2024: South African Billionaire, Johann Rupert Surpasses Dangote As Africa’s Richest Man

2024: South African Billionaire, Johann Rupert Surpasses Dangote As Africa’s Richest Man

According to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires ranking platform, Johann Rupert, a prominent South African business mogul, has emerged as Africa’s richest man for the year 2024, surpassing Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote.

This shift in rankings was determined by the day-to-day fluctuations in the net worth of these high-net-worth individuals.

Forbes revealed that Dangote, the founder of the Dangote Group conglomerate, experienced a decline in his net worth from $13.5 billion in 2023 to $9.7 billion as of January 4, 2024.

This indicates a significant loss of $3.8 billion. Consequently, Dangote moved down to the second position on the list.

On the other hand, Rupert’s net worth also experienced a decline from $10.7 billion in 2023 to $10 billion during the same period in 2024.

Despite this decrease, Rupert managed to retain the top position as Africa’s richest individual.

Johann Rupert serves as the chairman of Compagnie Financiere Richemont, a Swiss luxury goods firm renowned for its brands Cartier and Montblanc.

The company was established in 1998 through the spinoff of assets owned by Rembrandt Group Limited (now Remgro Limited), which was founded by Anton Rupert, Johann’s father, in the 1940s.

Johann Rupert holds a 7% stake in Remgro, a diversified investment firm that he also chairs, and owns 26% of Reinet, an investment holding company based in Luxembourg.

It is worth noting that Rupert is known for his active opposition to plans for fracking in the Karoo, a region of South Africa where he possesses land.

This showcases his involvement in environmental and conservation issues.

In addition to the ranking shifts between Dangote and Rupert, notable changes occurred for other billionaires as well..

Abdul Samad Rabiu, the chairman of BUA Group, and Mike Adenuga, the chairperson of Globacom, also experienced shifts in their positions on the billionaire list. Adenuga’s wealth declined from $6.3 billion in 2023 to $3.1 billion, causing him to drop from the 6th to the 10th position.

On the other hand, Rabiu’s wealth increased from $7.6 billion to $5.7 billion, leading him to move from 4th to 6th place on the list.

Below is the updated Forbes ranking of the top ten billionaires in Africa for the year 2024:

1. Johann Rupert & family – with a net worth of $10 billion.

2. Aliko Dangote – with a net worth of $9.7 billion.

3. Nicky Oppenheimer & family – with a net worth of $8.3 billion.

4. Nassef Sawiris – with a net worth of $7.3 billion.

5. Nathan Kirsh – with a net worth of $5.8 billion.

6. Abdulsamad Rabiu – with a net worth of $5.7 billion.

7. Issad Rebrab & Family – with a net worth of $4.6 billion.

8. Mohamed Mansour – with a net worth of $3.6 billion.

9. Naguib Sawiris – with a net worth of $3.3 billion.

10. Mike Adenuga – with a net worth of $3.1 billion.