<a href="https://www.forbes.com/"></a><a href="https://www.forbes.com/search/"></a><a href="https://www.forbes.com/"></a><a href="https://www.forbes.com/"></a><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhyatt/"></a>Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote broke his government’s oil monopoly by building the largest petroleum refinery in Africa. So far, only he has reaped the rewards.



<abbr>A</abbr>liko Dangote takes a deep breath,&nbsp;before reflecting on the odyssey of building Africa’s largest oil and gas refinery. “This is a very, very big relief,” says Dangote, who is speaking with&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;via video conference from an office space at the refinery. Between remarks, the tycoon waves away employees off-screen vying for his attention. “It is actually removing something off my chest,” he continues, as if speaking with his therapist. “Because nobody ever gave us the chance to prove this through.”



After 11 years, $23 billion in investment and innumerable headaches, the Dangote Refinery finally began operating last year. Located on a sprawling 6,200-acre campus in Nigeria’s Lekki Free Zone about an hour outside Lagos, the refinery processed around 350,000 barrels of crude per day (b/d) in the second half of 2024. In January, it processed 500,000 b/d. At full capacity, which is expected next month – a whopping 650,000 b/d – the Dangote Refinery will be the seventh largest refinery in the world by production and the biggest in Africa. Its adjacent petrochemical complex has an annual production capacity of 3 million metric tons of urea, making it Africa’s largest fertilizer producer.


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Dangote’s refinery is already impacting global energy markets. Imports of gasoline into Nigeria are on pace for an eight-year low, affecting the European refiners that traditionally sold to Nigeria, according to energy intelligence firm Vortexa. And thanks to the refinery, Nigeria has become a net exporter of jet fuel, naphtha (a solvent used in varnishes, laundry soaps, cleaning fluids) and fuel oil,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.spglobal.com/commodity-insights/en/news-research/latest-news/crude-oil/112224-feature-refiners-brace-for-margin-pain-as-nigerias-dangote-refinery-scales-up" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according to</a>&nbsp;S&amp;P Global.



With his project coming to fruition, Dangote is now worth an estimated $23.8 billion—almost double what he was worth last year. (He insists he&#8217;s even richer). Already Africa’s wealthiest person, the 67-year-old Nigerian moves back into the ranks of the top 100 richest since 2018, according to&nbsp;Forbes’&nbsp;Real-Time Billionaires List.



It seemed not long ago that Dangote’s refinery might never come on line. In late 2023, some observers expressed doubt the plant would even work. Even once operations began early last year, Dangote struggled to source crude oil from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigeria’s all-important state-owned oil company, threatening the project’s financial viability.



Dangote says the refinery is part of a larger mission: He wants to make Nigeria, one of the world’s largest producers of crude, into a producer of refined petroleum products to allow it to compete with European refineries and supply gasoline to Nigerians. Prior attempts by the Nigerian government to build and operate large-scale refineries ended in failure, leaving Nigerian consumers and businesses reliant on petrol imports, mostly from Europe. Until recently a fuel subsidy kept gasoline affordable for consumers, but the program has strained Nigeria’s finances and been mired in corruption allegations. Billions of dollars were siphoned off by regulators and middlemen over a period of decades in a scheme that disincentivized maintenance of state-owned refineries, many of which sit idle or in a state of disrepair. “The advent of the Dangote Refinery is transformative for the dynamics of Nigeria&#8217;s energy market,” says Clementine Wallop, an Africa analyst at Horizon Engage, a geopolitical consulting firm.



Dangote wants to provide a blueprint for industrialization across Africa. “We have to build our own nation by ourselves. We have to build our own continent by ourselves, not [rely on] foreign investment,” he says. Africa has been “a mere dumping ground for finished products,” Dangote argues, and his refinery represents “a pivotal step in ensuring that Africa has the capacity to refine its own crude oil, thereby creating wealth and prosperity for its vast population.”



In Nigeria, that hasn’t happened yet. In fact, gas prices have increased 60% in the African nation over the last six months as Dangote’s refinery has ramped up production, according to market intelligence firm Trading Economics. (And that’s before accounting for the country’s inflation, which was 29% in December.) The driver of these cost increases is the elimination of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy, which President Bola Tinubu cut after assuming office in May 2023. Doing so was made possible because of the hope of Dangote’s refinery, but it didn’t last long. The subsidy was quickly reinstated after petrol prices tripled. Tinubu slashed the subsidy again last summer, causing prices to skyrocket a second time. Nigerians are especially sensitive to gas prices, as many businesses and households depend on fuel-powered generators, given the country’s unreliable electric grid. Protesters have taken to the streets of Lagos and other cities to vent their frustrations about increasing gas prices.



Dangote blames the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (or NNPC), which oversaw Nigeria’s fuel subsidy and which both produces crude and sells refined petrol products. Initially, the NNPC agreed to acquire a 20% stake in Dangote’s refinery with an upfront payment of $1 billion, but later trimmed its stake to about 7% and demanded some of its money back. The NNPC also committed to supply Dangote with 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day, but has failed to fulfill its obligation. The NNPC did not respond to a request for comment.



In September, Dangote sued the NNPC in an attempt to block it from continuing to import and sell refined petrol products, citing a 2021 law requiring domestic producers of crude to supply enough oil to local refineries to meet domestic demand. (That case remains ongoing). The NNPC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/media/6363746461112/naira-crude-deal-dangote-refinery-receives-first-supply-from-nnpcl/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">began</a>&nbsp;supplying Dangote’s refinery with crude in October, but&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2RyMMLkmX8" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;last month that it may reduce its allocation. Dangote is unsparing in his criticism of the organization, which he says is part of his country’s “oil mafia.”



“The oil mafia are more deadly than the one in drugs, because with the oil mafia there are so many people that are involved,” says Dangote. “You might be wining and dining with them, but these are the guys that are really the masters of moving things around.” An anti-graft commission raided Dangote’s office a year ago, but he insists that he’s on good terms with President Tinubu. “We have an extremely, very good relationship. I’ve known him for a very long time,” he says.



While Nigerians are upset with economic conditions, most are not mad at Dangote. “He is seen in most parts of Nigeria as a hero,” says Zainab Usman, director of the Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “He is seen as a real industrialist who builds things.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-1257252382.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64691" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-1257252382.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-1257252382-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-1257252382-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Stack towers and pipework at the Dangote Industries Ltd. oil (Photographer: Benson Ibeabuchi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Born in 1958 to a wealthy family of traders in the city of Kano, Dangote always had ambition. He began his business career on the school playground at age 8 when he parlayed his allowance into a small-time confectionary venture. &#8220;I would use it to buy sweets, and I would give them to some people to sell, and they would bring me the profit,&#8221; Dangote&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2015/03/04/the-little-known-15-billion-empire-of-africas-richest-man/">told</a>&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;back in 2015. After studying business at AlAzhar University in Cairo, he established an import-export trading venture in Lagos with the help of a $500,000 loan from an uncle. Political connections helped the young entrepreneur win “exclusive import rights in sugar, cement, and rice,” said a State Department cable unearthed by WikiLeaks.



In the late 1990s, Nigeria’s rulers began promoting domestic industry as the country transitioned from years of military rule into a democracy. Dangote capitalized on the change, securing tax incentives to build a sugar mill, flour refinery and cement factory. The cement business has been especially lucrative, generating gross margins of over 60% most years. (Prior to the opening of the refinery, publicly-traded Dangote Cement, of which Dangote owns 86%, accounted for the largest piece of his fortune.) As his empire grew, Dangote maintained goodwill with successive regimes, in large part because of his conglomerate’s focus on consumers. “I think he’s believed staunchly in the fact that Nigerians need products that he has to offer,” says Chika Ezeanya, a professor of African studies at Soka University of America. “Governments can come and go, policies can be changed, but the needs of the Nigerian consumer will only grow and expand.”



When Dangote first announced his refinery in 2013, his plan was to build the plant in southwest Nigeria. Dangote bought refinery technology from Honeywell UOP, a division of the American conglomerate, and brought in engineers from Engineers India Ltd., a state-backed engineering consulting firm, to help design the massive plant. His longtime lieutenant, Edwin Devakumar, a former World Bank engineer, was put in charge. The projected cost was around $10 billion. “It was the biggest risk of my life,” says Dangote about his decision to embark on the project. “If this didn’t work, I was dead.”



