1. Aliko Dangote
For some years now, Aliko Dangote is uncontested as the richest man in Africa. The founder of Dangote Group, one of the most diversified business conglomerates in Africa with a presence in 16 African countries, Dangote is African through and through. A graduate of Business from the Al-Azahar University, Cairo, Egypt, Dangote’s interests spans manufacturing, sugar, cement, and rice. In addition, he is currently building the largest refinery, petrochemical, and fertilizer complex in Africa.
As put rightly on the Dangote Group website, “Dangote Sugar Refinery is the largest sugar refinery in Africa.” Dangote was listed by Forbes Magazine in October 2013 as the “Most Powerful Man in Africa” and the “23rd Richest Man in the World” as well as the “Richest Black Man in the World” with a fortune of more than $25 billion.
Dangote is also a philanthropist helping to fight polio in Nigeria, providing succor to flood victims, and helping several small entrepreneurs. He has thousands of people employed in his businesses and some are saying that after the federal government of Nigeria, he has the largest number of employees in the nation.
