Sudhir falls short of Forbes 2016 Africa Billionaires List
KAMPALA, FEBRUARY 3 – Ugandan millionaire Sudhir Ruparelia, who was in 2015 billed as East Africa richest businessman by Forbes Africa might still be a rich man but did not make to the magazine’s billionaire list for 2016.
The list which saw the net worth of Africa’s billionaires shrink by a whopping $19.5 billion stops at 22 billionaires most of them based in Egypt and South Africa. The continent’s billionaires have a net worth of $74.5 billion.
Sudhir who weighed in at $800 million last year had set himself a target of crossing the billion dollar mark but is apparently still in transition.
With 22 African billionaires this year, the number on the list has dropped by seven, compared to 29 the previous year. The list, which is available in the February issue of Forbes Africa, is dominated by Egyptians, who have a combined net worth of $14.1 billion, $2.3 billion shy of Nigerian billionaire, Aliko Dangote’s net worth.
Dangote remains the richest African on the list with his net worth increasing by $700 million from 2015.
Africa’s richest have a combined $74.5 billion, a drop of $19.5 billion from $94 billion in 2015. The wealthiest group are South Africans with a combined net worth of $20.1 billion. From the 54 African countries, only seven are represented in the list and only two women.
Rank | Name | Net Worth $ | Origin of Wealth | Citizenship | Age |
1 | Aliko Dangote | 16.4bn | Cement, Sugar, Flour | Nigeria | 58 |
2 | Nicky Oppenheimer & family | 6.5bn | Diamonds | South Africa | 70 |
3 | King Mohammed VI | 5.8bn | Diversified | Morocco | 52 |
4 | Christoffel Wiese | 5.7bn | Retailing | South Africa | 74 |
5 | Johann Rupert & family | 5.4bn | Luxury Goods | South Africa | 65 |
6 | Nassef Sawiris | 4.2bn | Construction, Chemicals | Egypt | 55 |
7 | Isabel dos Santos | 3.5bn | Investments | Angola | 42 |
8 | Issad Rebrab & family | 3.1bn | Food | Algeria | 71 |
9 | Naguib Sawiris | 3bn | Telecom | Egypt | 61 |
10 | Mike Adenuga | 2.9bn | Telcom, Oil | Nigeria | 62 |
11 | Mohamed Mansour | 2.5bn | Diversified | Egypt | 68 |
12 | Othman Benjelloun | 2bn | Banking, Insurance | Morocco | 83 |
13 | Femi Otedola | 1.8bn | Gas Stations | Nigeria | 53 |
14 | Youssef Mansour | 1.7bn | Diversified | Egypt | 70 |
15 | Folorunsho Alakija | 1.6bn | Oil | Nigeria | 65 |
16 | Koos Bekker | 1.5bn | Media, Investments | South Africa | 63 |
17 | Yasseen Mansour | 1.4bn | Diversified | Egypt | 54 |
18 | Onsi Sawiris | 1.3bn | Construction, Telecom | Egypt | 86 |
19 | Aziz Akhannouch & family | 1.1bn | Petroleum, Diversified | Morocco | 55 |
20 | Mohammed Dewji | 1.1bn | Diversified | Tanzania | 40 |
21 | Stephen Saad | 1bn | Pharmaceuticals | South Africa | 51 |
22 | Abdulsamad Rabiu | 1bn | Cement, Sugar, Flour | Nigeria | 55 |
Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates retains his position as the world’s wealthiest man with a net worth of $77.4 billion, reflecting a $1.8 billion decline in his fortune from last year. He retains the top spot for the 17th time in the last 22 years. Gates is closely followed by Spaniard Amancio Ortega, who is the brains behind Inditex fashion group, which owns Zara clothing and accessories retail shops
With $48.9 billion, Facebook’s co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has moved up ten spots making him among the ten wealthiest people in the world. Zuckerberg holds the sixth position with his net worth increasing by $15.5 billion from $33.4 billion in 2015.