BUSINESS
Dangote Maintains Forbes’ Richest Man in Africa Ranking
Aliko Dangote has retained his position as the richest man in Africa, with a net worth of $12.1 billion, according to the 2022 edition of the Forbes’ Top 10 Africa’s Billionaires List.
This is contained in a post on their verified Twitter account @Forbes.
According to the report, for 11th year in a row, Aliko Dangote of Nigeria is the continent’s richest person, worth an estimated $13.
9 billion, up from $12.1 billion in 2021.This according to the magazine, followed a 30 per cent increase in the stock price of Dangote Cement, his most valuable asset.
A surge in housing developments in Nigeria and growth in government infrastructure spending drove higher demand in the first nine months of 2021, analysts found.
The report added that Africa’s billionaires were richer than they had been in years, despite the global pandemic.
As a group, the continent’s 18 billionaires were worth an estimated $84.9 billion – a 15 per cent increase from twelve months ago and the most since 2014, when a larger number of billionaires–28–were worth a combined $96.5 billion.
On average, the continent’s billionaires were worth $4.7 billion now, worth $3.4 billion in 2014 with soaring stock prices from Nigeria to Zimbabwe lifted the fortunes of these tycoons, as demand for products from cement to luxury goods ticked up.
Jumping into the the number two from the list, spot–up from number four last year–was luxury goods magnate, Johann Rupert of South Africa.
More than 60 per cent surge in the share price of his Compagnie Financiere Richemont–maker of Cartier watches and Montblanc pens–pushed his fortune to $11 billion, up from $7.2 billion a year ago, making him the biggest dollar gainer on the list.
South African Nicky Oppenheimer, who formerly ran diamond mining firm DeBeers before selling it to mining firm Anglo American a decade ago, ranked number three, worth an estimated $8.7 billion.
The biggest gainer in percentage terms–up 125 per cent was Strive Masiyiwa of Zimbabwe, worth $2.7 billion, up from $1.2 billion last year.
Shares of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which he founded, rose more than 750% in the past year, helping to drive up the size of his fortune.
Another gainer: Nigerian cement tycoon Abdulsamad Rabiu, who is $1.5 billion richer after taking yet another of his companies’ public.
In early January 2022, Rabiu listed his sugar and food firm BUA Foods on the Nigerian stock exchange.
He and his son retained a 96% stake in the company, which recently had a market capitalisation of nearly $2.8 billion. (Forbes discounts the values of stakes when the public float is less than 5 per cent).
BUA Cement, in which he and his son had a 96% stake, listed in January 2020.
According to the release, only two of the 18 billionaires are worth less than in 2021: Koos Bekker of South Africa, who dropped to $2.7 billion from $2.8 billion as the share prices of consumer Internet firms Naspers and Prosus fell more than 20per cent each.
Mohammed Dewji of Tanzania, whose fortune declined to an estimated $1.5 billion from $1.6 billion a year ago, due to lower multiples for publicly traded competitors.
The 18 billionaires from Africa, who were not new to the ranks, also hailed from seven different countries, South Africa and Egypt each had five billionaires, followed by Nigeria with three and Morocco with two.
All of the continent’s billionaires were men; the last woman to appear in the ranks, Isabel dos Santos of Angola, fell off the Forbes list in January 2021.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC Ltd.) recorded N7.2 trillion Profit After Tax (PAT) in 2025, a 33 per cent increase from N5.4 trillion.
Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a media briefing after the company’s AGM and second Earnings Call.
Revenue declined to N34.
5 trillion from N45.1 trillion in 2024.Ojulari attributed the 24 per cent revenue decline to lower crude oil prices and reduced product volumes following market deregulation.
He said earnings per share rose to N35.
90 from N27.07, while return on equity improved by 200 basis points to 16 per cent.The company’s declared dividend increased by 35 per cent to N5.8 trillion, while taxes, royalties and other government remittances rose 39 per cent to N22.3 trillion.
“Stronger earnings in spite of this pressure demonstrate the resilience of NNPC Limited’s operations,” Ojulari said.
He said profit grew because NNPC had improved its operations and maintained discipline across its businesses.
Ojulari said crude oil and condensate production reached a five-year peak of 1.77 million barrels per day.
He added that gas supply reached a three-year high of 7.2 billion standard cubic feet per day.
“Stronger performance gives NNPC Limited more capacity to invest, contribute to public revenue and strengthen Nigeria’s energy security,” he said.
On infrastructure, Ojulari said the mainline of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline had been completed.
He said work was ongoing on tie-ins to delivery points, beginning with Abuja, followed by Ajaokuta and Kaduna.
According to him, the next milestone is to commence gas flow through the pipeline to industries and power plants.
Ojulari said the company completed the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline in 2026 after several years of challenges.
On the refineries, he said prospective partners under NNPC’s technical equity partnership model had conducted a three-month onsite review.
He said more than 34 engineers participated in the review, adding that NNPC was now concluding the report.
Ojulari said the company was targeting self-sustaining and profitable refineries, with a pathway expected to be defined soon.
He reaffirmed NNPC’s target of producing two million barrels of crude oil daily by 2027 and three million barrels by 2030.
He said gas production targets were 10 billion cubic feet per day by 2027 and 12 billion by 2030.
“NNPC plans to mobilise over 60 billion dollars of investment across the energy value chain,” he added.
Ojulari said more than 1,000 newly recruited professionals joined NNPC in 2025 under its Talent to Value programme.
He said the recruits completed a one-year internship and training programme before being deployed across the company. (NAN)
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says there is a need for sustained capacity building in competition reporting and issues.
The Executive Vice Chairman of FCCPC, Tunji Bello, said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.
Bello described competition matters as a relatively new area in the country adding that it required specialised knowledge among journalists, regulators and other stakeholders.
He said that competition law and consumer protection regulations had made stakeholders’ education a priority for the commission.
Bello said that the FCCPC recently supported the training of judges through the National Judicial Institute (NJI) to deepen understanding of competition-related matters.
He noted that members of the judiciary also required exposure to the nuances of the emerging field.
“We recognised that because it is a new terrain, the judges themselves are not familiar with the nuances.
”So we brought in experts on competition,” he said.
Bello stressed that the media had a critical role in promoting public understanding of competition and consumer protection issues.
“If FCCPC is becoming more known to the public, it is as a result of the kind of publicity you have given us,” he said. (NAN)
Fire gutted the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Western Marine Command office in Apapa, Lagos, on Monday, destroying property worth millions of Naira.
The fire, which reportedly started at about 10:23 a.m. from an electrical surge in the conference room, spread to other sections of the building.
Officers on duty made frantic efforts to contain the fire before officials of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service arrived at about 10:45 a.
m.The Deputy Comptroller of Customs, Timothy Jonah, who just resumed at the Command, to take over the affairs from his predecessor, described the incident as unfortunate.
He said: “I just resumed duty to take over, only to witness this fire outbreak.
“Every challenge, though negative, is an opportunity to strengthen our operations.
“In the meantime, we will set up a committee to investigate the cause of the fire.”
He commended the swift response of the personnel on duty and their collaboration with the fire service, saying measures would be taken to strengthen safety protocols and prevent a recurrence. (NAN)
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