The number of Nigerians on the ‘Ventures Africa Rich List’ has continued to swell, especially as four more Nigerians with a total sum of $9 billion assets recently joined the league of Africa’s billionaires club. This inroad into the club brings the total number of Nigerians on the list to 23, giving Nigeria the largest concentration of dollar billionaires in Africa, of which the Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote is at the top of the list with assets running into $25.7 billion.
The new entrants, according to wealth research by the business journal, are Cletus Ibeto from Anambra State, who is the founder of multi-faceted Ibeto Group of Companies ($3.7 billion); an oil magnate Benedict Peters ($2.7 billion); philanthropist and Chairman, UBA Plc and Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu ($1.6 billion); and Canada-based oil trader, Akanimo Udofia ($1 billion). Surprisingly, it was recorded that the main source of their wealth is the country’s abundant oil resources.
According to the Ventures Africa Rich List, almost 40 per cent of Nigeria’s dollar billionaires’ wealth is tied to the country’s oil and gas industry. However, Nigeria’s domination of the rich list also extends past contributing the highest number of individuals. The collective wealth of Nigerians on the list is $77.7 billion, representing 48 per cent of the total Rich List wealth, almost as much as the other countries combined. Dangote, the founder of Africa’s largest industrial conglomerate, Dangote Group, also remains the continent’s richest man. His net worth has grown to $25.7 billion, a 21 per cent rise from $20.2 billion in 2013.
Nigeria’s Folorunsho Alakija, who is the fourth on the list, is Africa’s richest woman, and the richest black woman in the world with assets worth of $7.3 billion; trumping long time title holder, Oprah Winfrey. Also, Nigerian, Igho Sanomi, shares the position of Africa’s youngest billionaire with Mohammed Dewji, Tanzania’s richest man. At 39, Igho Sanomi, the founder of oil conglomerate Taleveras Group, is worth $1.3 billion. The report says Ibeto grew from an apprentice in a spare parts shop to the owner of the largest conglomerate in Eastern Nigeria.
His debut as the 11th richest person sees him ranked higher than popular Nigerian billionaires like Jim Ovia and Oba Otudeko. Nothing announces the arrival of Benedict Peters like his $2.56 billion acquisition of a prolific oil block from Shell Nigeria, except, of course, his first ever ranking on the Ventures Africa’s Rich List. After decades of labouring in the oil and gas business, Benedict Peters is now reaping the fruits of his labour. His Aiteo group is one of the fastest growing local players in Nigeria’s upstream and downstream oil sectors. Although Tony Elumelu is just entering the African dollar billionaires club, he has been a major player in Nigeria’s financial industry.
A serial investor and businessman, Tony is the chairman of UBA Group, one of Africa’s most successful banks; Heirs Holdings, an investment company; and Transnational Corporation (TRANSCORP Plc), a conglomerate with investments in hospitality, oil, agriculture, and logistics. Elumelu is also a renowned philanthropist as his Tony Elumelu Foundation sponsors several charity efforts in Nigeria and across the continent while his Africapitalism Institute studies the rise of capitalism in Africa. Akanimo Udofia may be based in Toronto, Canada, but that hasn’t stopped his Desicon Group, an engineering, procurement and construction services company, from becoming one of the major servicers of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
However, the growth of Udofia‘s business empire is just starting, as the Ventures Africa Rich List reveals that the best times are still to come for the company. Other Nigerians on the rich list are Otunba Mike Adenuga ($8bn); Prince Arthur Eze ($5.8bn); Gilbert Chagoury ($4.3bn); Jim Ovia ($2.3bn); Theophilus Danjuma ($1.8bn); Abdulsamad Rabiu ($1.5bn); Dr. ABC Orjiakor ($1.2bn); Bode Akindele ($1.2bn); and Emmanuel Ojei ($1.2bn). Others are OB Lulu-Briggs ($1.1bn); Olorogun Michael Ibru ($1.1bn); Sani Bello ($1bn); Tunde Folawiyo ($1bn); and Aminu Dantata ($1bn).
No comments:
Post a Comment