Babajide Okeow
Africa’s richest man, Mr. Aliko Dangote wealth took a huge hit in 2018 as he loses almost $2 billion of his wealth. This is according to the latest ranking released by Bloomberg Billionaire Index. Dangote dropped about $1.91 billion from wealth; however he is still Africa’s richest man and stand currently at $10.3 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, BBI
According to The Bloomberg Billionaires Index which ranks the world’s 500 richest people, this huge hit could be as a result of his expansive project in Lagos, the Dangote Refinery – which is expected to be Africa’s biggest refinery. Dangote’s net worth currently stands at $10.3 billion down from $12.21 last year.
He is not the only African billionaire whose wealth took a dip as Nicky Oppenheimer, South African billionaire businessman and philanthropist, Johann Rupert; South African-born entrepreneur and the eldest son of business tycoon Anton Rupert, Nathan Kirsh; South African-born Swazi billionaire businessman, Nassef Sawiris; Egyptian billionaire, Issad Rebrab; Algerian billionaire businessman and owner of CEVITAL industrial group, the largest private company in Algeria also shed considerable amount of their wealth.
Several reasons ranging from delving into new business ventures, the state of the global economy, embarking on massive projects and some huge business risks were given by BBI as being responsible for the dip.
Aliko Dangote
Dangote is the biggest business brand on the African continent and indisputable Africa’s pride. The owner, Nigerian-born billionaire, Aliko Dangote has interests in commodities in Nigeria and other African countries. In 2018, Dangote dropped about $2 billion from wealth yet still Africa’s richest man and stand currently at $10.3 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. Aliko Dangote is currently expending funds into his refinery project in Lekki, Lagos.
Nicky Oppenheimer
Nicky is currently the richest man in South Africa. He was formerly the chairman of De Beers’s diamond mining company and of its subsidiary, the Diamond Trading Company, and former deputy chairman of Anglo American.
De Beers is investing $94 million over four years to build a U.S. factory targeting 500,000 carats of lab-grown gems a year. The Diamond industry has also faced a lot of price slide in 2018 as millennial are attracted to man-made gem-quality diamonds to the natural gems.
Chinese producers and other miners are playing in the Diamond market stepping up their output of cheaply manufactured diamonds.
Johann Rupert
The South African-born entrepreneur is the eldest son of business tycoon Anton Rupert and his wife Huberte. He owns the Swiss-based luxury-goods company Richemont as well as of the South Africa-based company Remgro.
Sales in the Wrist-watch industry have dropped drastically over the year. Last year, Rupert lost about €287 million ($327.25 million) due to dismal sales and profit for the 2017 financial year.
He had told financial analysts that there are too many watches in the world.
Natie Kirsh
Nathan Kirsh is South African-born Swazi billionaire businessman. He has properties spanning Australia, Swaziland, and the UK and Swazi citizenship. Swaziland is now known as the Kingdom of eSwatini.
The majority of Kirsh’s fortune is derived from a 75% stake in Jetro Holdings, a New York-based company that manages two U.S. wholesale grocery businesses: Jetro Cash & Carry and Restaurant Depot, according to Bloomberg News.
He dropped over $600 million of his wealth as a result of the crash in the Forex market mid-2018 as a result of US president Donald Trump sanctions and doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
Nassef Sawiris
Nassef is the current richest person in Egypt. He owns 30% of OCI, a Geleen, Netherlands-based construction contractor, and 27% of Dubai-based Orascom Construction, an infrastructure and engineering group.
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His other assets include stakes in the sportswear company Adidas and LafargeHolcim, the world’s biggest cement maker.
He dropped over $300 million in wealth after investing in Aston Villa with his American business counterpart, Wesley Eden. The duo was reported to have a seal a joint 55% stake in Aston Villa from the Chinese co-owner Tony Xia.
Naguib Sawiris
The Egyptian billionaire businessman is the chairman of Weather Investments Company and chairman of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding S.A.E. The Orascom Group was established by his father. Since manning the family business in 1979, Sawiris has contributed to the growth and diversification of the company known as Egypt’s largest and most diversified conglomerates and the country’s largest private sector employer.
In the first quarter of 2018, his company Orascom Telecom posted a net loss of $6.77 million. In May, Sawiris told Bloomberg News that he has put half of his billion dollars into gold.
Issad Rebrab
He is an Algerian billionaire businessman and owner of CEVITAL industrial group, the largest private company in the country. In a Reuters report in last month, Algerian company Cevital agreed to set up a plant making water treatment machines at part of an eastern France site run by carmaker PSA.
The deal will see Cevital buy up parts of the site at Charleville-Mezieres freed up by PSA in order to make machines for the water treatment business.
