Aliko Dangote moves up to 64th in global rich list, retain 1st spot in Africa

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, has significantly moved up in the world billionaires’ list as he emerged 64th richest person in the world, with an estimated worth of $16.6 billion. In the previous ranking by Bloomberg, he was 103^rd.

Dangote, who remains the richest man in Africa for the eight consecutive year, is the only Nigerian on the list of the Top 500 billionaires, as released by Bloomberg in its yearly billionaires list.

Founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, retained his position as the world’s richest with $136 billion, followed by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in 2nd and 3rd respectively with $98.4 billion and $83 billion.

Dangote’s estimated worth in the latest Bloomberg ranking far outstrips an earlier ranking in the 2019 Forbes Africa’s Billionaires’ list, which placed his fortune at $10.8 billion. He retained the rank as the richest African for the eight consecutive year in the latter ranking.

There are only five Africans on the Bloomberg list of the world’s Top 500 billionaires, with Dangote topping the group. The other four Africans included Nicky Oppenheimer, Johann Rupert, and Natie Kash, all from South Africa, and Naguib Sawiris of Egypt.

Africa’s richest man, with his improved worth of $16.6 billion, controls Dangote Group, a closely held conglomerate. The Lagos, Nigeria-based company owns sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest cement producer, Dangote Cement Plc, which had revenue of N805.6 billion ($2.4 billion) in 2017. The Group also has interests in sugar, salt, flour, fertilizer and packaged food.

Aliko Dangote was also recently named the 6^th most charitable man in the world by UK-Based Richtopia, a digital periodical that covers business, economics, and financial news. This recognition came after he endowed his foundation, the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) to the tune of $1.25 billion.

ADF was established in 1981 with a mission to enhance opportunities for social change through strategic investments that improve health and wellbeing, promote quality education, and broaden economic empowerment opportunities.

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