After three years of delays due to disputes with local officials, Dangote abandoned his plans to build on the original site. He forked over $100 million to Nigeria’s government to acquire land in its current location outside of Lagos, but due to that site’s swampy conditions, he had to dredge 65 million cubic meters of sand and construct a port to move it all. Along the way, construction displaced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/jun/03/lagos-nigeria-dangote-industrial-complex-refinery-fertiliser-plant#:~:text=7%20months%20old-,'There%20is%20nowhere%20to%20fish%20any%20more'%3A%20life%20in,of%20Nigeria's%20biggest%20industrial%20complex&amp;text=On%20the%20outskirts%20of,with%20floodlights%20and%20security%20cameras." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">thousands of people</a>, prompting local backlash. Then Covid hit, delaying and complicating the schedule. “I can spend the whole day telling you about these challenges,” Dangote sighs.



The costs accumulated—in part because Dangote kept insisting on making the refinery bigger than originally planned. He took out $5.5 billion in bank loans and sold off 3% stakes in his cement business to Dubai’s investment corporation and an Australian sovereign wealth fund in 2013 for about $300 million apiece; he later sold off other slices to private equity firm Gateway Partners and others for undisclosed sums. An intercompany loan for $10 billion from his holding company – which owns his cement, flour and sugar businesses – helped fund the refinery&#8217;s years of cost overruns. The total tab of nearly $23 billion was more than double initial projections.



The refinery still has about $3 billion in outstanding debt. In August, Fitch downgraded its rating on the publicly traded bonds due to “significant deterioration in the group&#8217;s liquidity position” following the refinery’s under-utilization last year due to lack of crude, as well as the plummeting value of Nigeria’sNaira, which has lost over 70% of its value against the dollar since June 2023 when Nigeria’s, central bank floated the currency. Dangote says that liquidity is not a problem, and that the refinery is sufficiently dollarized (meaning that his foreign customers pay in U.S. dollars) to withstand the Naira&#8217;s devaluation.



Facing these challenges, Dangote is determined to make the refinery a success. He has set up a family office in Dubai and his three daughters work for the family business in various capacities, yet most of his focus is still firmly in Nigeria, not on succession planning. The billionaire says that he still spends a lot of his time at his refinery, meeting with engineers and managers. Plus there are more challenges ahead—including building a subsea pipeline to transport natural gas from the Niger Delta to Lagos, and doubling output at the refinery’s fertilizer plant. He also says he wants to take the refinery public in the next year or two.



“I’ve been fighting battles all my life,” Dangote says, “and I have not lost one yet.

Dangote Group Chief Executive Officer Aliko Dangote Interview

Africa’s Richest Man Doubled His Fortune On A Massive — And Risky — $23 Billion Bet

Excavation works initiated in 2016 led to the creation of the world&#8217;s largest single-train petroleum facility, capable of refining 650,000 barrels of crude per day, in Nigeria&#8217;s commercial capital Lagos.



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&#8220;We can go 100% in 30 days.&#8221; – Devakumar Edwin
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The Dangote Refinery, owned by Africa&#8217;s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is set to hit full capacity in 30 days, according to the refinery&#8217;s head.



Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, responsible for the oil and gas business, reportedly confirmed the refinery was currently operating at 85% capacity and &#8220;we can go 100% in 30 days&#8221;.



This development comes on the heels of the refinery&#8217;s shipment of two cargoes of jet fuel to Saudi Aramco.



The Dangote Petroleum Refinery, described as Africa&#8217;s largest oil refinery, began production in January 2024.



At full capacity, the $20 billion facility aims to produce 327,000 barrels per day of gasoline, 244,000 barrels per day of gasoil/diesel, 56,000 barrels per day of jet fuel/kerosene, and 290,000 metric tons per year of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Nigeria’s $21 Billion Dangote Mega Oil Refinery Opening

Africa’s Richest Man’s Oil Refinery Reaches 85% Capacity, Aims For Full Production In 30 Days

In an exclusive interview with FORBES AFRICA from Seattle, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, called for increased investments in nutrition to prevent child deaths, and expressed praise for the efforts being taken in primary healthcare by Nigeria and Ethiopia, following his recent trips to the countries meeting with government leaders and also Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.



Ahead of the release of the eighth annual Goalkeepers report, A Race to Nourish a Warming World, today by the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, the Microsoft co-founder spoke to FORBES AFRICA, about the stark numbers, calling malnutrition “the world’s worst child health crisis”.



According to the World Bank, the cost of undernutrition is $3 trillion in productivity loss every year, and with data in the Goalkeepers report showing that 40 million more children will suffer from hunger’s worst effects by 2050 due to climate change, Gates hopes for more targeted health spending to save millions from malnutrition.



The report also cites that the total share of foreign aid going to Africa has decreased: “In 2010, 40% of foreign aid went to African countries. But that number is now down to just 25% — the lowest percentage in 20 years — despite more than half of all child deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.”



“The Gates Foundation uses the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York every year to highlight both the progress and challenges of helping the world&#8217;s poorest children, and this year, the focus is nutrition,” says Gates to FORBES AFRICA.



The report highlights proven, even low-cost tools to help solve malnutrition, for pregnant women and young children on the continent, and also highlights how promising new research into the microbiome can improve people’s health.



Gates remains optimistic, and in Africa, admits to seeing innovations on the ground.



“I applaud the scientists who help us run these trials,” he says. “That&#8217;s been true as we come up with new vaccines, and I was in Nigeria, we celebrated the fact that they have gotten the cervical cancer vaccine out to a very high percentage of children. And often, primary healthcare delivery in Nigeria is not high quality. It&#8217;s not as well-funded as it should be, and there are a lot of execution challenges. So, when Nigeria actually does some primary healthcare really well, we applaud that, as it sets a good example. And there are some good people trying to improve it.”



On his recent trip to Africa, Gates met with Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr Muhammad Ali Pate, and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Both countries work closely with the Gates Foundation.



“In Ethiopia, we&#8217;ve made real progress in having a data system that lets the people there look and say, ‘okay, where are we getting the vaccines, and where are we not’, and we were a big partner in that. But it&#8217;s great [to see] kids from the university now totally running this data system and able to see if the vaccines are in stock, and if not, what can they do?



“The execution of primary healthcare in Ethiopia is quite good, even though, overall, they&#8217;re a fairly poor country, but they do prioritize it. And there are some lessons for other African countries on how that has been done. I meet with ministers of health wherever I go and sometimes with the heads of state. I did talk with Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu. He was in China for FOCAC [Forum on China-Africa Cooperation], so, it wasn&#8217;t face-to-face, but he took the time to make sure we were talking about the challenges they face and how we can help them.”



In Nigeria, Gates’ foundation also works closely with the Dangote Foundation. Gates says Dangote – also a good friend – spent “a lot of time” with him on his recent trip.



“The Dangote Foundation’s and Gates Foundation’s work in Nigeria is about 75% overlapped. We learn from each other. You know, obviously, they understand Nigeria, and we understand the microbiome. And so, that&#8217;s complementary. Aliko is in an intense period in terms of his new refinery and all, but still, the whole time I was in Nigeria, he made time. And they have a great, very professional team. We work together mostly on primary healthcare…



“We had a lot of good discussions, and Aliko Dangote and Dr Pate were in most of those. We also met with the agricultural people about chickens and milk and seeds that&#8217;ll increase agricultural productivity because [in] these countries, as their budgets are so tight, the idea that they&#8217;re going to raise food productivity is one of the clear things, so that they&#8217;re not importing as much food, and [therefore they are] creating opportunity in the agricultural system. So, it&#8217;s mostly health, because that&#8217;s our big thing, but it&#8217;s also some of the work in agriculture as well. And Dangote, both philanthropically and as a private entity, is a big partner there.”



Gates speaks about a second act or “a new global health boom to save millions of lives” in the report, but to a question on whether we will see a cure for AIDS in our lifetime, he gave it a “10- to 20-year timeframe”.



