Dangote dethroned as Africa’s richest man

Industrialist and chairman of Dangote Group Aliko Dangote has been dethroned as Africa’s richest man, according to Forbes.

In its most recent ranking, the global media business named South African billionaire Johann Rupert the richest man in Africa.

Nigerian billionaires Abdulsamad Rabiu and Mike Adenuga fell out of the billionaire list as well.

In the list, the Forbes Daily billionaires ranking platform, which tracks daily changes to the net worth of the most high-net-worth individuals across the world revealed that Dangote moved down to second position as his wealth decreased from $13.5bn in 2023 to $9.5bn in the start of 2024.

In the list, there were significant declines in the wealth of the billionaires. Adenuga’s wealth moved him to the 10th position. Patrice Motsepe, who was in the top 10 in 2023 didn’t make the top 10 richest men in 2024.

No woman made the top 10 richest list at the start of the year.

The decline in the wealth of these individuals are pointers to the economic challenges across African countries. The devaluation of the naira and other economic issues can be attributed to the decrease of Dangote’s wealth.

In the 2024 rankings, Rupert and Family’s wealth went from $10.7bn down to $10.3bn to emerge Africa’s richest man.