Egypt’s Nassef Sawiris, BUA Boss, Abdulsamad Rabiu Emerge Topmost Gainers
The just released Forbes List of Africa’s Richest has shown that only 8 African countries have billionaires out of 54. Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria top the list of these countries.
The year’s biggest gainer is Nassef Sawiris, worth $8 billion—up from $6.3 billion last year, who has now moved up to number two richest for the first time. Sawiris’ most valuable asset is a 5.7% stake in shoemaker Adidas worth a bit more than $4 billion. The increase in Adidas’ share price alone added nearly $1.5 billion to his fortune since January 2019.
The Nigerian billionaire businessman, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu ranks the second biggest gainer on the list. The Chairman of BUA is now worth $3.1 billion, up from $1.6 billion a year ago. Through the magic of the markets, the combined entity, BUA Cement Plc, which listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange on January 8, 2020.
Sadly, all it took was a new currency in Zimbabwe to wipe out half of Strive Masiyiwa’s net worth. The country’s only billionaire, Masiyiwa built a fortune primarily in telecom. He owns large stakes in two companies that trade on Zimbabwe’s stock exchange. But his country’s decision in June to ban all foreign currencies and use only the Zimbabwe dollar accelerated inflation and sent the value of the newly instituted dollar plummeting.
That, in turn, caused Masiyiwa’s stakes in those companies—telecom firm Econet Wireless Zimbabwe and mobile banking firm Cassava Smartech—to tumble in U.S. dollar terms. The result: Masiyiwa’s fortune has fallen to $1.1 billion, down from $2.3 billion a year ago, making him the biggest loser in percentage terms among Africa’s 20 billionaires.
Altogether the continent’s billionaires are worth a combined $73.4 billion, up from $68.7 billion a year ago, mostly due to higher stock prices. Of these tycoons, eight saw their fortunes rise or fall by at least $700 million. Aliko Dangote of Nigeria is the richest person in Africa, worth an estimated $10.1 billion, down from $10.3 billion a year ago amid a slightly lower stock price for his Dangote Cement, his largest holding. That’s exactly how much he was worth the first year he ranked on Africa’s richest in 2011, but he’s worth less than half what he was in 2014.
One fortune that didn’t change much but could plummet in the next year is that belonging to one of just two women billionaires in Africa: Isabel dos Santos, the eldest daughter of Angola’s former president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
