Cement tycoon, Abdulsamad Rabiu of BUA Group, is the fifth richest African with a net worth of $7 billion, according to the 2022 edition of the Forbes’ Top 10 Africa’s Billionaires List.
Rabiu has displaced Mike Adenuga, the chairman of Globacom, as the second richest Nigeria.
Adenuga is the sixth richest African with a net worth of $6.7 billion. He is the third Nigerian on the Forbes’ Top 10 Africa’s Billionaires List.
Rabiu is $1.5 billion richer in one year after taking one of his companies to the stock market.
In early January 2022, Rabiu listed his sugar and food firm BUA Foods on the Nigerian stock exchange. He and his son, according to Forbes, retained a 96% stake in the company, which recently had a market capitalization of nearly $2.8 billion. BUA Cement, in which he and his son have a 96% stake, listed in January 2020.
Rabiu is the founder of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate active in cement production, sugar refining and real estate.
He set up his own business in 1988 importing iron, steel and chemicals.
For the 11th year in a row, Aliko Dangote has retained his position as the richest man in Africa. His net worth is estimated at $13.9 billion, according to Forbes.
Dangote’s $13.9 billion is up from $12.1 billion last year. This means the billionaire gained $1.8 billion in one year.
This is following a 30% increase in the stock price of Dangote Cement, his most valuable asset.
Jumping into the No. 2 spot –up from No. 4 last year– is luxury goods magnate Johann Rupert of South Africa. A more than 60% surge in the share price of his Compagnie Financiere Richemont–maker of Cartier watches and Montblanc pens – pushed his fortune to $11 billion, up from $7.2 billion a year ago, making him the biggest dollar gainer on the list.
South African Nicky Oppenheimer, who formerly ran diamond mining firm DeBeers before selling it to mining firm Anglo American a decade ago, ranks No. 3, worth an estimated $8.7 billion.
Nassef Sawiris, an investor and a scion of Egypt’s wealthiest family, is the fourth richest African with net worth of $8.6 billion.
The report added that Africa’s billionaires were richer than they had been in years, despite the global pandemic.
The biggest gainer in percentage terms –up 125 per cent was Strive Masiyiwa of Zimbabwe, worth $2.7 billion, up from $1.2 billion last year.
Shares of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which he founded, rose more than 750% in the past year, helping to drive up the size of his fortune.
According to the release, only two of the 18 billionaires are worth less than in 2021: Koos Bekker of South Africa, who dropped to $2.7 billion from $2.8 billion as the share prices of consumer Internet firms Naspers and Prosus fell more than 20per cent each.
Mohammed Dewji of Tanzania, whose fortune declined to an estimated $1.5 billion from $1.6 billion a year ago, due to lower multiples for publicly traded competitors.
All of the continent’s billionaires were men; the last woman to appear in the ranks, Isabel dos Santos of Angola, fell off the Forbes list in January 2021.
