Dangote makes top 500 billionaires list, ranks 115th with $17.8bn

A recent data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index released on Tuesday revealed that Aliko Dangote was the only Nigerian on the list of 500 billionaires.

The index, which polls the net worth of the richest 500 people in the world and updated by the close of trading at the New York Stock Exchange, showed that as of 6:19 pm Nigerian time on Tuesday, Dangote, ranked 115th, was the richest African and the only Nigerian on the list with a net worth of $17.8bn, up from $14.8bn the previous year.

“In calculating net worth, Bloomberg strives to provide the most transparent calculations available, and each individual billionaire profile contains a detailed analysis of how that person’s fortune is tallied,” Bloomberg said.

Dangote is the largest shareholder in Dangote Industries Limited, which owns investments in cement, sugar, salt and fertiliser.

Other Nigerian billionaires, including Mike Adenuga and Abdulsamad Rabiu, were missing on the list as their net worth fell short of American billionaire Buba Cathy, who placed 500th with a net worth of $5.83bn as estimated by Bloomberg.

Other Africans on the index included three South Africans, namely Johann Rupert and family, worth $10.1bn; Nicky Oppenheimer with a worth of $7.80bn; and Natie Kirsh, worth $7.15bn. Nassef Sawiris from Egypt is also among the African billionaires on the list with a net worth of $6.93bn.

The Dangote Group was established as a small trading firm in 1977, the same year Dangote relocated to Lagos to expand the company. Today, it is a multi trillion-naira conglomerate with many of its operations in Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and Togo.