“Yes, I would say; even though, in the short run, these incredible headwinds of debt and reductions in aid and some instability in the next five years are going to be very challenging. If you take a longer perspective, where you get new research – like we are spending literally billions on the idea of an HIV cure – I think it&#8217;s very likely in the 10- to 20-year timeframe that these innovations will get done. We&#8217;ll figure it out, despite the challenges, how to get them delivered. And so, that&#8217;s why this work, including delivering it in Africa, is the big focus of the Gates Foundation, and you&#8217;ll hear from us in January as we celebrate our 25th anniversary. We&#8217;re talking about our goals for the next phase of our work, and we&#8217;re going to set some very ambitious goals. So, yes, I am optimistic on HIV specifically, and on health broadly, despite the fact that we&#8217;re in a tough period.”

Conclusion Global Solutions Summit

‘I Applaud Them’: Billionaire Philanthropist Bill Gates On African Scientists And Spending Time With Aliko Dangote As He Discusses His Foundation’s New Report On Nutrition

Aliko Dangote’s just-launched fertilizer plant expected to help earn Nigeria about $5 billion in export revenue.



IN MARCH, AFRICA’S RICHEST MAN, ALIKO DANGOTE, opened A $2.5 billion urea and ammonia fertilizer plant in Nigeria commissioned by the country’s President Muhammadu Buhari.



In an interview with FORBES AFRICA, Dangote, the president and CEO of Dangote Group, the continent’s largest cement producer, says the new fertilizer plant, which has already started production, could lead to Nigeria earning about $5 billion in export revenue.



“We are getting a huge demand from all over the world with massive orders from the European Union,” says the billionaire entrepreneur, who is also opening an oil refinery, expected to be Africa’s biggest with the capacity to produce 650,000 barrels per day, by the third quarter of 2022.



The war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia, the world’s largest exporter of fertilizers, have meant disrupted global supply chains and this has ignited the price of fertilizers for Africa’s small-scale farmers. Fertilizers provide healthy nutrients for crops and experts say the current impasse can stifle agricultural growth and lead to hunger on the continent.



“As they say, when Nigeria sneezes, the rest of Africa catches a cold and that is exactly what is happening. The Dangote fertilizer plant is important to Africa because with the Ukraine and Russia war, it is just a matter of months that some parts of Africa will be plunged into hunger. We need to have agricultural solutions that do not just rely on the West but rather on Africa,” says Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, a think tank based in Accra, Ghana, to FORBES AFRICA.



Nitrogen, potash and phosphate that are important for fertilizer manufacture also come from Russia and Ukraine. The countries’ leading position stems from their influence on the gas ecosystem too. Fertilizers are a by-product of ammonia created when mixing nitrogen and hydrogen gas.



“The price of nitrogen fertilizer has skyrocketed in recent months. In Europe, we are looking at about 1,000 euros per ton. Now, if more developed economies in Europe are struggling with the cost of fertilizer, what do you think the impact on Africa will be,” asks Farouk Rabiu Mudi, President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN).



Dangote’s fertilizer factory, located in Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos, sits on 500 hectares (over 1,200 acres) of land with capacity to produce three million metric tons of urea yearly. The Dangote Group’s website cites the plant as Africa’s largest granulated urea fertilizer complex.



The oil refinery, also at the same location, will boast 1,100kms of subsea pipeline infrastructure to handle 3 billion Standard Cubic Foot (SCF) of gas per day produced for commercial use.



Nigeria has struggled for years to diversify its economy from oil dependency to other value-added sectors. The former minister of agriculture and President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has asserted Nigeria’s need to diversify its export base to a high- value market product that will pursue wealth creation and value-added manufacturing.



The commissioning of the fertilizer factory by the Dangote Group is expected to boost the investment in the sector and hopefully lead to self-sufficiency in food production for the continent.

Key Speakers and Interviews at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum

Aliko Dangote On $2.5 Billion Fertilizer Plant: ‘Massive Orders From The EU’

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FORBES AFRICA 10th ANNIVERSARY: Towards The Next Decade

Despite the pandemic, it was a record-setting year for the world’s wealthiest—with a $5 trillion surge in wealth and an unprecedented number of new billionaires.



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It’s been a year like no other, and we aren’t talking about the pandemic. There were rapid-fire public offerings, surging cryptocurrencies and skyrocketing stock prices. The number of billionaires on&nbsp;Forbes’&nbsp;35th annual list of the world’s wealthiest exploded to an unprecedented&nbsp;2,755—660 more than a year ago. Altogether they are worth&nbsp;$13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion on the 2020 list.&nbsp;



There are a record high&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2021/04/06/nearly-500-people-have-become-billionaires-during-the-pandemic-year/?sh=386c528125c0">493 newcomers</a>&nbsp;to the list—roughly one new billionaire every 17 hours, including 210 from China and Hong Kong and 98 from the U.S. The richest newcomer, at $38.2 billion, is&nbsp;Miriam Adelson&nbsp;of Nevada, who inherited her husband Sheldon Adelson’s casino empire following his death in January. Other notable new entrants include movie and TV producer&nbsp;Tyler Perry, Bumble dating app cofounder&nbsp;Whitney Wolfe Herd—the world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire, and Europe’s&nbsp;Guillaume Pousaz, founder of payments firm Checkout.com. Another 250 people who’d fallen off the billionaires’ list in the past came roaring back. Altogether, a staggering 86% of all billionaires are richer than a year ago.https://embedly.forbes.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fe.infogram.com%2F203c82a4-0962-4ff3-b2f9-883366e688b1%3Fsrc%3Dembed&amp;display_name=Infogram&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Finfogram.com%2Fdesktop-2021-billionaires-recirc-1ho16vojl5w8x4n&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Finfogram-thumbs-1024.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fd1c81d9b-cd07-4ed9-ae1f-456751923c71.jpg&amp;key=3ce26dc7e3454db5820ba084d28b4935&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=infogram



Jeff Bezos&nbsp;is the world’s richest person for the fourth year running, worth $177 billion, up $64 billion from a year ago as a result of surging Amazon shares.&nbsp;Elon Musk—the biggest gainer in dollar terms—rocketed into the No. 2 spot with a $151 billion fortune, a whopping $126.4 billion more than a year ago, when he ranked No. 31 and was worth $24.6 billion. The main reason: a 705% climb in Tesla shares. French luxury goods tycoon&nbsp;Bernard Arnault&nbsp;holds onto his spot at No. 3 but his fortune nearly doubled to $150 billion, from $76 billion, due to an 86% rise in the shares of LVMH, owner of brands including Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior and cosmetics retailer Sephora.&nbsp;The top ten richest are worth $1.15 trillion, up by two-thirds from $686 billion last year. Altogether,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddawkins/2021/04/06/europes-billionaires-are-1-trillion-richer-than-a-year-ago/?sh=623d979f76e5">Europe’s billionaires</a>&nbsp;are $1 trillion richer than a year ago.



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-net-worth-of-the-world-s-richest-person">Net Worth of the World’s Richest Person</h3>



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This year there are four people worth $100 billion or more—up from just one (Bezos) on last year’s list. Besides Bezos, Musk and Arnault, there’s&nbsp;Bill Gates, who ranks No. 4 at $124 billion, buoyed by the strength of shares he owns in Microsoft, Canadian National Railway and tractor maker Deere &amp; Company.



Rounding out the top five is Facebook founder&nbsp;Mark Zuckerberg, at $97 billion. He’s worth an eye-popping $42.3 billion more than a year ago; Facebook’s shares have risen 80% in the past year as people around the world used its social media platforms to stay in touch. (For more on the richest tech billionaires, see&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrickcai/2021/04/06/here-are-the-richest-tech-billionaires-in-2021/?sh=691f42bb4d70">here</a>; and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mominakhan/2021/04/06/the-10-richest-american-billionaires-2021/?sh=7e747aa4d981">here</a>&nbsp;for the richest Americans.) The richest woman this year is cosmetics heir Francoise Bettencourt Meyers of France; see here for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/denizcam/2021/04/06/the-top-richest-women-in-the-world-in-2021/?sh=59cfe7094598">richest women</a>.



Warren Buffett&nbsp;is the world’s sixth richest person, worth $96 billion. It’s the first year since 1993 that the revered investor running Berkshire Hathaway has not appeared in the top five. Not that the 90-year-old Oracle of Omaha had a bad year—he’s still worth $28.5 billion more than he was on the 2020 list.



