Abdul Samad Rabiu, the chairman of BUA Group, has risen in the rankings of Forbes 2023 World Billionaire list, closing in on overtaking the third richest man in Africa, Nicky Oppenheimer. Rabiu’s net worth has jumped from $1.6 billion in 2019 to $8.2 billion in April 2023, and he now stands as the 249th richest person in the world. Meanwhile, Aliko Dangote retains his position as the wealthiest person of African descent in the world, with a net worth of around $14.2 billion. Mike Adenuga, the third Nigerian on the African billionaire’s list, has dropped from $7.3 billion in 2022 to $6.1 billion. These are the only three Nigerians that made the list.
Forbes has released its comprehensive list of the world’s billionaires for 2023, which includes 2,460 individual billionaires globally. The 25 richest people in the world are worth a collective $2.1 trillion, down a combined $200 billion from $2.3 trillion in 2022. Luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault’s net worth surged by $53 billion to $211 billion since last year, a bigger gain than anyone on the planet, to climb to the number one spot for the first time ever on the rise of share in his company, LVMH.
Abdul Samad Rabiu, who is essentially into cement, sugar, and real estate, is building sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest refinery and petrochemicals plant in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria. Meanwhile, Aliko Dangote is easily the largest cement producer in Africa and has his hands in other businesses, including pastries, sugar, and other areas of manufacturing. Mike Adenuga, on the other hand, has moved up and down the wealthiest’ scale, dropping from $7.3 billion in 2022 to $6.1 billion.
The Forbes World Billionaire list is a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and exchange rates from March 10, 2023. Some people become richer or poorer within days of publication. Forbes lists individuals rather than multigenerational families who share fortunes, though wealth belonging to a billionaire’s spouse and children is included if that person is the founder of the fortune. For non-founders, Forbes previously listed couples and family members together in certain cases. This year, shared fortunes were separated into individual list members, marked “split family fortune.”
According to Forbes, they value a variety of assets, including private companies, real estate, art, and more. They don’t pretend to know each billionaire’s private balance sheet, though some provide it. When documentation isn’t supplied or available, Forbes discount fortunes. One of the surprise names on the list is 90-year-old Nathan Kirsh from the tiny African country of Swaziland, who is believed to be into real estate, retail, and fashion, and worth $6.5 billion. He is now the 6th ranked African billionaire, above Mike Adenuga. It is the first time he has been featured as an African billionaire.
