Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, entered the exclusive club of the world’s top 100 billionaires, as released last week by Bloomberg in its yearly billionaires’ list.
With an estimated $14.8bn, at the end of December, he emerged the 96th richest person in the world, up from his previous ranking of 103rd in the world, even as he
According to the chart, Jeff Bezos remains the richest in the world with $115bn in his kitty, while Bill Gates and Bernard Arnault followed at second and third positions respectively with $11.3bn and $105bn. Warren Buffett was the fourth with $89.3bn on the list.
Dangote’s estimated worth in the latest Bloomberg ranking far outstrips an earlier ranking by Forbes Magazine, another elite publication which placed his fortune at $10.8bn in 2019 Forbes Africa’s Billionaires’ list released in January.
Africa’s richest man, controls the Lagos, Nigeria-based Dangote Industries, a closely held conglomerate, which owns sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest cement producer- Dangote Cement, which had revenue of N901.2bn (about $2.5bn) in 2018. The group also has significant interests in sugar, salt, flour, fertilizer, and packaged food.
It would be recalled that Aliko Dangote was also recently named as the sixth most charitable man in the World by Richtopia, a digital periodical that covers business, economics, and financial news, based in the United Kingdom. This recognition came after he endowed his foundation, the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) to the tune of $1.25 billion
Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and J.K Rowlings occupied the first three positions on the World Charitable lists, while Oprah Winfrey and Elon Musk occupied the fourth and fifth positions respectively. Aside Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu, Chairman of United Bank for Africa was 11th on the list and these two were the only Nigerians on that list.
Aliko Dangote started his Foundation in 1981, with a mission to enhance opportunities for social change through strategic investments that improve health and wellbeing, promote quality education, and broaden economic empowerment opportunities.
Dangote Foundation was however incorporated in 1994 as a charity in Lagos, Nigeria. 20 years later, the Foundation has become the largest private Foundation in sub-Saharan Africa, with the largest endowment by a single African donor. The primary focus of the Aliko Dangote Foundation is health and nutrition, supported by wrap-around interventions in education, empowerment, and humanitarian relief.
