South African billionaire now richest person in Africa after Dangote’s wealth drops by $2.80bn

Aliko Dangote is no longer the richest man in Africa, as South African billionaire, Johann Rupert, displaces him as number one on Africa’s richest list.

According to Forbes Billionaire Ranking seen on Sunday, Dangote’s net worth has dropped by 20.7% amid the naira devaluation implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Ripples Nigeria previously reported that CBN devalued the naira, which caused the value of the Nigerian currency to drop by 40.5% since the devaluation took place last week Wednesday.

The naira to dollar exchange rate closed Friday’s trading with N663.04/$1, up from N471.67/$1 on Tuesday, as a result of the devaluation.

Amid the decline in the value of the naira, which is the denomination Dangote’s wealth is based on, the Nigerian billionaire fell to the second position on Africa’s richest list, while Rupert took the first spot.

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Dangote’s wealth dropped by $2.80 billion to $10.7 billion, from $13.5 billion, costing him the richest man position for the first time since 2008, when he debuted on the Forbes Billionaire Index.

Meanwhile, Rupert became the richest man in Africa after his net worth increased by $1.3 billion from $10.7 billion to $13.5 billion.

Although, according to Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Dangote remains the richest man in Africa with $16.8 billion, recording a year-to-date loss of $1.86 billion.

Rupert was placed on the second spot with a net worth of $13.6 billion, with a year-to-date gain of $2.67 billion.

Note that Forbes and Bloomberg use different methodologies to arrive at the richest man in the world or Africa list, hence the difference in net worth and position of Dangote and Rupert.

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