Africa’s richest man: S’African billionaire dethrones Dangote

Johann Rupert and family have emerged as the richest man in Africa, dislodging Aliko Dangote as the continent’s wealthiest man in a list released by Forbes Magazine.

Nigerian billionaires; Rabiu Abdulsamad and Mike Adenuga have lost their spots in the billionaire rankings released by the financial magazine

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 Aliko Dangote moved down to second position as his wealth decreased from $13.5b in 2023 to $9.5b in the start of 2024.

In the list, there were significant declines in the wealth of the billionaires. The wealth of Nigeria’s Mike Adenuga, moved him to the tenth position, while Patrice Motsepe who was in the top ten in 2023 didn’t make the top ten 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 & Family’s wealth went from $10.7b down to $10.3b to emerge Africa’s richest man with the decrease of the wealth of long-time African richest Aliko Dangote which went from $13.5b to $9.5b

South Africa’s Nicky Oppenheimer & Family’s wealth also decreased from $8.4b in 2023 to $8.4b in the start of 2024.

Nassif Sawiris moved up one place dislodging Rabiu Abdulsamad as the fourth richest man in Africa.