Africa richest man, Aliko Dangote has moved up in the world billionaires’ list, emerging the 96th richest person in the world, with an estimated worth of $14.8 billion.
Before the latest ranking was released, the Dangote Group President occupied the 103rd position.
The business mogul, who remains the richest man in Africa for eight year running, was the only Nigerian on the list of the top 100 billionaires, as released last week by Bloomberg in its yearly billionaires list.
In the latest ranking, Jeff Bezos remains the richest in the world with his $115 billion worth. Bill Gates and Bernard Arnault trailed as second and third respectively with $11.3 billion and $105 billion. Warren Buffett was the fourth with $89.3 billion on the world billionaires’ chart.
Dangote’s estimated worth in the latest Bloomberg outstripped an earlier ranking by the Forbes Magazine, another elite publication, which estimated his fortune at $10.8 billion in the 2019 Forbes Africa’s Billionaires’ list released in January.
He retained the rank as the richest African for the eight consecutive year in the latter ranking.
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Africa’s richest man, with his improved worth of $14.8 billion, controls Dangote Industries, a closely held conglomerate. The Lagos, Nigeria-based company owns sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest cement producer, Dangote Cement, which had revenue of N901.2 billion naira ($2.5 billion) in 2018. It also has interests in sugar, salt, flour, fertiliser and packaged food.
Dangote was recently named as the sixth most charitable man in the World by Richtopia, a digital periodical that covers business, economics, and financial news, based in the United Kingdom.
This recognition came after he endowed his foundation, the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) to the tune of $1.25 billion
Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and J.K Rowlings occupied the first three positions on the World Charitable lists, while Oprah Winfrey and Elon Musk occupied the fourth and fifth positions respectively.
Aside Dangote, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Chairman Tony Elumelu was 11th on the list. They are the only Nigerians on that list.
The Dangote Group boss started his Foundation in 1981, with a mission to enhance opportunities for social change through strategic investments that improve health and wellbeing, promote quality education, and broaden economic empowerment opportunities.
The Foundation was however incorporated in 1994 as a charity in Lagos, Nigeria.
Two decades after its inauguration, the Foundation has become the largest private Foundation in sub Saharan Africa, with the largest endowment by a single African donor.
The primary focus of Aliko Dangote Foundation is health and nutrition, supported by wrap-around interventions in education, empowerment and humanitarian relief.
