The charismatic businessman and founder of
Dangote Group has shot up the billionaires' moved up 33 places from the 76th
position, which he occupied on the list of richest men and women in the world
compiled by US-based Forbes Magazine last year, to emerge the 43rd richest man
on earth in 2013.
According to the magazine, Dangote was valued at
$16.1 billion in 2013 and retained his position as Africa’s richest man for the
third year in a row.
The second Nigerian on the list is Michael
Adenuga Jnr, with a net worth of $4.7 billion. Adenuga occupied the 267th
position on the Forbes list and is the fifth richest man in Africa.
Speaking exclusively to THISDAY last night, Dangote said his target is to enter
the exclusive league of top five richest men in the world in the next four
years.
Currently, the top five positions are occupied by
Mexico’s Carlos Slim with a net worth of $73 billion, followed by Microsoft
founder Bill Gates, who is valued at $67 billion.
Following closely on their heels are Spanish
billionaire and owner of Zara clothing chain Amanco Ortega with a net worth of
$57 billion; US investment guru, Warren Buffet - $53.5 billion; and Oracle’s
Larry Ellison - $43 billion.
Dangote, who has massive investments in the
cement, sugar and real estate sector, had an eventful year in 2012.
In October, he sold off controlling interest in
his Dangote Flour Plc to Tiger Brands of South Africa and pocketed $190 million
in cash. In February, his Dangote Sugar Refineries acquired a 95-per-cent stake
in Nigerian sugar producer Savannah Sugar in a bid to maintain its dominant
position in the local sugar industry.
He also did the ground breaking for the
2.8-million-ton fertiliser plant in Edo State at a cost of $1.7 billion and
when finished, will be the largest in the world. The plant is scheduled for
completion in three years’ time.
Dangote said he intends to ramp up cement
production at his plants in the next four years from the current 16-17 million
tonnes in Nigeria and Ghana to 100 million tonnes from new output coming from
sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
Last year, the business man stepped up his
philanthropy, giving over $100 million to causes ranging from education to
health, flood relief, poverty alleviation and the arts. He also acquired a
yacht, which he named after his mother, Amiya.
Adenuga owns Globacom — Nigeria’s second largest
telecommunications firm, Conoil and some stake in Sterling Bank Nigeria. He
founded Globacom in 2003.
It has 24 million customers in Nigeria, operates
in the Republic of Benin, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.
His Conoil Producing is one of Nigeria’s largest
independent exploration companies, with a production of some 100,000 barrels of
crude oil per day.
Other famous people on the Forbe’s list include,
Google co-founder and CEO, Larry Page, with $23 billion, is 20th on the list.
Fellow Co-founder, Sergey Brin, is 21st with $22.8 billion.
Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, is 66th on the
list with $13.3 billion, while Oprah Winfrey is the 503rd person, with $2.8
billion. Many of the billionaires give millions in philanthropy every year.
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