08 October 2013 – Oil-rich Nigeria has almost a third of Africa’s billionaires with the industry well represented in the top-10 billionaires on the continent, according to a report.
A Nigerian oil trader is the joint-youngest African billionaire while a female oil tycoon has grabbed fourth spot, according to the list compiled by Nigerian financial magazine, Ventures.
There are 55 billionaires on the continent, 20 of whom are Nigerian, with nine from South Africa and eight from Egypt, the magazine said.
Top of the money-making tree is Nigerian commodities and manufacturing tycoon Aliko Dangote with an estimated fortune of $20.2 billion.
Compatriot Mike Adenuga sits in third place on an $8 billion fortune garnered largely in the oil industry through Conoil Producing, an exploration and production company that Ventures says pumps more than 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
Right behind Adenuga is 62-year-old fellow Nigerian Folorunsho Alakija, by far the richest woman on the continent with an estimated net worth of $7.3 billion. Alakija has made her money both in fashion design and the oil trade through Famfa Oil that has a large stake in OML 127 in the Agbami deep-water field.
Also on the list is rumoured Sonangol shareholder and daughter of Angola’s President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Isabel dos Santos. Earlier this year US magazine Forbes named the latter as Africa’s richest woman.
The average age of Africa’s 55 richest people is 65 years, with Nigerian oil trader Igho Sanomi joined by Tanzania’s Mohammed Dewji as the youngest at just 38.
A total of 10 countries were represented on the list with the combined wealth of the 55 put at $143.88 billion.
*Eoin O’Cinneide & news reports, Upstreamonline