Society Gists

Forbes has listed Nigerian businessmen, Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Abdulsamad Rabiu and Femi Otedola, as the top richest Nigerians in 2024.

This comes as the combined wealth of Nigeria’s top three richest businessmen dropped slightly by 11.23 per cent to $25.3bn, according to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires released on Tuesday.

The three Nigerians are the President/Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote; BUA Group Chairman, Abdul Samad Rabiu, and Globacom boss, Mike Adenuga.

The figure was a reduction of $3.2bn from $28.5bn recorded by the business moguls in 2023.

A breakdown shows that the fortune of the founder of Dangote’s group reduced slightly from $14.2bn in 2023 to $13.4bn.

The wealth of the chairman of BUA group also reduced marginally to $5.2bn in 2024 from $8.2bn in 2023 while Adenuga’s fortune increased from $6.1bn to $6.7 billion within one year.

Meanwhile, Nigerian business magnate, Otedola, was listed as a new entrant to the billionaire list with a total net worth of $1.4bn.

On the list, Dangote,ranked at number 144, was described as the richest man in Africa and the richest Black man in the world.

His business empire, Dangote Group, is one of the largest private-sector employers in Nigeria as well as the most valuable conglomerate in West Africa.

Adenuga,  ranked at number 409 n the Forbes list, is a Nigerian billionaire businessman, his company Globacom is Nigeria’s second-largest telecom operator and also has presence in Ghana and Benin Republic.

He owns stakes in the oil exploration firm, Conoil.

Forbes estimated his net worth at $6.7bn in 2024.

Rabiu is a Nigerian billionaire businessman and philanthropist, the founder and chairman of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate concentrating on manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture and producing a revenue in excess of $2.5bn and was ranked at number 581 in the Forbes list.

While, Otedola is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist and the current executive chairman of Geregu Power Plc.

He is ranked at number 2,152 with a networth of $1.4bn

He is the founder of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, and the owner of a number of other businesses across shipping, real estate and finance.

He has recently invested in power generation as part of the liberalisation of the sector in Nigeria.

According to Forbes, there are 2,781 individual billionaires globally.

It labelled 2024 as a year for the planet’s billionaires, whose fortunes continue to swell as global stock markets shrug off war, political unrest and lingering inflation.

Forbes said, “There are now more billionaires than ever: 2,781 in all, 141 more than last year and 26 more than the record set in 2021. They’re richer than ever, worth $14.2tn in aggregate, up by $2tn from 2023 and $1.1tn above the previous record, also set in 2021. Two-thirds of the list’s members are worth more than a year ago; only one-fourth are poorer.

“Much of the gains come from the top 20, who added a combined $700bn in wealth since 2023, and from the U.S., which now boasts a record 813 billionaires worth a combined $5.7tn. China remains second, with 473 (including Hong Kong) worth $1.7tn, despite weak consumer spending and a real estate bust that helped wipe out $200bn in wealth and knocked 89 billionaires from the ranks. India, which has 200 billionaires (also a record), ranks third.”

“In all, 265 fresh faces are new to the World’s Billionaires. The richest of all is Italy’s Andrea Pignataro, a former Salomon Brothers bond trader behind financial software firm ION Group. He’s worth an estimated $27.5bn.”

According to th magazine, other notable newcomers include the founder of the Raising Cane’s fast-food chain Todd Graves ($9.1bn); Maggie Gu, Molly Miao and Ren Xiaoqing ($4.2bn each); three cofounders of fast-fashion giant Shein; iconic high-heel designer Christian Louboutin ($1.2bn); and Elon Musk pal, and Tesla and SpaceX investor, Antonio Gracias ($1.1bn).

It stated that its “World’s Billionaires list” was a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and exchange rates from March 8, 2024.