AFRICA HAS 55 BILLIONAIRES

A pan-African magazine says Africa has many
more billionaires than previously reported, 55 of
them worth more than $143 billion including a
Nigerian said to be the richest black woman in the
world.
"Move over, Oprah!" Ventures Africa says in its
latest edition published this week.
Editor-in-chief Uzodinma Iweala said Tuesday the
magazine's estimates are "on the conservative
side."
The report predictably identifies Nigerian
manufacturer Aliko Dangote as the richest African
worth $20.2 billion, among 20 Nigerians listed.
Africa Ventures put the average net worth of
Africa's billionaires at $2.6 billion and their average
age at 65. The oldest billionaires are Kenyan
industrialist Manu Chandaria and Egyptian
property tycoon Mohammed Al-Fayed, both
aged 84. The youngest billionaires are
Mohammed Dewji of Tanzania and Nigerian oil
trader Igho Sanomi, both 38 years old.
Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt had the highest
numbers of the richest Africans, with nine in
South Africa and eight in Egypt. It said Algeria,
Angola, Zimbabwe and Swaziland only have one
billionaire each. It identified billionaires in only 10
of Africa's 53 countries.
The magazine's survey surprised by identifying
oil tycoon Folorunsho Alakija as the richest black
woman in the world, saying that she is worth $
7.3 billion.
Forbes magazine in its respected list had
estimated Alakija's fortune at $600 million and
Oprah Winfrey's worth at $2.9 billion.
The Forbes list of Africa's 40 Richest has only 16
billionaires including two Nigerians.
Last month, Forbes published a story describing
Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos'
daughter, Isabel, as Africa's only female billionaire
worth about $3 billion.
"I think being more rigorous and being closer to
the ground makes it easier to figure out on a
continent where information is not as readily
available and things are not as transparent,"
Iweala explained in a telephone interview.
He said the Lagos-based magazine, which boasts
it "champions African capitalism by celebrating
African success, free enterprise and the
entrepreneurial spirit," regularly collects
information about rich Africans and dedicated
three months to research spread across the
continent.
Iweala said he was excited to find several Africans
who have become wealthy through
manufacturing and financial services showing
"we're moving away from a continent that is just
resource-based."
He found Africa's billionaires "very bullish on
Africa: They believe this is the environment to
make fortunes and to make changes ... they are
not taking their money and running" abroad.
And he found Africa's richest people are
becoming more transparent about their wealth
and more formal in returning wealth to the
community: "As people have more and more
money we're seeing more and more foundations
putting money back, and in a more structured
way."
Alakija's Rose of Sharon Foundation helps
support widows and orphans all over Nigeria, for
instance.
According to Ventures Africa, the 61-year-old
Alakija studied fashion design in London in the
1980s and returned home to set up Supreme
Stitches, which became an exclusive label catering
to a wealthy clientele including Mariam Babangida,
wife of former Nigerian military dictator Ibrahim
Babangida. In 1993, the Babangida regime gave
Alakija a license to explore for oil in a block that
has become one of the most prolific in the oil-rich
country, producing some 200,000 barrels a day,
according to the magazine.