Dangote, Other MEA Billionaires Own $279Bn

CP Africa, a leading business blog, has said that a total of 103 billionaires from the Middle East and Africa,  together own $279 billion, with Nigeria’s richest African, Aliko Dangote, leading the pack worth $16.1 billion.

The blog also said that Aliko Dangote, Nigeria’s own multi-billionaire and philanthropist, retains his position as Africa’s richest man for the 3rd year in a row,  after giving  away over $100 million to cases in health, education, flood relief and poverty alleviation.

According to the blog, there are 14 new billionaires from the Middle East & Africa in 2013, including the first female African billionaire, Isabel dos Santos, who is the oldest daughter of Angola’s president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

Johann Rupert and family worth $6.6 billion is now South Africa’s richest man.

Last month, Rupert was expected to step down as CEO of Swiss-based luxury goods outfit, Compagnie Financiere Richemont, which controls premium brands such as Vacheron Constantin, Cartier, Alfred Dunhill, Montblanc and Chloé and which is the source of the bulk of his fortune.

Next is Nicky Oppenheimer & family of South Africa worth $6.5 billion

In November 2011, Oppenheimer sold his family’s 40 per cent stake in De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer to mining behemoth Anglo American for $5.1 billion in an all-cash deal that marked the end of the Oppenheimer family’s age-long control of De Beers, a relationship that began when Nicky’s grandfather, Ernest Oppenheimer, took over the firm in 1927.

The Oppenheimer family invests through Tana Africa Capital, a $300 million private equity joint venture with Singapore state investor Temasek.

Mike Adenuga, a Nigerian involved in oil and telecommunications business is worth $4.7 billion. He owns Globacom, Nigeria’s second largest mobile phone network.

It has 24 million customers in Nigeria and operates in the Republic of Benin. It also holds licenses in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Adenuga also owns Conoil Producing, one of Nigeria’s largest independent exploration companies as well as a controlling stake in Conoil Plc, a petroleum marketing company.