy South African moneyman
controls two investment companies that
collectively manage over $50bn in assets,”
Ventures said.
Nathan Kirsh, a property tycoon in the
tiny kingdom of Swaziland, also made it
on the list. He is worth $3.6bn, and has
business interests in London and New
York, Ventures said.Ventures editor-in-
chief OozoEewala told the BBC’s Focus on
Africa radio programme that its estimate
of 50 billionaires was probably
conservative.
“There is this culture of you don’t
necessarily want to show your wealth,
considering the gap between rich and
poor,” he said.
“If you have a lot of money, there are a lot
of people that you have to support so we
think people may be a little reluctant to be
all splashy about what they have and what
their assets are.”
Recall that in April, the World Bank said
the number of people living in extreme
poverty in Africa had risen in the past
three decades from 205 million to 414
million.
A report earlier this month by research
group Afrobarometer suggested that
economic growth in Africa was primarily
benefiting a small elite. This is the first
time the Ventures Magazine has published
a list of rich Africans, reports the BBC.
The 55 billionaires it has identified are
more than the 16 listed by US financial
magazine Forbes last year.It was able to
identify dozens more billionaires by using
“on-the-ground knowledge” to overcome
hurdles that may have “hampered” other
researchers, Ventures said.
The magazine estimated the 55
billionaires’ combined fortunes at
$143.88bn, an average of a $2.6bn per
person
Source : leadership Newspaper