Forbes names Dangote Africa’s richest man for the seventh year in a row

The founder and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has been named Africa’s richest man for the seventh year in a row with a net worth of $12.2billion

According to the publication, Dangote who was recently the only African selected among Bloomberg’s world 50 best persons in the year 2017, got an increase of $100m from a year earlier.

“Dangote is looking beyond cement – his most valuable asset – and has been investing in a fertiliser production company and a large oil refinery. Dangote Fertiliser is expected to start operations in the second quarter of this year,” Forbes stated.

Diamond mining heir, Nicky Oppenheimer of South Africa, is named number two on the list of Africa’s richest people with a net worth of $7.7bn, up $700m from last year.

However, some notable Nigerians were dropped from the billionaires’ list, including Globacom Chairman, Mike Adenuga, with a net worth of $5.8bn, he was adjudged the fifth richest man in Africa and Folorunsho Alakija, whose estimated $1.6bn fortune is in oil exploration, was adjudged as the 15th richest person on the continent.

According to Forbes, two of the 23 listed African billionaires are women, unchanged from 2016. Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of Angola’s former President, Jose Santos, is worth an estimated $2.7bn, down from $3.2bn in 2016. Her net worth dropped in part due to a lower value for Banco BCI, as its book value plunged in 2016 amid a tough year for the oil-producing country.