South African billionaire Johann Rupert has emerged as the richest man in Africa, dislodging Nigerian Aliko Dangote as the continent’s wealthiest man in a list released by Forbes Magazine.
Nigerian billionaires Rabiu Abdulsamad and Mike Adenuga have also lost their spots in the billionaire rankings released by the financial magazine
In the list, the Forbes Daily billionaires ranking platform, which tracks daily changes to the net worth of the most high-net-worth individuals across the world, revealed that Aliko Dangote moved down to second position as his wealth decreased from $13.5b in 2023 to $9.5b at the start of 2024.
In the list, there were significant declines in the wealth of the billionaires.
The wealth of Nigeria’s Mike Adenuga, moved him to the 10th position, while Patrice Motsepe who was in the Top 10 in 2023 didn’t make the Top 10 richest men in 2024.
Additionally, no woman made the Top 10 richest list at the start of the year.
The declines in the wealth of these individuals are pointers to the economic challenges across African countries.
The devaluation of the Naira and other economic issues can be attributed to the decrease of Dangote’s wealth.
In the 2024 rankings, Johann Rupert & Family’s wealth went from $10.7b down to $10.3b to emerge Africa’s richest man, with the decrease of the wealth of long-time African richest Aliko Dangote which went from $13.5b to $9.5b.
Nassif Sawiris moved up one place, dislodging Rabiu Abdulsamad as the fourth richest man in Africa.
