African Billionaires 2013: List of 55 Super Wealthy Africans Contradicts 2012 Forbes Report
According to a pan-African magazine, 55 billionaires live in Africa, including the world's richest black woman.
In Ventures Africa's latest issue, which was released this week, the magazine reports that more African billionaires exist than previously reported. These billionaires have a combined worth of over $143 billion. On Tuesday, Uzodinma Iweala, Ventures Africa's editor-in-chief, said that the estimates are "on the conservative side."
The average net worth of the African billionaires is $2.6 billion, while their average age is 65 years.
Most of the African billionaires come from South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria. Nine billionaires reside in South Africa, while eight find their home in Egypt. In fact, billionaires can only be found in 10 of Africa's 53 countries. The countries of Algeria, Angola, Swaziland and Zimbabwe have one billionaire each.
Africa's billionaire list features more people from Nigeria than any other country. Amongst the Nigerian billionaires is Aliko Dangote. Dangote is a manufacturer and Africa's richest billionaire at a net worth of $20.2 billion. The richest black woman in the world was found to be Nigerian Folorunsho Alakija who works in the oil business. She is worth $7.3 billion.
Egyptian property tycoon Mohammed Al-Fayed and Kenyan industrialist Manu Chandaria are Africa's oldest billionaires. Both businessmen are 84-years-old. Meanwhile, Tanzania's Mohammed Dewji and Nigerian oil trader Igho Sanomo tied for the title of Africa's youngest billionaire. The men are 38-years-old.
In 2012, Forbes released their Africa's 40 Richest list. The magazine's numbers were much lower than that of Ventures Africa. Forbes' list only featured 16 billionaires, of which only two hailed from Nigeria. The report claimed that Alakija was worth only $600 million.
In addition, Forbes reported last month that Isabel dos Santos, daughter of Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, was Africa's only female billionaire with a net worth of about $3 billion, much lower than Alakija's reported net worth.
"I think being more rigorous and being closer to the ground makes it easier to figure out on a continent where information is not as readily available and things are not as transparent," Iweala explained to Associated Press.
According to Iweala, Ventures Africa, which is based in Lagos, "champions African capitalism by celebrating African success, free enterprise and the entrepreneurial spirit" and gathers information about wealthy Africans regularly.
Ventures Africa dedicated three months of research to their report.
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