Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group retained the number one spot on the continent in the recent 2021 billionaires list released by Forbes.
Other Nigerians who made the top-6 spot include Chairman of Globacom and Conoil Plc, Dr. Mike Adenuga, and the founder of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu.
Dangote’s net worth rose from $10.1bn in 2020 to $12.1bn in 2021, making him the 191st wealthiest person in the world.
Though Adenuga who is Nigeria’s second-richest person witnessed a drop from $7.7bn to $6.3bn, he remained in the top echelon in Africa placing 5th and was ranked 440th in the world.
Climbing up the billionaires’ ladder is the BUA group boss – Abdulsamad Rabiu who saw his fortune rise from $3.1bn in 2020 to a stunning $5.5bn in 2021.
With the $2.2bn gain, Mr. Rabiu now sits pretty as the 6th richest in Africa and the 574th billionaire in the world.
Other Africans who made the top-6 category include one Egyptian and two South Africans.
The Egyptian, Nassef Sawiris comes in second place in Africa and is ranked 297th on the list with a net worth of $8.5bn.
According to Forbes, Sawiris is an investor and a scion of Egypt’s wealthiest family, with his most valuable asset being a nearly six percent stake in sportswear maker.
The two South Africans who come in third and fourth place respectively are Nicky Oppenheimer (worth $8bn, ranked 308th in the world) and Johann Rupert (worth $7.2bn, ranked 358th in the world list).
Jeff Bezos retained his spot as the world’s richest with a net worth of $177bn. He is followed by Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of Tesla with $151bn.
Forbes notes that within the year in focus, there were rapid-fire public offerings, surging cryptocurrencies, and skyrocketing stock prices, adding that the number of billionaires on Forbes’ 35th annual list of the world’s wealthiest increased more than a year ago.
According to the business magazine, altogether the billionaires are worth $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion on the 2020 list.