Nigeria's three wealthiest men see their net worth rose to $22.5bn during the course of 2021

NIGERIA'S three wealthiest men have seen their combined wealth increase by $5.7bn over the last year to $22.5bn according to data contained in the recently-published Forbes’ 2021 World’s Billionaires List.

In the list published yesterday, Alhaji Dangote, Africa's richest man, saw his net worth jump to $11.5bn from $8.3bn in 2020, making him the 191st wealthiest person in the world. Overall, there were 14 African billionaires on the list including Mike Adenuga, the chairman of Globacom and Conoil, who is Nigeria’s second richest person and the fifth on the continent.

Mr Adenuga was ranked as the 440th richest person worldwide as his fortune rose to $6.1bn from $5.6bn last year. Abdulsamad Rabiu, the founder of BUA Group, is the third richest person in Nigeria and he saw his wealth surge to $4.9bn from $2.9bn in 2020, making him the 574th richest person in the world and the sixth in Africa.

Other Africans on the list include five South Africans, five Egyptians and one Algerian, with Egypt's Nassef Sawiris valued as the second richest African. Worldwide, Mr Sawiris, who has a 6% stake in stake in sportswear maker Adidas, was ranked 297th on the list with a net worth of $8.3bn.

Other Egyptians are Naguib Sawiris worth $3.2bn and ranked 956th, Mohamed Mansour worth $2.5bn and ranked 1,249th, Youssef Mansour worth $1.5bn and ranked 2,035th and Yasseen Mansour worth $1.1bn and ranked 2,524th. South Africans are Nicky Oppenheimer and family worth $8bn and ranked 308th, while  Johann Rupert and family are worth $7.1bn and ranked 358th, with Koos Bekker worth $3bn and ranked 1,008th, Patrice Motsepe worth $2.9bn and ranked 1,064th, while Michiel Le Roux was valued at $1.1bn and ranked 2,524th.

Issad Rebrab, , the founder and chief executive of Cevital, Algeria’s biggest privately-held company and his family were ranked 589th with a net worth of $4.8bn. Globally, Jeff Bezos, the chief executive and founder of Amazon remains the world’s richest person for the fourth year running with a net worth of $177bn, while Elon Musk, the co-founder of Tesla was second with a net worth of $151bn.

A Forbes spokesman said: “It’s been a year like no other and we aren’t talking about the pandemic. There were rapid-fire public offerings, surging cryptocurrencies and skyrocketing stock prices.”

According to Forbes, the number of billionaires on its 35th annual list of the world’s wealthiest exploded to an unprecedented 2,755, some 660 more than a year ago. Altogether, the billionaires are worth $13.1tn, up from $8tn in 2020.

“Of those, a record high 493 were new to the list, roughly one every 17 hours, including 210 from China and Hong Kong. Another 250 who’d fallen off in the past came roaring back and a staggering 86% are richer than a year ago.

“The United States still has the most, with 724, followed by China, including Hong Kong and Macao with 698. We used stock prices and exchange rates from March 5 to calculate net worth’s,” the Forbes spokesman added.