Forbes Index: Dangote Still Remains Africa’s Richest Man for the 12th Consecutive Year

Global economic downplay has affected the revenues of businesses thereby causing a shift in rankings amongst the world's richest billionaires. Even at that, Aliko Dangote, President of the pan-African conglomerate, the Dangote Group, has emerged as Africa's richest man for the 12th year in a row.

This is coming only a week after he retained his position as Africa's richest man, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index (BBI), which recorded Dangote's net worth to be $15.6 billion placing a lead amongst other African billionaires in the index.

Dangote company known as Dangote Cement Plc, is Africa's largest cement producer. Currently, Dangote is the only Nigerian on the list of the world's first 200 richest individuals, with an estimated net worth of $14.2 billion, up from $12.1 billion last year.

According to Forbes' most recent list of world billionaires for 2023, falling equities, wounded unicorns, and increasing interest rates translated into a bad year for the top richest people.

Dangote, who is now placed 124th among the world's richest billionaires, is the only Nigerian in the top 200 and one of just two Africans in that group, with South Africa's Johann Rupert, who trades in luxury goods, ranking 157th with a net worth of $11.1 billion.

Dangote Cement has a Sub-Saharan Africa manufacturing capacity of 51.6 million tonnes per year, with integrated plants in seven countries, a clinker grinding facility in Cameroon, and import and distribution facilities in Ghana and Sierra Leone.

Benard Arnault, the 74-year-old Frenchman who heads luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, was named the world's richest man with a net worth of $211 billion, the first time a Frenchman has topped the list.

According to Forbes, this is the second year in a row the global number of billionaires fell from 2,668 in 2022 to 2,640 in 2023, while total billionaire wealth fell by $500 billion to $12.2 trillion, as uncertain times struck both public and private markets.

Almost half of the world's billionaires are poorer than a year earlier. A total of 254 persons have lost their billionaire status, while others have gained it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the United States has the most billionaires, with 735 people on the list with a total of $4.5 trillion. China (including Hong Kong and Macau) is still the second-richest country in the world, with 562 billionaires worth $2 trillion, followed by India, which has 169 billionaires worth $675 billion. Forbes utilized stock prices and currency rates from March 10, 2023, to determine net worth.