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-number-of-billionaires-worldwide-and-combined-net-worth">Number of Billionaires Worldwide and Combined Net Worth</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/606b5e244876c7b64f423816/0x0.png?fit=scale" alt="Number of Billionaires and combined net worth"/><figcaption>Forbs.com</figcaption></figure>



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The&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;still has more billionaires than any other country, with 724 (up from 614 last year), but China is closing the gap with 698 (including 71 from&nbsp;Hong Kong&nbsp;and 1 from&nbsp;Macao). Last year the U.S. had 614 billionaires and China had 456 (including 66 from Hong Kong and 1 Macao).&nbsp;India&nbsp;has the third highest number of billionaires, with 140. Altogether, the 1,149 billionaires from Asia-Pacific countries are worth $4.7 trillion, while the U.S. billionaires are worth a total $4.4 trillion.&nbsp; (For more on the countries with the most billionaires, see&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2021/04/06/the-countries-with-the-most-billionaires-2021/?sh=42c017c0379b">here</a>. Plus&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferwang/2021/04/06/the-10-richest-chinese-billionaires-in-2021/?sh=7e5164685ca2">China’s richest</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferwang/2021/04/06/asia-ascendant-the-richest-new-chinese-billionaires-in-2021/?sh=3361ff131a1a">China’s newcomers</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/naazneenkarmali/2021/04/06/indias-10-richest-billionaires-2021/?sh=2922cf8359b7">India’s richest</a>.)&nbsp;



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-countries-with-the-most-billionaires">The Countries With The Most Billionaires</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/606b7cca1391bb569e6302b6/0x0.png?fit=scale" alt="Countries With The Most Billionaires"/><figcaption>Forbes.com</figcaption></figure>



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A record 1,975 billionaires are self-made, up from 1,457 last year. That equates to 72% of the list (vs. about 70% in 2020). It’s a marked change from the 2001 list of billionaires, when 49% of the total 565 billionaires were self-made.&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;uses the term “self-made” as a contrast to “inherited” and “inherited &amp; growing;” it’s not meant to indicate that someone created a billion-dollar fortune all on their own. To achieve such a feat takes teamwork.



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-total-number-of-billionaires-and-self-made-status">Total Number of Billionaires and Self-Made Status</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/606c413115a36070b1428bf7/0x0.png?fit=scale" alt="Self-Made Status"/><figcaption>Forbes .com</figcaption></figure>



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One hundred and five of the list members are under 40, two-thirds of whom are self-made. The new youngest self-made billionaire is 26-year-old American&nbsp;Austin Russell,&nbsp;who dropped out of Stanford to found automotive sensor firm Luminar Technologies; he is worth $2.4 billion and ranked No. 1299. There’s a new youngest billionaire as well: 18-year-old&nbsp;Kevin David Lehmann&nbsp;of Germany, whose father Guenther Lehmann transferred his stake in drugstore chain dm-drogerie mkt to him; he’s worth $3.3 billion and ranks No. 925. (Read more about the youngest billionaires&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielshapiro/2021/04/06/the-worlds-youngest-billionaires-2021-include-a-teenager-from-germany-a-crytpo-magnate-and-a-stanford-dropout/?sh=5e87182a509d">here</a>.). At the other end of the spectrum,&nbsp;the oldest billionaire, at age 99, is U.S. insurance tycoon&nbsp;George Joseph.&nbsp;



Mukesh Ambani&nbsp;of India has become the richest person in Asia, ranked No. 10 and worth an estimated $84.5 billion. He nudges out&nbsp;Jack Ma&nbsp;of China, Asia’s richest person a year ago, whose rank dropped to No. 26 (from No. 17 last year) despite a nearly $10 billion jump in his fortune to $48.4 billion. The biggest gainer in percentage terms this year is from China:&nbsp;Zhong Shanshan&nbsp;took his bottled water company Nongfu Spring public last fall on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and shares soared, lifting his net worth to $68.9 billion, up 3,345% from $2 billion a year ago.



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-total-new-billionaires-and-combined-net-worth">Total New Billionaires and Combined Net Worth</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/606b5ea2affa9dd12fb89021/0x0.png?fit=scale" alt="Total Newcomers over the years"/><figcaption>Forbes.com</figcaption></figure>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">#1 | Jeff Bezos</h2>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">NET WORTH:&nbsp;$177 BILLION</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">SOURCE OF WEALTH:&nbsp;AMAZON</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RESIDENCE: SEATTLE</h4>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">#2 | Elon Musk</h2>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">NET WORTH:&nbsp;$151 BILLION</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">SOURCE OF WEALTH:&nbsp;TESLA, SPACEX</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RESIDENCE: AUSTIN, TEXAS</h4>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">#3 | Bernard Arnault</h2>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">NET WORTH:&nbsp;$150 BILLION</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">SOURCE OF WEALTH:&nbsp;LUXURY GOODS</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RESIDENCE:&nbsp;PARIS</h4>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">#4 | Bill Gates</h2>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">NET WORTH:&nbsp;$124 BILLION</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">SOURCE OF WEALTH:&nbsp;MICROSOFT</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RESIDENCE:&nbsp;MEDINA, WASHINGTON</h4>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">#5 | Mark Zuckerberg</h2>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">NET WORTH:&nbsp;$97 BILLION</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">SOURCE OF WEALTH:&nbsp;FACEBOOK</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RESIDENCE:&nbsp;PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA</h4>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">#6 | Warren Buffett</h2>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">NET WORTH:&nbsp;$96 BILLION</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">SOURCE OF WEALTH:&nbsp;BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RESIDENCE:&nbsp;OMAHA, NEBRASKA</h4>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">#7 | Larry Ellison</h2>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">NET WORTH:&nbsp;$93 BILLION</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">SOURCE OF WEALTH:&nbsp;SOFTWARE</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RESIDENCE:&nbsp;LANAI, HAWAII</h4>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">#8 | Larry Page</h2>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">NET WORTH:&nbsp;$91.5 BILLION</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">SOURCE OF WEALTH:&nbsp;GOOGLE</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RESIDENCE:&nbsp;PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA</h4>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">#9 | Sergey Brin</h2>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">NET WORTH:&nbsp;$89 BILLION</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">SOURCE OF WEALTH:&nbsp;GOOGLE</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RESIDENCE:&nbsp;LOS ALTOS, CALIFORNIA</h4>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">#10 | Mukesh Ambani</h2>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">NET WORTH:&nbsp;$84.5 BILLION</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">SOURCE OF WEALTH:&nbsp;DIVERSIFIED</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RESIDENCE:&nbsp;MUMBAI, INDIA</h4>



By Kerry A. Dolan, Forbes Staff

Billionaire Elon Musk Receives Axel Springer Award

Forbes’ 35th Annual World’s Billionaires List: Facts And Figures 2021

Opening Day Of The World Economic Forum (WEF) 2017

A NEW CAPITALISM: Views From The Top

The first-ever Africa Investment Forum was a resounding success with some fascinating math: 49 projects worth $38.7 billion over three days, all for the continent. 



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On a breezy Wednesday morning in November in Johannesburg, there is a feverish bustle at the Sandton Convention Centre, one of South Africa’s most prestigious destinations for conferences. Known for regularly hosting world-class exhibitions and events, today, it is playing host to one of the most important events of the year. 



The second floor of the convention center is pulsating with action and excitement as hundreds of businessmen and power women in sharp suits and African attire greet each other. At each corner of the grand room are huge posters with quotes that say, “People don’t eat potential! It’s time to turn potential into real deals,” and,



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">We believe that the growth of Africa’s economy represents opportunities for its neighbors </blockquote>



The word on everyone’s lips is transactions. The inaugural edition of the Africa Investment Forum (AIF), organized by the African Development Bank (AfDB), is officially opened by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. 



The bigwigs of corporate Africa and political power brokers are all here, including Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, along with Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo and Ethiopia’s first female president Sahle-Work Zewde. 



The AfDB describes the forum as a collaborative platform for the economic and social development of the continent. The goal is to bring together project sponsors, borrowers, lenders and public and private sector investments to unlock billions of dollars that will accelerate investment. The rationale is simple. Six of the 10 fastest-growing economies are in Africa, yet Africa has a mammoth infrastructure funding gap of $130-$170 billion a year. 



