There
are far more African billionaires than previously thought, Ventures
magazine said Monday in a report on the continent’s mega-rich, but the
number of Africans living in extreme poverty has also shot up. Previous
Africa-rich-lists named as few as 16 billionaires, but Ventures said
its exhaustive research had identified at least 55 on a continent where
the wealthy often fiercely protect details about their fortunes.
The
pan-African business magazine said it was able to uncover dozens of new
billionaires by using “on-the-ground knowledge” to overcome hurdles
that may have “hampered” other researchers. Of the 55, 20 are Nigerian,
including several oil barons, while South Africa and Egypt boast nine
and eight respectively. Ventures’ supported reports by Forbes which
listed Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote as Africa’s richest man with a fortune of
$20.2 billion (15 billion euros).
Dangote,
who made his fortune in cement, heads a multi-interest empire,
profiting from products including flour and sugar, while eyeing a
massive investment in oil refining. The continent’s richest woman is
Nigeria’s Folorunsho Alakija, whose Fama Oil owns an offshore oil block,
which she acquired in 1993 “at a relatively inexpensive price”, likely
through a helpful connection, the magazine said. Alakija studied fashion
in London, then made dresses for Maryam Babaginda, the late wife of
Nigerian military dictator Ibrahim Babaginda.
The
former designer “is believed to have ridden on the crest of this
relationship to acquire an oil block,” off the Niger Delta in southern
Nigeria, said Ventures. The most prominent South African named is Nicky
Oppenheimer, worth an estimated $6.5 billion, whose fortune came largely
from the diamond mines his family controlled for decades, which were
operated by De Beers.
Oppenheimer
sold his family’s stake in De Beers two years ago. The figure of 55 is
“actually an under-estimate” of Africa’s billionaires, Chi-Chi Okonjo,
the founder of Ventures, told AFP. “People are not comfortable
disclosing their wealth,” he said.
Corruption
is rife on the continent and the rule of law still unevenly applied.
African business moguls often face accusations that their fortunes were
illegitimately earned, including with extra-legal help from political
patrons. The apparently rising number of ultra-rich Africans has come
amid broader economic growth on the continent, which has seen an average
of five percent GDP expansion since 2010. But economic growth has not
kept up with a rising population.
“There
are more than twice as many extremely poor people living in sub-Saharan
Africa today (414 million) than there were three decades ago (205
million),” the World Bank said in April. It is the only region where
“the number of poor people individuals has risen steadily and
dramatically,” over the last 30 years, the bank said.
