Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Africa's Richest

Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote, has reached number 23 in the Forbes Rich List ,thanks to the success of his sprawling business interests from cement to sugar. His net worth has now risen to $25bn from $3.3bn in 2007. This is the first time  an African is in the top 25. Dangote wants to turn his commodities trading company into an industrial conglomerate. And while his cement business brings in most of the money, he is now a front-runner in Africa’s burgeoning agriculture sector. His $16bn investment pledge last year included $2.3bn for sugar and rice. And his dominance of lucrative markets in key high growth economies means he may be set to climb much further in the years ahead.

Rostam Azizi, a fifth generation Tanzanian with Persian origins, debuted with a net worth of $1bn, thanks largely to his 35 percent stake in Vodacom Tanzania. Mr Azizi also owns Caspian Mining, which services the likes of BHP Billiton and Barrick Gold, and has stakes in Dar es Salaam port and a newspaper publisher, along with real estate interests locally, as well as in Dubai,Oman and Lebanon.

Uganda’s Sudhir Ruparelia, east Africa’s wealthiest man, debuted at $1.1bn, thanks to the gains made by his Ruparelia Group, Uganda’s largest conglomerate, spanning property, banking, education, insurance and agriculture. Its assets include a chain of foreign exchange houses, two schools, and Crane Bank.

http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2014/03/03/africas-elite-leap-up-the-global-billionaire-rankings/#axzz2uxLeZ82u

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