The man called ‘Mr. Development’ in the October 2018 issue of FORBES AFRICA, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina, believes there needs to be a convergence of stakeholders from all over Africa to broker deals that finally unlock the potential of Africa. 



As with any conference with a multitude of minds, opinions are divided for this one too. On the one hand are those who quietly wonder whether this is going to be yet another three days of rhetoric and ambiguous targets that bear no fruit? Then you have those believers who are convinced that Africa is ripe for an integrated marketplace that can actually deliver real growth. 



For these people, the AIF offers new hope. They believe that the continent’s largest and smallest economies are ready to come together and take charge of their own destiny. 



According to the World Bank, year-on-year economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is slashed by two percentage points due to a lack of infrastructure. Analysts believe around $100 billion must be invested each year to eliminate the deficit and give African infrastructure a shot at competing with other developing regions. 



Traditionally, the World Bank, the AfDB and African governments have sought to address the infrastructure gap by investing in larger infrastructure projects valued at more than $1 billion. 



This means smaller-scale projects, in the $100 million to $200 million range, which are also necessary for the development goals of the continent, are neglected. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">History shows that trade has the potential to transform nations. </blockquote>





Adesina believes this.&nbsp;





“The AIF is probably the most important game-changing initiative for accelerated economic development in Africa. It is a unique platform for investment, finance, transparent transactions and a genuine African marketplace for closing deals to accelerate the economic development of Africa. The fact is that no individual benefactor, no matter how rich, or government or sovereign wealth fund, or even a multilateral development bank, for that matter, can provide the resources to meet Africa’s critical economic development needs,” he says in his opening address at the conference. 



According to Adesina, the solution is clear. Africa can and Africa must collectively work towards financing its development, requiring broad partnerships with the private sector and an appreciation of the realities of global investment partners. 



“This will be an African investment marketplace where the AfDB and its partners will screen and enhance bankable projects and attract co-investors and facilitate transactions to close Africa’s investment gaps. This platform will reduce intermediation costs and improve the quality of documentation and information and increase active and productive engagements between African governments and the private sector,” he says. 



It is that type of collaboration that brings Shamima Mallam-Hassam, Country Executive of Alter Domus, all the way from Mauritius to Johannesburg. 



“We are a leading fund and corporate services provider, headquartered in Luxemburg, with an office in Mauritius. The purpose of being at the Africa Investment Forum is to meet with people that have projects in Africa, that we can help in their structuring, and use Mauritius as a platform for their investment into Africa. So this is a very high-level forum, where a lot of insights have been shared about where Africa is going and how there can be more collaborations to make projects happen,” she says. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-38061" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Ethiopia&#8217;s first female president Sahle- Zewde networking with delegates at the Africa Investment Forum. Picture: Gypseenia Lion</figcaption></figure>



Can developing nations thrive in a global economy without an international, collective mind-set? International organizations like the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) believe that for sustainable development to exist, more developed African economies need to break down barriers between them and less developed economies. To begin with, the continent needs to address rising unemployment. 



“We need to create 400 million jobs for 400 million Africans, who are already born, between now and 2030. These massive numbers need massive responses,” says Ibrahim Mayaki, CEO of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) during a panel conversation at AIF. A total of 49 deals were made at the AIF, which were valued at $38.7 billion, according to the final numbers released. These deals represent a renaissance for the African continent. But the concern for some is whether the returns from these deals will remain on the continent. 



“The ownership of industrial assets must be African companies. A lot of developers make the mistake of allowing foreign ownership, which alters the trajectory of your destiny,” says Basil El-Baz, chairman and CEO of Egypt’s Carbon Holdings. 



The all-important issue of women’s empowerment in corporate Africa is also discussed. A panel in ‘Investing in women for accelerated growth’ reveals women entrepreneurs experience a significant funding gap of $42 billion annually, but are more likely to repay loans compared to male borrowers. David Makhura, the premier of the Gauteng province where the conference is held, attests: “African women need to be supported. They are the ones that sell to provide for their children and families.” 



The panel comprises prominent and successful women, including Ibukun Awosika, president of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Hayat Sindi, senior advisor to the president of the Islamic Development Bank, and Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, chairperson of Kalagadi Manganese. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">We need to make women a critical component of our financial system <cite> Ibukun Awosika</cite></blockquote>



Underpinning the market place is ‘The AIF Platform’, that connects 200,000 American businesses and users from 100 countries, many of whom are potential investors and trade partners for Africa. 



The AIF Platform is announced in partnership with the Inter Development Bank (IDB) who launched a similar platform, Connect America, in 2014. “We have over 400 million smartphones in Africa. Within a few years, this number will exceed a billion. But none of these are made in Africa. We are the consumers but we’re not the value creators,” says Ashish Thakkar, founder of Mara Group, before the closing plenary. 



The AIF Platform was created to address exactly this. By connecting African-based companies like Mara to global trade partners, there can be economies of scale. 



If there is one thing to take away from the conference, it is this: there is a fight to back Africa as an investable destination so that capital can land in the continent and unlock its potential. As Adesina puts it: “This is Africa’s time to change the rhetoric. We need to make Africa independent; we can no longer build Africa relying on aid. The only way to achieve this is a complete rise in intra-Africa trade.”



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="926" height="617" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote.png" alt="" class="wp-image-38063" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote.png 926w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote-300x200.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote-600x400.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote-768x512.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 926px) 100vw, 926px" /><figcaption>Africa&#8217;s richest man, Aliko Dangote attended the inaugural Africa Investment Forum. Picture: Gypseenia Lion</figcaption></figure>



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="READ MORE | How Nigeria Can Attract And Keep The Right Kind Of Foreign Direct Investment (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/current-affairs/2018/12/11/how-nigeria-can-attract-and-keep-the-right-kind-of-foreign-direct-investment/" target="_blank">How Nigeria Can Attract And Keep The Right Kind Of Foreign Direct Investment</a>



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/travel/2018/11/27/offering-the-american-dream-to-african-investors/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="READ MORE | Offering The American Dream To African Investors (opens in a new tab)">Offering The American Dream To African Investors</a>

Akinwumi-Adesina

Deals, Dollars and Developments On The African Continent

What does Gateway Partners do?
We connect private capital to investment opportunities that we believe are exceptionally attractive across Africa, the Middle East and southeast Asia. We believe these markets are fundamentally attractive for a few reason. One is demographics, with two-thirds of the population under the age of 35, or in Africa’s case, three quarters. We’re also rapidly urbanizing. Across Africa, the Middle East and southeast Asia, almost a billion-and-a-half people will get urbanized over the next 20 to 30 years. If you add the young, growing population with the burgeoning urbanization, you have an increase in consumption and a growth in manufacturing services. Then, if you look at the global economy over the last 20 years, the biggest growth engine has been the trade and investment floors between and across emerging markets.
How important is private equity for Africa?
I think it’s important for a variety of reasons. Africa needs to invest a lot more. It’s estimated that you’ve got to spend another $50 billion a year in building Africa’s infrastructure. If you take the growing consumer, there is a huge opportunity there. Agriculture is also a huge opportunity. So, all of that requires investment. The big challenge that Africa has is its savings rate is very low. The savings rate to GDP ratio across Africa is 15%. In contrast, China has close to 45%. Also the size of the domestic financial sector, once you get outside of South Africa, is very small relative to the investment requirements of Africa.
I’ll give you an example, if you take the entire Nigerian banking system, the combined market capitalization of the top 10 banks, is less than a quarter of the market capitalization of the single largest bank in Indonesia… It means Africa needs foreign capital. Foreign capital takes the form of private equity, foreign markets, bond markets or bank lending. Africa probably needs all of them.
Also, private equity is useful in bringing in potentially an upgradation in management skills, technical skills and technology.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/homepage/2018/02/27/can-no-longer-say-not-problem/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">READ MORE: &#8216;We Can No Longer Say It Is Not My Problem&#8217;</a>
In terms of investment, how does Africa compare to other parts of the world you have worked in , like Asia, the Middle East and Europe? 
In a word: attractive. But, it’s not without its challenges and risks. The way I like to look at Africa is this is China 1990. This is India 2000. This is Vietnam 2005. If you were to look at Africa as the great market for people wanting to buy their first microwave, their first refrigerator, their first car, their first apartment, there is a huge underlying market here.
Also, Africa has had the second highest GDP growth of any continent over the last 10 or 20 years. The levels of governance and the macroeconomic fundamentals of Africa are generally improving. In 20 years, Africa will have more people of a working age than either India or China. If you take agriculture, 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land is in Africa. If you look across the spectrum, there is a huge need. But, it is not without risk because capital markets are not deep and liquid. The quality of governance in some of these companies is not really high. A lot of the entrepreneurs are third generation entrepreneurs. They need to be lifted up and almost mentored.
What do you look for in a company before making an investment?
As Gateway Fund, we look for companies that provide goods and services that cater to the basic needs of humanity in our markets. We don’t like to invest in companies to do caviar. We don’t like to invest in companies that are a bet on the future and no cash flows. We invest in very basic companies – what we like to call Maslow’s hierarchy of needs bottom of the pyramid – food, shelter, clothing, that kind of stuff. If you look at the stuff we’ve invested in: biscuits and buns, convenience stores, cement, optical fiber network, or data which today is basic.
We also look for companies that have good management that we can trust and work with. And we look where we can add value in terms of taking them into new geographies, new markets and new clients.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/homepage/2017/06/14/billions-investment-no-jobs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">READ MORE: Billions In Investment But No Jobs</a>
Aliko Dangote is on Gateway’s advisory board. How beneficial is it having the richest man in Africa part of your team? 
It’s huge. He provides insight into how Africa thinks, how Africa behaves, what works in Africa, what doesn’t work in Africa. You can do a 100-year MBA program at any business school and you won’t get that. Then, also, when we look at transactions and understanding whether that makes sense, providing the due diligence on the deal, that helps us as well. Also having somebody like Aliko to help our investee companies go into other markets helps. But I would just hasten to add, Aliko is the star of Africa, but we are also fortunate to have similar high quality advisory board members.

