Dangote Retains Ranking in Forbes Rich List

His fellow Nigerian on the list last year, Mr. Femi Otedola, is off the list this year but sent a goodwill message to Dangote.
Dangote ranked 463 in a list of 500. He was ranked 261 last year, while Otedola was placed 601.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates was displaced from the first position by Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim.

Slim has a net worth wealth of $53.5 billion while Gates’ wealth stands at $53.0 billion. Gates is followed by American investor, Warren Buffet, who is worth $47 billion.
On Dangote, Forbes noted that the commodities which keep the businessman afloat remained strong despite Nigeria’s financial meltdown.

“Stocks of his sugar and flour companies are both up in the past year. Meanwhile, stake in Benue Cement has doubled, helped by demand from China. Dangote now expanding cement operations in Senegal and Zambia,” the magazine said, adding that he overcame negative reports about debts owed banks and share price fixing allegations to become the newly installed President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange last August.

Forbes also wrote that Dangote settled row with businessman Otedola who fell off the billionaires list this year.
“Dangote began career as a trader; built his Dangote Group into a conglomerate with interests in sugar, flour milling, salt processing, cement manufacturing, textiles, real estate, and oil and gas,” the magazine wrote.

In his goodwill message to Dangote, Otedola said: “I am very happy that my friend and brother Alhaji Aliko Dangote made the list, at least he has kept the African flag flying. I congratulate him and hope that in the very near future more Nigerians and indeed Africans will make the list.”

Placing 4th and 5th on the list are Indians, Mukesh Ambani and Laxmi Mittal.
Ambani bagged the 4th spot with a net worth of a massive $29 billion as compared to last years 7th place and $19.5 billion dollar net worth.
Steel tycoon Mittal has also moved up from being ranked 8th to round off this year’s top 5 with net worth of $28.7 billion as against last years $19.3 billion.

The listing included the youngest self-made billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg. He is the co-founder of the famous social networking site Facebook.
He has the net worth of $4 billion as his personal wealth and ranked 212 on the list. He is only 25 years old.

Other Africans who made the list are Naguib Sawiris from Egypt who ranked number one in Africa and 62 in the world with $10 billion wealth, Nicky Oppenheimer of South Africa ranked number two and 158 on the list with $5 billion wealth.

Others are Onsi Sawiris (Egypt) also ranked number two and world’s number 158 with his wealth standing at $5 billion and Johann Rupert of South Africa ranking number three and world number 194 with wealth worth $4.3 billion.

Also Samih Sawiris of Egypt got an African ranking of number six and 664 on the list with his wealth standing at $1.6 billion.
The annual Forbes exercise points to the rise of emerging economies at the expense of the US. There are only three Americans among the top ten.

Aside the two Indians and the top ranked Mexican, the other four places are shared by billionaires from France, Brazil, Spain and Germany in places seven to ten.

The Forbes 2000 list a decade ago had six Americans and a Canadian in the top ten, none from India and other BRIC countries.
Although US still dominates the list overall, making up more than 40 per cent of the 1011 billionaires Forbes counted worldwide in 2010, there was the inevitable lament about the financial superpower in decline.

“America loses bragging rights,” the New York Daily News moaned, while maintaining that Gates and Buffett shared an admirable excuse for being also-rans: They gave away billions in philanthropy. BRIC countries accounted for nearly 200 billionaires with Russia topping the list with 67 billionaires, China with 65, and Brazil 17. Forbes counted 53 Indian billionaires, including three Indian-Americans, making up just over 5% of the list.

There are nine Indians in Forbes Top 100 billionaires with a wealth of nearly $140 billion. China’s 65 billionaires are more evenly spread out; the richest mainland Chinese, beverage king Zong Qinghou, is worth only $7 billion and ranks 103rd.

Indians in the top 100 include Azim Premji (28th with $17 billion), Anil Ambani (36th with $13.7 billion), Shashi and Ravi Ruia (40th with $13 billion), Savitri Jindal (44th with $12.2 billion), Kushan Pal Singh (74th with $9 billion), Kumar Birla (86th with $7.9 billion), Sunil Mittal (87th with $7.8 billion).