TheCable

Forbes, revered financial magazine, says there are only three dollar-billionaires left in Nigeria; Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man; Folorunsho Alakija, the world’s second richest black woman, and Mike Adenuga, founder of Globacom.

Via its 2017 rich list, Forbes upheld Dangote as Africa’s richest man, despite losing nearly $3 billion to devaluation of the Nigerian naira.

Femi Otedola of Forte Oil, and Abdulsamad Rabiu, founder of BUA Group, fell of the billionaire list due to the the fall in oil prices and devaluation of the naira.

“While Otedola fell off the list as a result of the plunging share price of his oil company, Forte Oil, a devaluation of the Nigerian currency, the Naira, was responsible for Rabiu’s ousting,” Forbes said.

Alakija and Oprah Winfrey, American media mogul, are the only black female billionaires on the list, as the number of black billionaires shrank from 12 in 2016 to 10 in 2017.

In 2016, the Nigerians who made the list were Adenuga ($10 billion), Otedola ($1.8 billion), Alakija ($1.6 billion) and Rabiu ($1.1 billion), and they came in at 103, 1,011, 1,121 and 1,577 respectively.

The only Nigerians left on the list

In 2017 however, Dangote ($12.2 billion), Adenuga ($5.8 billion) and Alakija ($1.6 billion) came in at 105, 250, and 1,290 on the global ranking.

The rankings also show that Dangote and Adenuga remain richer than US President Donald Trump, who  lost about $1 billion in the last year — three times less than what Dangote lost.

Alakija beat Mo Ibrahim, Africa’s “leadership” billionaire, and Michael Jordan, one of the world’s finest basketballer, to the 1,290 spot. With $1.1 billion, Ibrahim came in at 1,795, while  Jordan clinched the 1,567 spot with $1.3 billion.

On the global scene, Bill Gates ($86 billion)  retained the number one spot, trailed by Warren Buffet ($75.6 billion) and Jeff Bezos ($72.8 billion).

Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook, added more $11 billion to his fortune within the last year,  and now is  the fifth richest man in the world, at $56 billion.

The youngest billionaire in the world for the second year running is 20-year-old Alexandra Andresen, a Norwegian heiress, who inherited $1.2 billion from her father, Johan Andresen in 2016.