Who is the richest man in Africa?

There are currently 22 billionaires in Africa but the richest of them all is a Nigerian.

According to Forbes, Aliko Dangote of Nigeria tops the list as the richest man in Africa (2025) for the 14th year in a row with an estimated net worth of $23.9 billion, up from $13.9 billion a year ago. This is largely attributed to the valuation of his oil refinery project. Globally, he ranks as the 86th richest person.

Aliko’s story isn’t the classic grass-to-grace tale we usually love. He was born with a silver spoon, one of the finest. But instead of coasting on privilege, he maximised every advantage life handed him. It wasn’t lemons he was given, it was gold, and he built an empire with it.

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How It All Started

Aliko Dangote was born on April 10, 1957, in Kano, Nigeria to a wealthy family of traders and it was in fact a $500,000 loan from his uncle that helped Dangote establish a trading firm in Lagos, focusing on importing commodities like sugar, rice, and cement. Political connections helped the young entrepreneur win “exclusive import rights in sugar, cement, and rice,” said a State Department cable unearthed by WikiLeaks.

In the late 1990s, when Nigeria’s rulers began promoting domestic industry, Dangote capitalised on the change, securing tax incentives to build a sugar mill, flour refinery and cement factory. The cement business has been especially lucrative, generating gross margins of over 60% most years. Before the opening of the refinery, publicly traded Dangote Cement, of which Dangote owns 86%, accounted for the largest piece of his fortune.

The Oil Refinery

Aliko Dangote broke the government’s oil monopoly by building the largest petroleum refinery in Africa. He began this journey in 2013 and after 11 years and $23 billion in investment, the Dangote Refinery finally began operating in 2024. The refinery is located on a sprawling 6,200-acre campus in Nigeria’s Lekki Free Zone about an hour outside Lagos. He paid over $100 million to Nigeria’s government to acquire land in that location.

The Dangote Refinery will be the seventh-largest refinery in the world by production and the biggest in Africa. Dangote, speaking about his decision to embark on the project, said:

It was the biggest risk of my life...If this didn’t work, I was dead.

Well, he didn't die and has been smiling to the back ever since. The refinery processed around 350,000 barrels of crude per day (b/d) in the second half of 2024. In January, it processed 500,000 b/d and at full capacity, a whopping 650,000 b/d!

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Dangote believes that his latest project is “a pivotal step in ensuring that Africa has the capacity to refine its own crude oil, thereby creating wealth and prosperity for its vast population.” Dangote says the refinery is part of a larger mission: He wants to make Nigeria, one of the world’s largest producers of crude, into a producer of refined petroleum products to allow it to compete with European refineries and supply gasoline to Nigerians.

The Dangote Business Empire

The Dangote Group has grown into a conglomerate with interests spanning cement manufacturing, haulage, sugar refining, salt processing, and foodstuffs, including pasta, sugar, salt, flour and wheat. Dangote Cement, in particular, stands out as Africa's largest cement producer, operating in ten countries and producing over 48 million metric tons annually. This dominance in the cement industry has been a significant contributor to Dangote's wealth.

Among his holdings are:

• Dangote Industries Ltd.

• Dangote-Bail Nigeria, Ltd.

• Dangote Cement PLC

• Benue Cement Company PLC

• Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC

• Dangote Flour Mills PLC

• Nascon Allied Industries PLC.

In addition to its holdings in Nigeria, the Dangote Group has operations in several other African countries.

Marriage and Children

While Dangote maintains a relatively private personal life, it's known that he has been married and divorced. He is a father to three daughters—Halima, Fatimah, and Mariya—who have been involved in various capacities within the Dangote Group.

Political Connections

Dangote's business success has occasionally been accompanied by scrutiny over his close ties with Nigerian political figures. Reports have suggested that his relationships with successive governments have facilitated favourable business conditions, including exclusive import rights and tax incentives.

While some view these connections as strategic business manoeuvring, others have criticised them as indicative of crony capitalism. Nonetheless, Dangote's contributions to the Nigerian economy, including substantial tax payments and employment generation, are widely acknowledged.

In 2008, Dangote made his debut on Forbes magazine’s annual list of billionaires in the world. In 2011, when Forbes launched its annual list of the 40 richest people in Africa, Dangote landed the top spot. Since then, he has routinely ranked on both lists as well as in other, similar measures of wealth in Africa and in the world.

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