‘Africa Needs Foreign Capital’

African Billionaire Fortunes Rise

Africa’s Billionaires

Aliko Dangote is a man revered for his remarkable achievements in business and his passion for his country. As I wait patiently in his office at Union Marble House, in the plush Lagos suburb of Ikoyi, an inscribed plaque catches my eye. Before I can read it, I hear a man’s voice.
“Nothing is impossible. That is my mantra in life. No matter what you go through, just remember, nothing is impossible for you to achieve and you will overcome it.”
Dangote, Africa’s richest man and the founder of Dangote Group, is dressed in a blue suit and purple tie. His demeanor is warm and welcoming, his gaze attentive. It is hard to believe this soft-spoken man is worth an estimated $14.4 billion, according to FORBES. Despite this wealth, the plaque in his office serves as a reminder of a day he almost lost everything. It all began with a wrong soil test.
“We were importing cement and we had an import terminal in Lagos and Port Harcourt. The government gave incentives to people who will make Nigeria self-sufficient in cement and so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity and build a cement plant. At the time, the entire production of Nigeria was less than two million tons but we decided that we were going to go ahead and build a [plant with] five million tons capacity,” says Dangote.
<div id="attachment_5094" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5094" class="size-medium wp-image-5094" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/aliko-dangote-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />Founder and Chief Executive of the Dangote Group Aliko Dangote gestures during an interview with Reuters in his office in Lagos, June 13, 2012. Picture taken June 13, 2012 REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye (NIGERIA &#8211; Tags: BUSINESS) &#8211; RTR37GOU</div>
“So we brought in a contractor and we asked them to do the soil test and also the foundation test. Then they gave us the wrong soil test. Normally the northern part of Nigeria has very hard ground. But they came back and said we just needed a shallow foundation with a maximum of two meters. So the drawing and everything was done based on a two-meter foundation. As soon as we were three months into the job we realized it was more than this.”
This marked the beginning of a long battle to salvage the multi-million-dollar project. The group had hedged everything on the cement factory. In order to stay ahead of the competition, Dangote decided not to do a proper feasibility study so as to avoid attention to the new project. That decision came at a high cost.
“So now we had to go and do piling. We had to stop and change all the drawings and all of a sudden we were faced with 1,000 piles to be built and there were not enough rigs in Nigeria. So we had to order new rigs and even buy rigs for some of the contractors,” says Dangote.
To make matters worse, Dangote needed to finance the project.
“We needed to raise $480 million but the problem was 90 percent of the banks at the time had a market capital of only $20 million. In addition, there were no long-term loans, only short-term loans for about 90 days, so you could tell the challenge we faced. The project stopped, we had to change the drawings and we could not borrow too much money in the system. Borrowing short term and investing in a long-term business was so difficult.”
Another problem was infrastructure.
“We realized that we had to build a gas pipeline because the government who promised to build the pipeline in 1978 had actually not done anything, so we had to construct 92 kilometers of a gas pipeline. The water table was very bad in the area so we had to build a dam and over 100 houses because there was nothing there, so the challenges were coming one by one.”
For Dangote, failure was not an option.
“In my office, I had the project drawings on my wall but I knew that once this project fails the group is gone and that is what really kept me going. It was a major project for us because our size, compared to a project of half a billion then, was big money for us.”
Eventually, there was light at the end of the tunnel. The group received a much-needed lifeline in the form of a $479-million loan from a consortium of banks, led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC). But the storm hadn’t abated yet.
“The most challenging was when we had the cost overrun. Now we had finished the cement factory and the factory was not working and that was really when I went from black to red. I knew that we were really in trouble. But we were very adamant and we persevered. We had challenges for over a year or so and the factory was working on and off,” he says.
That was in 2003. Since then, the Dangote Group has expanded into 18 countries in sub-Saharan Africa as well as Nepal. This year, Dangote plans to take on a new challenge, the volatile oil market.
“We have been pushed into oil because we realized that we had too much cash for the type of business that we are running today, so we need to diversify. On the diversification strategy, we look at what the areas are that can actually take Nigerians to the next level and that is where we map out all the issues and the problems that we are facing as a country for lack of diversifying the economy.”
The group is building one of the largest oil refineries in the country with the potential to meet Nigeria’s requirement of 445,000 to 550,000 barrels of fuel, with spare capacity to export, according to Dangote. The project has an estimated completion date of 2018.
As we wrap up the interview, Dangote’s gaze goes back to the plaque on his table.
“It was a challenging experience and that is why I have the plaque on the table saying nothing is impossible. You need tenacity and focus in business. I have learned a lot and since that time I don’t really get scared of anything.”

“I Knew That We Were Really  In Trouble”

If you have travelled across Africa, you will attest that there is a war between optimism and pessimism. If you look closely, there is a high level of pessimism on the continent. Africans are people who believe in fate; often subject to our situations, than our situations subject to us.
There needs to be a balance between optimism and pessimism, but not so that you only get realism. If this world only had realists, humanity would not have advanced. Realists base their judgments mainly on what has already been proven.
Optimists tend to have too much energy, particularly in the early stages of conceiving an idea, and overlook what could go south. The key here is to realize when your vision does not cost you anything; if so, you are day dreaming.
I will admit, this world was and is built mostly by optimists, the ones who saw something when everyone else saw nothing. This is important because if you can see the invisible, you can do the impossible.
Nevertheless, realists, despite sometimes being negative,  have anchored our society and are often our voice of reason.
As an entrepreneur, you will realize that potential investors are your voice of reason, particularly banks. When you, as an entrepreneur, approach investors excitedly about your business idea, they have a way of making you get in touch with reality by viewing your presentation with x-ray goggles.
I want to touch on the pessimistic bias among some African entrepreneurs, and how we can both confront it and conquer it. It is also important to mention that we have a large number of optimistic entrepreneurs on the continent, especially since Africa is the latest economic frontier for major growth, following on from China and India.
Some might ask whether this pessimistic behavior is part of the nature versus nurture debate. You might notice that a few African entrepreneurs settle for mediocracy, while our Asian, American and European counterparts strive to be the best.
Could it be that you cannot dream to rise above what you are exposed to? Entrepreneurs around the world may have more role models than we do, but we are as capable as any of them.
My concern is that the pessimism is blocking us; we need to stop it once and for all. Let’s follow the example set by some of the shining African stars in business, such as Folorunsho Alakija, Aliko Dangote, Elon Musk, and Mohammed Dewji, among others.
As we embrace optimism, we need to also be careful of blind optimism. You cannot only consider the upside without having counter measures to still succeed if your original plans do not work.
Therefore, a major dosage of optimism, mixed with a dash of realism, is necessary for any African entrepreneur. There is no place for pessimism.
There is a saying I am fond of: while the optimist was arguing that the glass was half full and the pessimist was saying it was half empty, the entrepreneur sold the glass.
So, what needs to be done? We must make sure we use the right metrics to measure our business. This will make it easier to achieve the desired results, not leaving anything to luck or fate. We need to be persistent and implement the right strategies until things start to happen.
Most importantly, African entrepreneurs need to understand that victories don’t come by accident.

