Forbes magazine has just released its list of the world’s richest people, and while the typical names you might expect are there — such as Gates and Buffett — there are also a handful of billionaires of African descent you may want to know.
Oprah Winfrey is the most famous black billionaire on the list, of course, but she is hardly the wealthiest. Still, the richest black woman in the world has managed to clock in at number 503 out of the list of 1,426 people and families compiled by the pblication.
Interestingly, Winfrey’s $2.8 billion in wealth is just enough to outpace the only other black woman on the list, newcomer Isabel dos Santos.
Worth a cool $2 billion, dos Santos, the daughter of the president of Angola, has earned her inaugural appearance on the list for her large ownership stakes in Angolan and Portuguese companies. Ranked at 736th out of the world’s richest, the richest woman in Africa has still placed far below the continent’s most prosperous citizen.
That title belongs to Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, the 43rd richest person in the world, who generated his fortune through the cement, sugar, and flour industries.
According to Forbes.com writer Mfonobong Nsehe, the tycoon ousted the previous African wealth leader Mohammed Al-Amoudi, who held the top position in 2012.
Dangote is now, “$2.6 billion richer than Al-Amoudi,” Nsehe writes, with an estimated net worth of $16.1 billion. Also notable is Nigerian oil and telecom businessman, Mike Adenuga, whose $4.7 billion makes him the world’s 267th richest person and the fifth richest person in Africa.
It is notable that six of the seven richest people of African decent in the world hail from the continent itself. Does this mean Africa is an important region to watch in the areas of finance and business, contrary to its association with poverty? Forbes’ editors seem to think so, as is evidenced by its list of “Ten Young African Millionaires To Watch.”
Follow Alexis Garrett Stodghill on Twitter at @lexisb.