South African billionaire, Johann Rupert has been announced as Africa’s Richest Man; displacing Aliko Dangote who held the title for years.
Forbes real-time Global Billionaires Ranking pegged Rupert’s net worth at $12 billion and Dangote’s at $10.8 billion.
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.
The central bank sold the dollar almost 30 percent cheaper.
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.