South African Billionaire Overtakes Dangote, Becomes Africa’s Richest Man

Johann Rupert, a South African billionaire businessman, has emerged as the richest man in Africa, displacing Aliko Dangote as the continent’s wealthiest, according to a list published 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 place as his wealth decreased from $13.5b in 2023 to $9.5b in the start of 2024.

On 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 in Dangote’s wealth.

In the 2024 rankings, Johann Rupert & Family’s wealth went from $10.7b down to $10.3b to emerge as Africa’s richest man, with the wealth of long-time African richest Aliko Dangote going 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. His wealth increased from $7.3b in 2023 to $7.4b in 2024. Abdulsamad occupies the fifth position. His diversified wealth decreased from $7.6b to $5.9b.

A new billionaire from Eswatini, Nathan Kirsh, made entry into this year’s list, taking the sixth position with a net worth of $5.8b. Mike Adenuga, who occupied the position in 2023, moved down four positions to become the tenth richest man in Africa. His wealth depreciated from $6.3b to $3.1b.

Algerian Issad Rebrab & Family maintained their seventh rank with $4.6b. Mohamed Mansour, who occupied the tenth position in 2023, moved up to the eighth position with his wealth moving from $2.9b to $3.6b. Mansour’s wealth grew more than that of Naguib Sawiris, who took up the ninth position while maintaining his net worth of $3.3b. Patrice Motsepe, who occupied the ninth position in 2023 didn’t make the top ten list at the beginning of 2024 as his wealth depreciated to $2.5b.