By Abiola Olawale
South African businessman Johann Rupert has deposed Nigeria business mogul and Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Industries, Aliko Dangote, to claim the title of Africa’s richest man.
Rupert inched a little higher than Dangote, a report by Bloomberg’s Billionaire index revealed.
According to the report, Rupert, with a current net worth of $13.6 billion is two spots higher than Dangote who also has a current net worth of $13.6 billion.
Rupert is listed as the world’s 154th richest person, while Dangote is listed in the 156th position.
In the report, Bloomberg explained that the difference between these two titans is their performances so far.
Breakdown of the report revealed that Dangote’s last change in valuation came in at +$27 million, while his year-to-date (YTD) change was a staggering -1.53 billion. For Rupert, his last change in valuation came in at +$134 million, while his year-to-date (YTD) change was a staggering +$1.21 billion.
This was said to be the main reason Rupert is a few positions higher than Dangote, despite boasting the exact same net worth.
It was also reported last week that Dangote, during the year leading up to July 29th, so far has lost over $1 billion of his net worth.
This is despite the fact that Dangote opened an oil refinery last year which many expected to significantly increase Dangote’s earnings.
However, since its establishment, the refinery has been plagued with difficulties, reaching the point where the Nigerian billionaire proposed to give up control of his multibillion-dollar oil refinery to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
