Dangote’s net worth drops by $1.7b, becomes ‘Africa’s 2nd-Richest Person’
Nigeria’s industrialist, Aliko Dangote, has lost his position as Africa’s richest man to Johann Rupert, a South African billionaire who controls the world’s largest watchmaker, Cie Financière Richemont, through a family trust.
According to the latest data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which ranks the world’s 500 richest people based on their net worth, Dangote’s wealth has declined by $1.7 billion year-to-date, while Rupert’s wealth has surged by $1.78 billion.
The updated billionaire list shows that Rupert is the world’s 147th richest person, with a net worth of $14.2 billion, while Dangote trails behind in the 159th position with a net worth of $13.8 billion.
Another South African, Nicky Oppenheimer, occupies the third position on the continent with a net worth of $11.3 billion. Other African business moguls on the list include Nassef Sawiris, an Egyptian industrialist whose conglomerate of businesses is valued at $9.48 billion. He is followed by another South African investor, Natie Kirsh, who controls Kirsh Group, a closely held conglomerate with a majority stake in the food supply business Jetro Holdings.
Additionally, Egyptian media and telecom investor Naguib Sawiris made the list as Africa’s sixth richest person with a net worth of $7.32 billion.
In the top 500 list, which has Elon Musk as the richest man, Bernard Arnault as the second, Jeff Bezos as the third, with Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates occupying the fourth and fifth positions respectively, only six Africans made the Bloomberg Billionaires Index list.
Dangote, the only Nigerian on the list, appears to have been hit by some of the macroeconomic challenges facing the country, including inflation, which has eroded the purchasing power of millions of Nigerians, and the depreciation of the naira.
The collapse of Nigeria’s currency, resulting in the devaluation of the naira, has caused significant strain on businesses. In May this year, Dangote stated that it is the country’s biggest challenge in 2023.
“The biggest mess created was the devaluation of the naira from N460 to N1,400. You can see that almost 97 percent of companies in the food and beverage business, none of them will pay dividends this year. But we will try and get out of it,” he said.
