Merali makes it to Forbes Africa’s 40 Richest

By David Odongo

Naushad Merali is the only Kenyan in the second annual Forbes Africa’s 40 Richest. In this year’s edition, the moguls’ combined net worth, now $72.9 billion, is up 12% over last year.

Naushad Merali’s Sameer Group operates in construction, agriculture, information technology, telecom and finance. Three of the group’s units are listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

Ranked 39^th in the Forbes Africa’s 40 Richest list, Forbes estimates his net worth at $410 million.

Ten newcomers join the ranks, including, for the first time, two women.

For the second year running, Nigerian business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is still africa’s richest man with a networth of $12 billion from $10.1 billion in November 2011.

He is also the 76th on the list of billionaires in the world.

According to Forbes, most of Alhaji Dangote’s net worth lies in publicly-traded Dangote Cement, which operates in 14 African countries.

Nicky Oppenheimer of South Africa, again, emerged the second richest, with a $6.4 billion fortune, down $100 million from the previous year.

Notable newcomers include the list’s first two women: Folorunsho Alakija of Nigeria, whose joins due to her stake in the prolific Agbami oil field; and Isabel dos Santos of Angola, an entrepreneur, investor and daughter of that country’s president. 

South Africa’s Desmond Sacco debuts as a billionaire thanks to his shares in mining concern Assore, which he chairs. Another South African newcomer: Koos Bekker, who since 1997 has turned media group Naspers into a true multinational firm, taking neither a salary nor a bonus along the way. His $450 million net worth lies mostly in vested Naspers options.

South Africa, the continent’s economic giant, is home to 12 of Africa’s 40 richest, followed by Nigeria, with 11. Egypt comes next, with 8 list members, and Morocco with 5.  It is perhaps no surprise that the overwhelming majority of Africa’s 40 Richest come from the countries with the largest stock exchanges.

The wealthiest hail from 8 countries –up from six last year. The two new countries represented are Angola (Isabel dos Santos) and Tanzania (Said Salim Bakhresa).

Cairo is home to more of Africa’s 40 Richest than any other city – with 8 list members. Thirty-two fortunes are self-made; 19 people have net worths higher than a year ago, while 10 have fortunes that dropped in value. 

The average age is 63 –up from an average of 61 last year. The minimum net worth required to make the list of richest Africans was $400 million, up from $250 million in 2011.

Africa is perhaps best known for its abundant natural resources, but its 40 richest operate in an array of industries, bolstered by a growing consumer sector. Just 4 of the 40 draw their net worth from oil.

Ten, by contrast, have diversified fortunes, either through ownership of a conglomerate (like Egypt’s Mansours) or ownership of assets in diverse realms, like Kenya’s Naushad Merali. Six built their wealth in the financial industry.

Top fashion designer, Chief (Mrs) Folorunsho Alakija, one of the two women on the list, ranks 24th with a net worth of $600 million from her efforts in the oil sector.

Also on 24th is the 73-year-old former Nigerian Defence Minister, General Theophilus Danjuma, with a net worth of $600 million from the oil sector, while the 68-year old former banker and Honey Well Group founder, Oba Otudeko, ranks 25th with a net worth of $575 million.

At the 27th position is Mohammed Indimi with a net worth of $550 million from the oil and gas sector.

At 82, O.B. Lulu-Briggs also makes the list on the 31st spot, with a net worth of $500 million from the oil sector, while on the 37th position is Sani Bello, former Nigerian military governor from Kano State and a one-time ambassador to Zimbabwe, with a net worth of $425 million.

Standing tall at the end of the list is Hakeem Belo-Osagie, the 57-year-old Harvard-trained petroleum economist, with an estimated $400 million net worth from the oil sector.

-Adapted from Forbes Magazine.