Nigeria’s billionaire businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has significantly moved up in the world billionaires’ ranking, as he emerged 64th richest person in the world.
In its annual ranking of wealthiest people in the world, Bloomberg noted that Dangote now has an estimated networth of $16.6 billion and has risen from his previous ranking of 103rd.
Dangote, who remains the richest man in Africa for the 8th year in succession, was the only Nigerian on the list of the top 500 world billionaires.
Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, remains the richest in the world with $136 billion, while Bill Gates and Warren Buffett followed as second and third respectively with $98.4 billion and $83 billion.
There are only five Africans on the Bloomberg list of the world’s top 500 billionaires, with Dangote topping the group.
The other four Africans included Nicky Oppenheimer of South Africa, who was ranked No. 216 with an estimated worth of $7.05 billion; Johann Rupert of South Africa (ranked No. 225 with an estimated worth of $6.92 billion) and Natie Kash of South Africa (ranked No. 263 with an estimated worth of $6.10 billion).
The fifth and last African on the list of 500 HNW individuals was Naguib Sawiris of Egypt, ranked No. 331 with an estimated fortune of $5.12 billion.