The president of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has retained his position as the richest person in Africa with a net worth of $13.9 billion, according to the 2024 Forbes list of 20 of Africa’s Richest billionaires.

While Dangote retained the top spot, his ally, Femi Otedola, who is Chairman of Geregu Power Plc, ranked among the 20 richest persons in Africa.

Otedola last appeared on the Forbes Africa list in 2017 when he held a controlling stake in Forte Oil.

Forbes in its list released yesterday said the fortunes of Africa’s wealthiest people rebounded slightly in the past 12 months, reversing the decline in their fortunes from a year ago.

On Otedola, Forbes said, “Otedola phased out his oil investments during a government push to privatise the country’s energy business in 2013, using a Forte subsidiary to purchase Geregu, a public power generation plant.

“He owned about 90 per cent of Geregu when it was listed on the Nigerian exchange’s Main Board in 2022, but has since sold shares to institutional investors, which include Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa and the State Grid Corporation of China.

“His 73 per cent stake in Geregu is worth more than $850 million, about three-quarters of his $1.1 billion fortune, which puts him at No. 20 on the list.

“After taking Otedola’s comeback into account, Africa’s billionaires dipped slightly, but still fared better than the decline of four per cent last year, when African markets faded in sync with equity values around the world.

“This year, African equities joined a late-year global rally, with the S&P All Africa index rising 10 per cent in the final two months of 2023 but still ended down more than 9% in the 12 months through January 8, 2024,” Forbes stated.

Below is the list of the top 20 richest billionaires in Africa

1. Aliko Dangote – $13.9 billion

2. Johann Rupert & family – $10.1 billion

3. Nicky Oppenheimer & family – $9.4 billion

4. Nassef Sawiris – $8.7 billion

5. Mike Adenuga – $6.9 billion

6. Abdulsamad Rabiu – $5.9 billion

7. Naguib Sawiris -$3.8 billion

8. Mohammed Mansour – $3.2 billion

9. Roos Bekker – $2.7 billion

10. Patrice Motsepe – $2.7 billion

11. Issad Rebrab & family – $2.5 billion

12. Mohammed Dewji – $1.8 billion

13. Strive Masiyiwa – $1.8 billion

14. Aziz Akhannouch & family – $1.7 billion

15. Othman Benjelloun & family – $1.4 billion

16. Youseff Mansour – $1.3 billion

17. Yassen Mansour – $1.2 billion

18. Christoffel Wiese – $1.2 billion

19. Michiel Le Roux – $1.1 billion

20. Femi Otedola – $1.1 billion