By Abimbola Ogunnaike
South African Johann Rupert has displaced Nigerian billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote to become Africa’s richest man, Forbes Magazine said.
Rupert’s net worth is currently $12 billion according to Forbes Real-time Global Billionaires Ranking, while Dangote trails behind him with a net worth of $10.8 billion as of Friday.
Dangote’s net worth dropped due to the recent operational charges on the foreign exchange market carried out by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which led to the depreciation of the Naira against the US dollar.
Consequently, Forbes and Bloomberg had to recalculate the fortunes of all Nigerian billionaires leading to the significant drop in the wealth of Dangote, Abdul Samad Rabiu, the founder of BUA cement, and Mike Adenuga, the Chairman of telecommunications giant Globacom Limited.
Meanwhile, with the expected kickoff of the $20 billion Dangote refinery commissioned last Month, Aliko Dangote is expected to bounce back.
