No fewer than 13 black persons made up the 2,153 people who
made the Forbes list of the World’s Billionaires for 2019. The list of black
persons improved from 11 a year ago.
Nigerian Cement tycoon, Aliko Dangote is still the richest
black person in the world with a fortune estimated at $10.9 billion. He’s
closely followed by Nigerian oil and telecoms mogul, Mike Adenuga.
American businessman, David Stewart, who is the majority
owner of World Wide Technology, an $11.2 billion (sales) IT provider, whose
customers include Citi, Verizon and the federal government, joins the Black
Billionaires Club with a fortune Forbes estimates at $3 billion.
Nigerian businessman Abdulsamad Rabiu, who made his fortune
in cement, flour, edible oils and real estate, returns to the 3-Comma club
after a multi-year hiatus. He last featured on the Forbes list of the World’s
Billionaires in 2014. In December 2018, Rabiu merged his privately owned
Kalambaina Cement Company with listed firm Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria,
which he controlled.
The new, larger company has a market capitalization of more
than $800 million, with Rabiu owning more than 90% of the company’s stock. The
value of his shares in the new Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria provided a shot
in the arm to his fortune, which Forbes estimates at $1.6 billion.
Nigeria’s Folorunsho Alakija, American TV mogul Oprah
Winfrey and Angolan investor Isabel dos Santos still remain the only black
female billionaires in the world.
These are the 13 richest black people on earth:
Aliko Dangote, $10.9 billion
Nigerian, Sugar, Cement, Flour
The Cement and commodities tycoon retains his title as the
world’s richest black man this year. After building his fortune in sugar, flour
and cement, the Nigerian tycoon is embarking on his most ambitious project to
date- a private oil refinery in Nigeria which will have a refining capacity of
6500,000 barrels a day and is expected to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on oil
imports. Dangote started out in business more than 3 decades ago by trading in
commodities like cement, flour and sugar with a loan he received from his
maternal uncle and went on to build the Dangote Group, the largest industrial
conglomerate in West Africa.
Mike Adenuga, $9.1 billion
Nigerian, Oil, Telecoms
Nigerian-born Mike Adenuga, the world’s second richest black
person, built his fortune in oil and mobile telecoms. His Conoil Producing
Company was one of the first indigenous Nigerian companies to be granted an oil
exploration license in the early 90s. The company is the operator of six blocks
in the Niger Delta and also owns a25% stake in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ)
Block 4. He is also the founder and sole owner of Globacom, a Nigerian mobile
phone network that has more than 40 million subscribers in Nigeria and
neighbouring African countries. His property company, Cobblestone Properties,
owns hundreds of prime residential and commercial property all over Nigeria.
Robert Smith, $5 billion
American, Private Equity
Robert Smith, a former Goldman Sachs executive, is the
founder of private equity firm Vista Equity Partners that focuses exclusively
on investing in software companies. The firm has more than $30 billion in
assets and is one of the best-performing private equity firms, posting
annualized returns of 22% since inception.
David Steward, $ 3 billion
American, Tech
David Steward is the co-founder and chairman of IT provider
World Wide Technology, World Wide Technology, an $11.2 billion (sales) IT
provider, whose customers include Citi, Verizon and the federal government.
Oprah Winfrey, $2.5 billion
American, Television
Oprah is still the richest African-American person in the
world thanks largely to the 25 years of her profitable daytime TV show and earnings
from her Harpo production company. Her cable channel, OWN (Oprah Winfrey
Network) is also cash flow positive for the first time and is enjoying
favorable ratings as a result of securing exclusive TV interviews with
headline-grabbers like disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, Beyonce and gay NBA
player Jason Collins. One of America’s most generous philanthropists, Oprah
continues to give to education causes and has spent about $100 million on the
Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.
Strive Masiyiwa, $2.4 billion
Zimbabwean, Telecoms
Masiyiwa, who is worth $2.4 billion, is the founder of
Econet, one of the leading mobile telecoms companies in Africa. It has more
than 10 million subscribers spread across Zimbabwe, Botswana, Burundi and
Lesotho. In February, he pledged the sum of $100 million to establish a fund to
invest in rural entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe.
Isabel Dos Santos, $2.3 billion
Angolan, Investments
The oldest daughter of Angola’s former president, Isabel dos
Santos has built an impressive investment portfolio that includes a 25% stake
in Angolan mobile phone company Unitel and a 25% stake in Angolan bank Banco
BIC SA. Other holdings include a substantial stake in Nos SGPS, a Portuguese
cable TV company and just under 20% of Banco BPI, one of Portugal’s largest
publicly traded banks.
Patrice Motsepe, $2.3 billion
South African, Mining
South Africa’s first and only black billionaire is the
founder of African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), a Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed
mining company that has in platinum, nickel, chrome, iron, manganese, coal,
copper and gold. He also owns a large stake in African Rainbow Capital, a
private equity firm focusing on investments in the financial services sector.
Michael Jordan, $1.9 billion
American, Basketball
Basketball’s greatest player is the majority shareholder of
Charlotte Bobcats and enjoys lucrative deals with the likes of Gatorade, Hanes
and Upper Deck. His biggest pile comes from Brand Jordan, a $1 billion (sales)
sportswear partnership with Nike.
Michael Lee-Chin, $1.9 billion
Canadian, Investments
Lee-Chin, a Canadian of Jamaican origin, made a fortune
investing in financial companies. He owns a 65% stake in National Commercial
Bank Jamaica, which makes up the bulk of his fortune.
Abdulsamad Rabiu, $1.6 billion
Nigerian, Cement, Sugar
Abdulsamad Rabiu is the founder of BUA Group, a Nigerian
conglomerate with interests in sugar refining, cement production, real estate,
steel, port concessions, manufacturing, oil gas and shipping. BUA Group’s
annual revenues are estimated at over $2 billion. Abdulsamad got his start in
business working for his father, Isyaku Rabiu, a successful businessman from
Nigeria’s Northern region. He struck out on his own in 1988, importing rice,
sugar, edible oils as well as steel and iron rods.
Folorunsho Alakija, $1.1 billion
Nigerian, Oil
Nigeria’s first female billionaire is the founder of Famfa
Oil, a Nigerian company that owns a substantial participating interest in OML
127, a lucrative oil block on the Agbami deep-water oilfield in Nigeria.
Alakija started off as a secretary in a Nigerian merchant bank in the 1970s,
then quit her job to study fashion design in England. Upon her return, she
founded a Nigerian fashion label that catered to upscale clientele, including
Maryam Babangida, wife to Nigeria’s former military president Ibrahim
Babangida.
Mohammed Ibrahim, $1.1 billion
British, Mobile Telecoms, Investments
Sudanese-born Mohammed “Mo” Ibrahim founded Celtel
International in 1998, one of the first mobile phone companies serving Africa
and the Middle East. He sold it to Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Company
for $3.4 billion in 2005 and pocketed $1.4 billion. In 2007 he founded the Mo
Ibrahim Foundation which promotes good governance in Africa.
