Johann Rupert and family have emerged as the richest man in Africa, dislodging Nigeria’s Alhaji Aliko Dangote as the continent’s wealthiest man in a list released by Forbes magazine.
In the billionaire rankings released by the financial magazine, Nigerian billionaires Alhaji Rabiu Abdulsamad and Otunba Mike Adenuga lost their spots.
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 $13.5 billion in 2023 to $9.5 billion in the start of 2024.
There were significant declines in the wealth of the billionaires. Adenuga’s wealth moved him to the 10th, while Patrice Motsepe, who was in the top 10 in 2023, did not make the top 10 richest men in 2024. Additionally, no woman made the top ten richest list at the start of the year.
The declines 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, Johann Rupert and family’s wealth went from $10.7 billion down to $10.3 billion to emerge Africa’s richest man with the decrease of the wealth of long-time African richest Aliko Dangote which went from $13.5 billion to $9.5 billion.