mohammed-dewji

See The African Glass As Half Full

Aliko Dangote lives as you might expect, given he’s the richest person in Africa and resides in the same country being bullied by the insidious Boko Haram terrorist group, which finds something noble in kidnapping village girls. Located on Victoria Island, a wealthy Lagos enclave that has a moat in the form of a lagoon and the far eastern shores of the Atlantic Ocean, his mansion comes with all the trimmings: massive black gate, bulletproof windows, Big Brother video surveillance, guards and a secret entryway.
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After I enter, a butler motions to a sitting room overlooking a patio and a blue-tiled pool. The three-story fortress is shielded from the 90-degree heat by powerful air-conditioners (themselves presumably shielded from Nigeria’s notoriously unreliable electric grid by diesel generators). Dangote, round-faced with a trimmed graying moustache, appears from upstairs dressed in khakis and a casual blue button-down. The 57-year-old can seem miscast in the role of industrial titan, often speaking so softly that he mumbles.
As breakfast arrives by the platterful, including plantains, smoked chicken in red sauce, diced sweet potatoes, whitefish and sausage, he sticks to coy conversation. Whether about his country’s fraught presidential election (“It’s going to be tough for both parties”) or his cement company’s long-delayed overseas listing (“Maybe next year”), he has little to say. On one subject, though, he is always articulate. “Nigeria is one of the best kept secrets,” Dangote says. “A lot of foreigners are not investing because they’re waiting for the right time. There is no right time.”
Nigeria does provide fertile opportunity for vast wealth. As evidence, look no further than Dangote’s No. 67 rank on the World’s Billionaires List and his $14.7 billion fortune – mostly from three majority stakes in publicly traded cement, sugar and four companies. And he doesn’t arrive here alone. In another dramatic sign of his country’s emergence, Nigeria has overtaken South Africa on FORBES’ 50 Richest in Africa ranking. Thirteen Nigerians earned spots in 2014, including a trio of new billionaires.
Dangote and these other Nigerians power Africa’s largest economy. The drop in crude prices prompted the oil rich country’s stock index to plunge 40% last year, taking Dangote’s net worth down in lockstep – no surprise, since his companies account for almost a third of the nation’s benchmark index (his $10.3 billion drop in net worth was the world’s largest last year). But the underlying fundamentals are strong. From 2010 to 2013, Nigerian GDP expanded by an average of 5% a year. (It now totals some $500 billion, or a third larger than South Africa.) Even with the oil glut, forecasters believe this year’s growth will top 5%. In fact, according to a widely cited Citigroup report, economists expect Nigeria to have among the fastest average annual GDP growth in the world between 2010 and 2050.
There are other reasons for international interest as well. In the shadow of rising Islamic militancy, which has destabilized the Middle East and now threatens to do the same to parts of Africa, President Obama recently issued an executive order tasking US business executives with strengthening trade ties to sub-Saharan Africa (the council includes heavy hitters from Wal-Mart, G.E. and McKinsey).
Prior to that, in May 2014, he dispatched Penny Pritzker to Nigeria, the first visit by a Commerce Secretary in two decades. America’s foreign direct investment in Nigeria reached a continent-leading $8.2 billion in 2012, the last year for which statistics are available. Overall US-Nigerian trade was $9.8 billion last year. Nigeria sells far less oil to America these days – it exported $2 billion of the black stuff last year as the US’ tenth-largest supplier – so most of that trade comes through other goods and services.
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Keeping Nigeria successful is critical. The country is already Africa’s most populous, with more than 170 million people, and that figure will swell to 210 million by 2020. By 2050, Nigeria is forecast to overtake the United States (440 million to 400 million). Yet a majority of the people subsist on less than $1.25 a day. About half are illiterate; most are very young (the country’s median age is 18.3). And 50% of rural Nigeria lacks access to clean drinking water. It’s hard to imagine the government coming to grips with it all, even if oil prices recover. Nigeria consistently ranks in the bottom quarter of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to Transparency International, and is proving a feckless pursuer of the Boko Haram thugs terrorizing the northeast.
All of which makes Dangote – well connected, wildly wealthy and ready to do business – an increasingly important player on the world stage. “Anyone doing business in Africa,” says David Rubenstein, the cofounder of the Carlyle Group and a fellow billionaire, “knows Dangote.”
The roots of Dangote’s rise lie 150 miles south of the Sahara in his hometown of Kano, Nigeria’s second largest city. A dusty metropolis, Kano has been a trade center and commercial hub since its establishment in the 10th century, thanks to its strategic location on the edge of the vast desert. Egyptian perfumes, incense, inks and mirrors dominated at first, then leather goods. The camel caravans became lucrative enough to fight over; wars broke out with neighboring kingdoms. When the British arrived in the late 1800s, Kano was West Africa’s most important business center.
Under British rule, Sanusi Dantata, Dangote’s grandfather, grew rich trading commodities like grain oats and rice, and ranked as one of Kano’s wealthiest citizens. Dantata insisted on personally raising his grandson – not an unusual arrangement in northern Nigerian culture – and instilled a businessman’s mind-set in Dangote at a young age. At the age of eight, he turned allowance into startup capital. “I would use it to buy sweets, and I would give them to some people to sell, and they would bring me the profit,” Dangote says. “When you are raised by an entrepreneurial parent or grandparent you pick that aspiration. It makes you be much more aggressive – to think anything is possible.”
The country was growing up, too. Post-colonial instability, including countless coups and a civil war in the 1960s, was eclipsed by an oil boom in the 1970s. During that decade, the economy grew 18% annually, with many of the spoils going to well-connected elites. Despite the explosion of revenue, the World Bank still considered Nigeria – along with countries such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Chad and Mali – as “low income,” a candidate for international aid.
Dangote, a Muslim, attended Al-Azhar University in Cairo and studied business. After graduation, he asked his grandfather for permission to move to Lagos. A $500,000 loan from his uncle set up 21-year-old Dangote as a trader of rice, sugar and cement. He was well capitalized and a naturally talented trader. He imported sugar from Brazil and rice from Thailand and sold them locally at a huge mark-up. At his height, he says, he was pocketing $10,000 in profit a day. “Things were quite good,” he says. “It allowed us to create an awful lot of cash.”
He also worked the politicians. According to a State Department cable unearthed by WikiLeaks, Dangote “held exclusive import rights in sugar, cement, and rice, using such advantages to do volume business and undercut competitors.” Dangote flatly denies this.
Dangote’s success landed him firmly on America’s radar. A 1994 diplomatic cable singled him out as a businessman to know in Nigeria and drew attention to his clan’s homes in Kano, Lagos, London and Atlanta. The State Department report also highlighted the annual family vacation to the States.
A 1995 trip to Brazil convinced him to shift from trading to manufacturing. Why continue to play middleman when he could make the stuff in Nigeria instead and pocket even more profit? His resolve was strengthened in 1999, when Nigeria held its first democratic presidential election in six years, choosing a bespectacled former military ruler and chicken farmer named Olusegun Obasanjo, whom Dangote had known since 1981. As a key part of his platform, Obasanjo had pledged to protect and promote domestic industry.
That’s all Dangote needed to hear. Dangote Sugar started in 2000 and quickly expanded the annual production capacity of its refinery at Lagos’ Apapa Port to 1.44 million tons, enough to satisfy 90% of national demand. By the time Dangote Sugar debuted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2007, sales had quadrupled to $450 million. The four firms, which began in 1999 and also produces pasta and noodles, followed a similar trajectory. It began with a single mill, tripled revenue to $270 million, increased capacity eightfold to 1.5 million tons – then joined Dangote Sugar on the NSE in 2008, the same year Dangote became the first Nigerian on FORBES’  World’s Billionaires list, at No. 334. In 2005, Dangote secured a $480 million loan led by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation – Nigerian banks didn’t have the ability, or the stomach, to put up the cash alone – and agreed to plunk down $320 million of his own money to build a cement factory. Dangote Cement listed on the NSE in 2010 as a $1.3 billion-in-sales company. The three companies today do a combined $3 billion in revenue; while Dangote Flour operates at a loss and Dangote Sugar’s net margin falls in line with Brazilian peer Cosan, the cement company is wildly profitable, with a margin of 52% – about double that of close competitor LaFarge Africa.
Obasanjo, re-elected in 2003, worked overtime to ensure that any Dangote challenger who entered the market did so with a significant handicap. At the time Dangote’s sugar and four companies went public, raw sugar was taxed 12 times less than refined sugar, wheat six times less than flour. Dangote Cement prospered from restrictive licenses. The companies retain a vice-like grip on their industries today, controlling at least half of the cement and sugar markets and about 25% of four.
“When Obasanjo took over, he took guys with him,” says a Nigerian belonging to the country’s overlapping circle of business and political elites. “He gave them a leg up.”
Last August, as the Islamic State overran northern Iraq and Boko Haram was declaring its own caliphate in Nigeria, the White House held a US-Africa trade summit in Washington, DC. A highlight was the announcement of a $5 billion fund backed by Wall Street billionaire Steve Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group – and Dangote. They plan to invest in infrastructure companies throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
“We can do well as investors, and the countries will do well,” Schwarzman says. “We’re aware that operating in Africa isn’t as easy as many other places. You have to have a very strong local partner, and we were lucky enough to find Aliko. He’s done a remarkable job.”
Rubenstein, of the Carlyle Group, sought out Dangote as well when raising money for his firm’s first sub-Sahara-focused fund in 2012. Dangote ultimately invested in the $700 million fund.
“His name carries a great deal of weight,” Rubenstein says. “If you say he’s an investor with you that carries a lot of weight. He’s helped us.”
The Carlyle fund has so far invested in five companies, including a $147 million deal last November for Nigeria-based Diamond Bank, a retail lender.
It’s all part of Dangote’s fast-rising international profile. He’s a Davos regular, and appeared with Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s current president, on a panel about investment potential in Africa at the 2014 World Economic Forum. Even four years ago, he was there making a familiar pitch: “Don’t give any more aid to Africa,” he said. Invest with local partners instead. “You will make money, and we’ll make money, and it’s better for everyone.”
But it is not in Dangote’s nature to rely on others to prosper. Mostly, he relies on himself.
He trusts few others with real power at his companies, often making decisions with little more than gut feeling, says a former top executive.
“Ultimately all the decisions sit with the boss, Dangote, rather than the senior management,” the executive says.
Self-reliance and a supremely healthy ego blend seamlessly into a cult of personality at Dangote’s firms. Portraits of him hang on the walls. The average Dangote employee seems to virtually worship him.
“I’m going to be a big man, I’m going to be the next Dangote,” a lab technician at the one of the cement plants says over and over again until his sentiment is recorded on paper. A lieutenant warns that Dangote will walk out of a meeting if it starts even a minute late.
But Dangote is hardly the hermetic workaholic (“I don’t think I’ll ever retire”) he puts on. “He attends more parties than anyone I know,” says Jim Ovia, a banker and close friend. One Sunday last month found Dangote on his yacht – christened Mariya after his mother – and then flying to Geneva on Monday to see his grandchildren. Later that week, he met first with the French general counsel and then with Davido, Nigeria’s biggest pop star.
Another recent social call: breakfast with former president Obasanjo, then onto Abuja to meet the current president. Dangote has good reason to keep up with Jonathan, whose government still enforces Obasanjo-era high tariffs on imports that compete with Dangote’s key products. Indeed, the State Department has come to see Dangote as completely inseparable from the Nigerian government.
“But without him a lot of people wouldn’t have jobs,” says a former US diplomat in Africa. “And Nigeria would be weaker.”
Jonathan’s reign may soon end: He faces a surprisingly strong challenger in this March’s presidential election, and Boko Haram’s unchecked bloodshed is at least partly to blame. The insurgents have killed an estimated 20,000 people, displaced more than a million and now control some 20,000 square miles within Nigeria. Jonathan’s opponent – a retired army general – is seen by his supporters as the best man to finally defeat the terrorists. For Dangote, the upheaval has meant lower demand for his cement (“There are places in the north where no one is thinking of building a home,” one Dangote executive says), and he cut cement prices twice last year, most recently by 14% in November. But whether it’s Jonathan or someone else ruling Nigeria, observers find it difficult to believe that anyone would shut him out of the presidential palace. He’s simply too important to the economy.
Oil represents another big play. He is busy building a refinery some 40 minutes by car outside central Lagos. He explains with uncharacteristic glee that the recent drop in prices will actually make construction easier. His suppliers will be desperate… and easy pickings. “We will be the only ones around,” he says. “We will carry a big knife and cut them on prices.”
The refinery, Dangote says, can be profitable even at $50 to $70 a barrel. Raw crude for the refinery will come from multiple suppliers. If all goes according to plan, it’ll produce 650,000 barrels a day – a variety of gas, diesel and jet fuel. Dangote would basically walk away with a monopoly on refined oil in the country: The four Nigerian National Petroleum refineries are viewed as corrupt to the point of non-functioning.
To make it happen, Dangote plans to invest some $10 billion to $11 billion in the project and an adjacent petrochemical plant, with at least $6.75 billion in debt financing. Dangote threw a big celebration the day he signed the loan terms at the Hilton in Abuja. Guests included state governors, bank executives and, naturally, the president.
Terraforming is almost complete on the refinery’s 10-square-mile site – a jungle swamp now turned into a sandy expanse. A drive-through reveals a few stick huts, the last remnants of native villages that were there before Dangote arrived. Dangote executives promise the government has compensated the displaced natives well. As a stream of black Dangote trucks pass – one with a full bed of armed guards – a woman scurries inside a hut and shoots back a dark look.
The convoy pulls to a halt on a palm-tree-lined beach, a tropical paradise more suited to multimillion-dollar condos than refining petrochemicals. It’s a goner, though, the future home of another Dangote empire.
“The refinery will start in 2018 if we finish on time,” Dangote says, optimistic as always. “By that time all the dead bodies will have been removed from the street. All the trouble will be gone.”

