Four Nigerian business moguls — Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Abdulsamad Rabiu, and Femi Otedola — have been named in Forbes’ 2025 list of Africa’s billionaires.
Okay.ng reports that the list, released on Saturday, features 22 billionaires from Africa, whose combined wealth jumped to $105 billion, up from $82.4 billion in 2024, when only 20 billionaires were named.
Topping the list for another consecutive year is Aliko Dangote, founder of Dangote Group, with an estimated net worth of $23.9 billion, a significant leap from $13.9 billion in the previous year. Forbes attributed this surge to the valuation of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which was factored into this year’s wealth calculations.
Following closely among Nigerian billionaires is Mike Adenuga, chairman of telecoms giant Globacom, who ranks fifth in Africa with a net worth of $6.8 billion.
Abdulsamad Rabiu, chairman of BUA Group, which operates in cement and sugar manufacturing, holds sixth place with $5.1 billion.
Femi Otedola, the chairman of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Holdings Plc, joins the list in a joint 16th position with a net worth of $1.5 billion, marking his return to the ranks of Africa’s billionaires.
According to Forbes, South Africa leads the continent in billionaire count with seven entries, followed by Nigeria and Egypt with four each, Morocco with three, and one each from Algeria (Issad Rebrab), Tanzania (Mohammed Dewiji), and Zimbabwe (Strive Masiyiwa).
“Our list tracks the wealth of African billionaires who reside in Africa or have their primary business there, thus excluding Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim, who is a U.K. citizen; and South African Nathan Kirsh, who operates out of London and has his business in the U.S. and U.K.,” Forbes said.
The magazine explained that net worths were calculated using stock prices and currency exchange rates as of March 7, 2025.
