The Nigerian self made billionaire and business mogul, Aliko Alhaji Dangote, was listed as the 62nd richest person in the world with a net worth of $13.5 billion, in Bloomberg Markets Magazine's inaugural list of The World’s 200 Richest People.
The list, which seeks to showcase the billionaire movers and shakers of the global economy, used Bloomberg’s exclusive daily wealth ranking, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, to identify the world’s billionaires and quantify their fortunes from January to October of this year.
At the top of the list was Mexico’s telecommunications mogul, Carlos Slim, with a net worth of $77.5 billion. Following in the top 10 were the likes of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries, Larry Elison, and more.
At 62nd, Dangote is said to be richer than founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, who was 88th on the list with a net worth of $10.7 billion, as well as the founder and CEO of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, who came in 92nd with a net worth of $10.4 billion. Click here to view the full list.
The richest African on the list, Dangote is the president and CEO of Dangote Group, a multi-billion dollar conglomerate with operations in Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo. The company, which focuses on food processing, cement manufacturing, and freight, is the leading producer of sugar in Nigeria, and has moved from being a small trading firm founded to now Nigeria’s largest industrial group.
Dangote recently transitioned into the telecommunications industry, where he is building fiber optic cables to supply the whole of Nigeria. Dangote has played an instrumental role in Nigeria’s economy as he is credited for being the leading provider of employment in the Nigerian construction industry.
Sharing his views on Nigeria as a viable market, he said:
"[Nigerians] can be even bigger than me. You just have to believe that yes, there is a future in this country of ours and I can tell you right now, I don't believe we have even started doing anything in Nigeria because the opportunities are so enormous. I don't even know where to start. Let me tell you this and I want to really emphasize it…nothing is going to help Nigeria like Nigerians bringing back their money. If you give me $5 billion today, I will invest everything here in Nigeria. Let us put our heads together and work."
Photo credit: MSNBC