The Gatekeeper  To Growth

Africa billionaires are lining up to put their money where their mouth is in the fight against Ebola.
At least five FORBES AFRICA cover millionaires are putting up to $50 million to fight the disease. It’s being seen as Africa solving its
own problems.
The millionaires include: Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote of Dangote Group; Strive Masiyiwa, the Founder and Chairman of global telecommunications group Econet Wireless; Patrice Motsepe, the Founder and Executive Chairman of African Rainbow Minerals; Jim Ovia, Chairman and Co-Founder of Zenith Bank and Mohammed Dewji, the CEO of Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited.
The fund, called the Business-to-Rescue Fund, was launched on November 8  at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, the first meeting between the AU and the Africa’s private sector.
“Africa is becoming conscious of synergies that exist between entrepreneurship and development and Econet Wireless Group has been involved in the fight against Ebola as early as April,” says Masiyiwa.
Masiyiwa said business was affected by everything that threatens life in the African economy.
“Our focus is the economy and well-being of our generation. The African people will not allow Ebola to persist like the HIV/Aids pandemic.”
Kola Karim, the Managing Director and CEO of Shoreline Energy International, says leading billionaires have set up a benchmark fund of between $30 million to $50 million.
“It’s unfortunate that the Ebola has caused this much pain without a quick response both from governments and businesses. It is the responsibility of the governments and the private sector to make interventions when serious problems like Ebola attack the region,” says Karim.
Political analyst at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for the Study of Democracy, Gideon Chitanga, says entrepreneurs are playing a role of corporate social responsibility.
“Africa has seen a surge in the number of billionaires in the past decade and it is time that these billionaires start giving back to communities where they are generating their wealth from,” says Chitanga.

Tag: Aliko Dangote

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA