Africa's wealthiest people & biggest companies - Forbes [Archive]

Tbite

June 8th, 2007, 09:40 AM

Nigeria’s Mega Businessmen...

Aliko Dangote
The chairman of Dangote Group is highly shrewd and deeply feared by his competitors. Aliko Dangote is the ultimate embodiment of the gritty mercurial instinct for which the quintessential Nigerian businessman is known. He successfully transformed a small trading business which he began in 1977 at the age of 21 to a multi-billion naira business which now spans the West African Sub-region. His businesses, which are all under the Dangote Group include foods, sugar, salt, cement, haulage, flour concerns among others. Presently, Dangote dominates the sugar market in Nigeria as he is the major supplier of sugar to the country's soft drink industry, breweries, and confectionery industries. He is also a principal commander of salt and flour markets. He is referred to as the Al Calpone of Nigeria's manufacturing sector. A quintessential industrialist who believes firmly in wealth creation. A sugar and rice magnate, a major transporter, a former banker, an Insurance broker and a cement merchant.

By every calculation, Aliko Dangote sits atop a flourishing business empire that is growing in leap and bound. Simple, unassuming, sociable and immensely rich. Although in his 40s, he seats strong in the old economy while making significant inroads in the new economy. He is widely connected within the business and political circles. He bought over Federal Government's Shares in Benue Cement Company BCC. He maintains a domineering presence in consumables. Interestingly, he competes favourably with foreign manufacturers of similar products for the Nigerian market. He has built factories and established production plants across the country for the various brands, from spaghetti, to cement, to salt, flour and sugar. His company is also into the production of Gum-Arabic which is used as adhesive. But that is not all, Dangote Group is also into textile production. He recent acquired majority Shares in Savannah Sugar company in Adamawa. He is presently under taking a simultaneous construction of three cement factories in Kogi, Cross River and Ogun states which on completion will make the country self-sufficient in cement production.

Hardly one to grant interviews, the man's annual turn according to close sources is the region of N150 billion. By appointing him a member of Nigeria Investment and Promotion Council, President Obasanjo may finally have come to terms with the young man's immense contributions to the industrial and economic growth of the country. And now wants him to make policy input to open up the environment to more people like him. And how can the business team to South Africa be complete without Aliko? The man the President would have loved to succeed him. It will be recalled that, Dangote played a prominent role in the funding of Obasanjo’s re-election which he contributed over N200 million . He doled out N50 million to the national Mosque under the aegis of friends of Obasanjo and Atiku and contributed N201 million to the presidential library project.

Femi Otedola
Femi Otedola is the billionaire owner of multi-billion naira indigenous oil giant Zenon. Zenon, which is directly ran by Otedola is the dominant force in diesel business among oil marketing concerns. It supplies this all important fuel used to power the generating sets of most Nigerian industries to nearly all the major manufacturing firms in the country. These include Dangote Group, Cadbury, Coca Cola, Nigerian Breweries, MTN, Unilever, Nestle, Guinness among others. Otedola is the son of former Lagos State governor, Sir. Michael Otedola. Otedola owns one of the largest oil storage facility which he purchased for N2.8 billion. He bought hundred brand new trucks purchased for N1.3 billion to strengthen the distributive arm of his business and acquired a massive flat bottom bunker vessel with a storage capacity of 16, 000 metric tonnes of diesel for 6.8 million dollars. Zenon owns four cargo ships. One of them is just one of four in the world and the first of its kind in Africa. He owns Atlas Shipping Agency, Swift Insurance, FO Properties Limited, FO Transport.

He is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Zenon Petroleum and Gas, the company that is currently sitting at the commanding heights of the nation's diesel and kerosene business. A firm believer in deregulation. Youthful, dynamic, untiring and master strategist to the core.

Otedola started Zenon about five years ago and within a short time seized control of the market. Today he has become the pacesetter in the downstream sector while expanding the frontiers of competition. NNPC Group Managing Director, Engr. Funso Kupoloku acknowledged this much when he said Zenon was now the company to beat in the downstream sector.

This 40-year-old son of a one time Executive Governor of Lagos State, Sir Michael Otedola, is not about to look back. He admitted that much when he declared sometime ago that he wants to build an empire.

From nowhere, Zenon is today rated among the top five companies in the country, with a turnover that will make his competitors green with envy.

But how did he do it many have asked? In an interview some two years ago he attributed his phenomenal leap to “hard-work and staying focused on what you want and going all out to get it."

He exhibited patriotic sentiments in the same interview when he said: "We are investing our money here, to create job opportunities for people. Nobody is going to take the money outside the country."

His company appeared to have fully prepared itself for the deregulation of the petroleum sector as evidenced in its purchases. Buying three cargo ships in quick succession to bring its total number of ships to four. All named after his parents and wife. MT Sir Michael (his father), MT Lady Doja (his mother), MT Nana (his wife). His latest, he named Zenon Conquest. Energy experts say Zenon's expansion is to consolidate its competitive edge in the market.

Apart from being the biggest diesel and kerosene marketer in Nigeria today, he is said to be the biggest ship owner in the country. Which partly explains his recent nomination as President of Nigeria Chambers of Shipping, a powerful and highly influential body in the maritime sector. The oil baron and shipping magnate also bought 100 brand new DAF trucks from Netherlands to strengthen his distribution arm. Zenon now boasts of a total storage capacity of more than 147,000 metric tonnes total holding of diesel making it the biggest depot owner with the largest single storage capacity in the country.

He is also the owner of Atlas Shipping Agency, Swift Insurance, FO Properties Limited, FO Transport and Seaforce Shipping Company Ltd. His appointment last year into the board of Nigeria Investment and Promotion Council, NIPC, observers believe, is the President’s vote of confidence on the young man's business abilities. It is for this that he was also nominated by the President on the team of top Nigerian businessmen to go on an investment drive to South Africa They are essentially to meet and interact with the south African business community and the South African President, President Thabo Mbeki.

On his part, Otedola contributed well over N100 million to the President’s re-election expenses. And under the aegis of friends of Obasanjo and Atiku, he contributed N25 towards the rehabilitation of the National Mosque in Abuja. He was one of the co-launcher of Obasanjo Presidential Library, where donated N200 million. He is said to have direct access to the President

Funso Lawal
Otunba Funso Lawal is the Chief Executive Officer of the Charterhouse Group, a Lagos-based consulting and financial advisory services group. He is also the chairman of the Corporate Forum, a private sector initiative that is seeking proactive ways to improve the Nigerian economy. He is a businessman with varied interests and vast experience in the energy, real estate and banking sectors. He is a former employee of Citibank.

He is said to have the president's ears and also to have made some inputs to the president's thinking on agriculture, oil, gas, manufacturing, solid minerals and tourism matters.

Nicholas Okoye
Nicholas Okoye is a top notcher at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE. He got into the NSE as a Technical Advisor to the Director General and Chief Executive Officer. His experience in advanced financial management and large scale project financing is certain to come handy during the group's operations. In the NSE he is responsible for building a Global Franchise for the exchange. This involves getting an estimated ten million Nigerians in the Diaspora to invest in the Nigerian economy. He used to be a financial consultant and global investment advisor for Merrill Lynch. He has worked as a consultant with the Nigeria’s National Investment Promotion Commission, the Anambra State Government, the Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Ministry of Commerce. He studied Applied Microbiology and Genetic Engineering at the Anambra State University of Technology graduating in 1988. After which he was at Harvard University, Boston Massachusetts USA, Global Investment Management and Technology.

Jacob Moyo Ajekigbe
Mr. Jacob Moyo Ajekigbe is the Managing Director of Nigeria's biggest bank, First Bank of Nigeria (FBN). Until 2002, he was First Bank's Executive Director, Retail and Consumer Banking. He succeeded Mr. Bernard Alonge after the latter's compulsory retirement as a result of a botched investment deal. Confidence in his ability was entrenched after the impressive performance posted by First Bank even after the N10b the bank had to set aside as a provision against the $100m exposure to the botched Investors International (London) Limited's attempt to acquire controlling interest in NITEL in 2002. Ever since First Bank has been doing well. d.

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) was immediately directed by the Federal Government to terminate sale of core investors' ownership of NITEL to IIL even as the consortium lost $131.7 million deposit (out of which about $100 million was provided by First Bank) which it paid shortly after its selection as preferred core investors to NITEL.

Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke
Dr. (Mrs.) Ndi Okereke Onyiuke is the tough but soft spoken Director-General of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE). She joined the organisation as Manager and Head of Research and Information Services Department (now Research and Infotech Department) in 1983. She rose and became DG in January 2000. Her tenure has witnessed both changes and growth in the Exchange. She is credited with turning the research section of the Exchange into a viable data centre while she also spearheaded the computerization of the Exchange in 1985. She was part of the team that created the “The Nigerian Stock Exchange” All Shares Index and started the Stock Exchange’s Authorised Clerkship Examination. She was the Chairman for the Technical Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation (TCPC) now Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE). She attended Queen’s School, Enugu, Enugu State, where she passed out with Grade 1 in her West African School Certificate Examination in 1965. She earned a First Class Honours (Magna Cum Laude) in Business Administration, Computer Sciences and Economics from Baruch College of the City University of New York in 1975.

She also has a Master of Business Administration, (MBA) from New York, Graduate School in 1977 and a Doctor of Philosophy/Doctor of Administration in Finance and Securities Market at City University Post Graduate centre, New York.

Festus Odimegwu
Festus Odimegwu is the CEO of Nigeria's biggest brewer, Nigerian Breweries Plc. Odimegwu is a stickler for excellence and a goal-getter. No sooner had he taken over at NB Plc than he undertook a modernization programme that has further lengthened the distance his company and its competitors. He was the spirit behind the partnership with Heineken that resulted in the construction of one of the world's biggest breweries in Nigeria. The brewery which is located at Enugu produces more notttles of beer than any other brewery in the continent. Odimegwu studied Chemistry at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Anambra State and he graduated in the First Class division.

An acclaimed scholar and a celebrated student who graduated with first class honours in Chemistry from the University of Nigeria (UNN), a feat yet to be beaten since the university's inception in 1960, he bagged the award of the "Best Graduating Student" of the department and faculty, he also won the "university's overall best graduating student" award for the year.

Little wonder, with such a background Odimegwu has been able to position the company in such a way that it now dominates the brewing sector of the Nigerian economy and the West African sub-region. Festus aims to turn Nigerian Breweries into a world class business. But the question he is often asked is, how can you have a world class concern in Nigeria? To him: "why not? World Class vision simply means to be the best according to international standards."

Recently, Nigerian Breweries became the first company in Nigeria to declare a profit of N14 billion in a year and in the history of corporate Nigeria to give a dividends of almost N8 billion. "We are first in everything, our ambitions are even far more than that and all these were before our modern brewery in Enugu started production on the 24th of March this year. So you can imagine what will happen when the breweries start full-scale production." The positive economic implications of this scenario can of course be de-linked with measurable national development.

Born August 7, 1953, in the Enyimba, commercial city of Aba, Festus had his Primary education in the same town. He recalls those early days when he was jack of all trades: "During my school days, I was a footballer, I was in the band. I was in the legion of Mary, I was mass server, and in short I had an active childhood. I played football on the streets, broke glasses and fought on the roads. It was an interesting life, growing up in Aba in those days."

His impressive credentials stood him out for the Chairmanship position of NIPC. The way he has steered the breweries to success is now a bench mark for new calling. Odimegwu is also on the investment team to visit South Africa and meet with Mbeki.

Tony Elumelu
His entry into the banking sector ignited a revolution that has transformed the sector and challenged old stereotypes. 10 years after he led a team that took over Standard Trust Bank, the man still dishes out fresh ideas and surprises that always seems to catch his competitors off guard. His most recent being the proposed merger of STB with United Bank for Africa, UBA. He has led the bank from merely existing to a pre-eminent position and is yet to blink.

A trained research economist, with degrees at graduate and post graduate levels. He also has the benefit of academic exposure from the business schools of Harvard, USA and Lausanne, Switzerland. His banking/financial career spanning close to two decades has also seen him occupying positions such as Area Manager, Allstates Trust Bank PLC; Executive Director, Linkage Assurance Company Limited; Founding CEO of BGL Limited and Executive Director, Merchant Bank of Commerce Limited, just before his appointment as Managing Director of Standard Trust Bank which he superintended over its turn-around. Today the bank’s rating is at an all time high. It is on the basis of his achievements that he has won the attention of the Federal Government. Elumelu is presently a member of several federal government committees, the Presidential Committee on NEPAD, the Advisory Board of the FCT and various other national committees.

STB started operations on June 4, 1990 as a commercial bank after the acquisition of the distressed Crystal Bank, with “the vision of being the ‘role model for African business through consistent achievement of superior returns for their numerous stakeholders’. Within a short while, the bank succeeded in establishing a strong network of over 86 real time on-line branches." On is balance sheet, the bank has over N74.2 billion deposit base, making it the fourth largest bank in the country in terms of deposit base and the fifth most profitable bank. STB was among the banks that were called upon by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to rescue some ailing banks sometime last year. Also last year, it acquired 51 per cent majority shares in Continental Trust Bank in the bid to redeem the fortunes of the bank. STB was among the seven banks appointed by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to become settlement banks after meeting all the criteria set out by apex bank. The settlement banks were supposed to pay collectively N72 billion collateral before the commencement of the new policy on April 1. Only recently, President Obasanjo appointed him member of the elite business committee that is to travel to South Africa to meet with President Thabo Mbeki and South African businessmen.

Jim Ovia
Jim Ovia is a co-founder and the pioneer Managing Director and Chief Executive, Zenith International Bank, Nigeria. He is also a member of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group and was recently elected President of the Nigeria Internet Group. His bank provides services in private and consumer and investment banking. From practically nowhere, he has built the bank to become the fourth most profitable bank in Nigeria in terms of a jumbo asset size of N68 billion, as well as ranks among the top four with the largest shareholders' funds of N15.674,368 billion. Total assets plus contingent liabilities is currently put at N215, 226,766 billion. With interests in e-commerce and information technology, Ovia's bank was the first Nigerian bank to register its presence on the internet. He has been at the forefront of delivering financial services electronically through the use of technology.

Only recently Zenith Bank won Central Bank's recognition and approval as one of the few settlement banks in the country. According to industry watchers, it is a testimony to the bank's successes. Steered by a man who maintains a reticent public reserve but combines vigour, hard-work and excellence in pursuit of his goal. His appointment into the Board of NIPC last year was seen as a move to tap his wealth of experience in banking and financial matters to assist in promoting the investment climate in the country.

Ovia is the pioneer President of the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), a non governmental organisation. He has over 23 years of banking experience. He joined IMB as a financial analyst in 1980 and rose to the management cadre in 1987. He headed corporate finance department of Merchant Bank of Africa, 1987 to 1990. His interest in computers was pickled in 1977 when he worked as a part-time computer operator at Baton Rouge Bank & Trust Company, Louisiana. Jim Ovia is the proprietor of University of Information and Communication Technology, Agbor, Delta State. He is a holder of the Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR).

He has a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from University of Louisiana, Louisiana in 1979 and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Southern University, Louisiana, 1977. He is also an alumnus of Executive Education of Harvard University. He is also on the President’s list of nominees of tyop businessmen on investment drive to South Africa. They are to meet South African President and top rated South African businessmen to exchange ideas and deepen the economic ties between both countries.

Waziri Mohammed
He is a senior partner in the law firm, Adebayo Mohammed and Adewunmi and a director (non-executive) of Oando Plc. His other positions include: Chairman of International Procurement Services Limited, Mothercat Limted, Nigerian Railway Corporation. He is a board member of Pacific Merchant Bank Limited, Royal United Nigeria Limited and PW Limited. He is a political “son” of the president and one of the most prominent young politicians and businessmen from Northern Nigeria.

Adegboye Olulade
He is currently chairman of Adonai-net Nigeria Limited and Marble Properties and Investment based in South Africa. Olulade is an investment banker, stockbroker and financial consultant. He is a product of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife.

Tony Ezenna
He is the chief executive officer of Orange Drugs, a major player in the pharmaceutical sector of the Nigerian economy. Orange drugs products, though imported, are household names in Nigeria today.

iluvnaija

June 8th, 2007, 09:41 AM

kk thn go the website i showed u n checkit out urself...www.nnpcgroup.com

kulani

June 8th, 2007, 09:50 AM

Kulani.

You should learn to respect facts.

If the richest Nigerian is worth $3 then let it be.

But the truth is the Richest Nigerian is Aliko Dangote. He is worth some $8 Billion dollars. And no Kulani that doesn't translate to $100 Billion dollars. Nobody is fooling anyone, we are simply asking People to acknowledge FACTS.

TBite, where did i dispute that Dangote is worth $8 billion in my posts? No where in all my posts did i argue that he is not worth that much and you cant quote me on that can you? Now show me a reputable source where i can check how much Dangote and please let it not be Nigerian newspapers!!

And again i am sure he may be worth that much but you will agree with me that so many things in Nigeria are tainted that everyone will get painted by the same brush. I for one even don't doubt that he is a billionaire that should easily make the list, but no one knows exactly what he is worth or his exact interest in the businesses he owns. Looks like even you guys here don't know for sure so how do you expect Forbes to know this? Look at NNPC, who actually knows its accounts, its accounts appears to be a big secret even to the very people of Nigeria, so much for transparency.

Tbite

June 8th, 2007, 09:58 AM

^^ Not true.

Dangote group is so large that is listed on multiple Stocks in the NSE, totalling $4Bn, the rest isListed on the London Stock Exchange.

BTW Dangote Group is the only company in Africa to be listed in such a way.

Kulani, If Dangote group shut down today, every Nigerian in Ngeria would feel the impact. His worth is not estimated, it is listed. Forbes simply chooses not to recognise Nigerians. If Dangote shut down today, there would be a shortage in Alcohol and Soft Drink Production in Nigeria. They would have to import from Benin or Cameroun. Dangote Group Powers Nigeria in so many ways.

Tbite

June 8th, 2007, 10:12 AM

Kulani The Obajana Cement Factory is worth $2.5 Billion. That as I said before is enough legitimately and Pragmatically put him on the list.

Dangote’s world is a sweet world of money, money, money. By his own admission, he makes a daily turnover of N300 million. And that is only in the sale of sugar. With N300 million, you could live a lifetime of affluence. But for Dangote, N300 million is just chicken feed. A drop in his ocean of affluence.
Mention Dangote and what comes into the mind is the man who owns Benue Cement put at $1 billion and Obajana Cement in Kogi put at $2.5 billion. Then there are other businesses like Dangote Textiles, Dansa Food Limited, Executive Jets Limited and an oil bloc to crown it all.

The Guy is made of Money.
On November 16, 2006, he went to the Stock Exchange to seek three billion shares from the public and before he could blink his eye, the project had been oversubscribed reportedly by over 300% and over N54 billion had landed in his pocket as part of the N180 billion sugar refinery project which is projected to be the biggest in Africa, second only to Brazil—the world’s leading sugar producer.

Note Kulani, that Cement is only one of man Areas that Dangote is Active in, and the Obajana Construction Factory is only one of many Steel Factories that Dangote Group own and operate. The Factory was Built under surveillance from the World Bank and the United Kingdom, so the Worth of the World's Largest Factory is very well known.:)

iluvnaija

June 8th, 2007, 10:26 AM

WELL IF U WANT A SOURCE OUTSIDE NIGERIAN NEWSPAPERS GO TO THE BBC WEBSITE AND DO A SEARCH ON DANGOTE THEY DID AN ARTICLE ON HIM AND ALSO THE DAILY INDEPENDENT ...THY HAVE BOTH ACKNOWLEDGED THT HE IS WORTH BILLIONS

9yja

June 8th, 2007, 10:30 AM

Naija you are cracking me dude. You might hate whites, but the bottom line is they have worked hard to build their empires and guess what, they are recognized in the world. Build a successful multinational with clean records that will enable it to list in the world's largest stock markets then you will be recognized too. Sam Jonah did that just next door to you in Ghana with Ashanti Goldfields and took to NYSE and he won the accolades and recognition that he deserved (simple and straightforward).

I can't comment about NNPC because i don't know much about its financial records, but i am sure if its affairs were publicly known and acknowledged, it would be listed where it belongs. Most of the companies listed on the forbes list i believe are public listed companies so that may also explain why it is not on that list if its not listed on one of the major stock exchanges in the world.
who told you i do hate whites?i won't even hesitate to marry a blonde as my 7th wife,if only she falls.:nuts:

kenyan24

June 8th, 2007, 11:12 AM

Hey Kulani, i know you can be objective why do you think there are no indegenous africans in that list.............your honest opinoin

9yja

June 8th, 2007, 12:29 PM

kulani

June 8th, 2007, 12:40 PM

Hey Kulani, i know you can be objective why do you think there are no indegenous africans in that list.............your honest opinoin

Africa's problems are many, but i will summarize my reasons in point form

- African states only got comfortable with the idea of a private sector recently (during JJ Rawlings times, he would just go and close down businesses, jail people that he thought were a threat to his government)

- No capital markets that function properly to enable a small company to raise capital to expand

- African Banking sector does not grow businesses, but only wanted to finance govt deals

- Corrupt governments that do not support local businesses with the potential to succeed through procurement. Corrupt officials give deals to clueless cronies who then bring a foreign company to do the job all the time.

- Poverty, most African countries are still poor, so it follows that the business sector tends to be small

Inertia

June 8th, 2007, 12:44 PM

This is fcking ridiculous! The nigerians on this forum seriously do not do their country any justice, if i didnt know better, and thought that everyone were like u guys i would consider the whole of nigeria to be a bunch of ignorant and naive pratts!

Seriously why on earth would forbes 'discriminate' against nigeria, wtf would they gain from that?? if you dont have a company that is big enuff to be on the list then so be it! jsut like kulani sed, eskom has a R200 billion expenditure programme ($29 billion), yet they are not on the list! They are not a public comany! it is sad that there are some extreme racist and idiotic nigerians on this forum.. instead of congratulating multinational sa companies, they make claims like
"those south african things you saw are favoured by the whites,they control rankings."
and
"Forbes are racost, they will never publish Africans! this list is innaccurate! Trash, in a word! We all know that Africa is the only place in earth that remains largely "unquantified" (apart from SA). So this list is trash!"

Just because there are no nigerians on this list doesnt mean its trash, infact if there were an abundance of nigerians i would consider it trash! What u dont understand is that just because someone claims to be a billionare doesnt mean they are. This list shows ppl who have accountable earnings and equity, not some xyz businessman in nigeria who cliams to be a billinoare!! seriously i suggest nigerians read wot u are posting b4 u do so, you are making u country look seriously bad

hsark

June 8th, 2007, 01:13 PM

man our bros sister for nigeria are getting angry over ur the ones that are fueling some sa companies not all but some .e.g mtn :) ps i see this list doesn't have companies that are 50% south african like absa sabmiller or old mutual

9yja

June 8th, 2007, 02:52 PM

"Forbes are racost, they will never publish Africans! this list is innaccurate! Trash, in a word! We all know that Africa is the only place in earth that remains largely "unquantified" (apart from SA). So this list is trash!"

why?it's because,it not by anyway truly african.:ohno:

iluvnaija

June 8th, 2007, 03:08 PM

inertia i think ur lost...nobody said any of them claimed to be billionaires...its jst self evident tht they are..all i'm sayin is if this guy is a clear billionaire why dont thy acknowledge him..ion actual fact he is quite modest but just one of his companies is worth $2.5 bill..its on d stockmarket for all to see so its obvious he is . no one is claimin notin..so wot is ur nxt reason for thm not puttin him up thre...bcause he is a theif or wot????...before u mke any wise ass comment he started business with a loan from hi uncle dantata a famous man(google him) and all the rst were loans 4rm banks. somtyms u s.a's tlk like idiots

Inertia

June 8th, 2007, 03:11 PM

why?it's because,it not by anyway truly african.:ohno:

Um, if a company was started in south africa, its south african. If that to u does not equal 'african', then you my friend, are an idiot.

popa1980

June 8th, 2007, 03:53 PM

Inertia, Kulani. Let me think what they want. Forbes is a racist magazine and there are hundreds of billionaires in Nigeria.

I do salute the vision of those Nigerians who have built such large companies, which are sorely lacking in SS Africa (outside of SA). Many wealthy African businessmen just give up expanding when they have some houses and some cars, they dont think of expanding any further because they have all they need in life. I spoke to someone in Ghana who had one supermarket which had made him very wealthy, he had no concept of expanding and building a chain. We need more business people like these in Africa.

Nevertheless, there are more pressng issues in Nigeria......Whether Mr X or Mr Y is worth X billions is of little consolation to the majority of the population who live in a country which ranks something like 154/177 in the world by living standards. Less attention to the have's and more to the have nots.

PS Is racism perhaps the easiest allegation to throw up to dismiss an issue?

kenyan24

June 8th, 2007, 03:57 PM

Thanks kulani, very inteligent. SA companies have worked to be where they are, the rest of the comtinent should learn from them

kulani

June 8th, 2007, 05:35 PM

how come none of you don't mentions more of nigerian billionaires,such as razak okoya(eleganza),the ibrus,jimoh ibrahim(a man who's seminars is now 10,000 dollars per person,which thousands attended)...

You know why. That's probably because, except a few business men most of them are on EFCC's list of wanted criminals. Most of them aren't even paying tax and probably wouldn't want to be in Forbes's list cause EFCC will come knocking soon.

For those who don't know EFCC is Nigeria's overworked Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. I see Mike Adenuga was one of the guys invited by the EFCC last year and repeatedly refused to appear before the commission (see link below). I hope he is not one of the guys you want Forbes to recognize and celebrate his wealth.

http://www.efccnigeria.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=956&Itemid=2

mike2005

June 8th, 2007, 06:02 PM

kulani

June 8th, 2007, 06:17 PM

For gods sake the Nigerian State Oil Company is not a private or listed company as per the Forbes definitions and criteria. It is a state financial vehicle and an extension of the Nigerian Federal Treasury. Basically it a vehicle by which the government deals with concessions and received income from oil sales.
So that is why it is not on the Forbes list and even a first week business student would understand that.

And if it is racist then name me the other major Nigerian companies and give me the FACTS as to their size? PLEASE GUYS FACTS AND FIGURES NOT IGNORANT RANTING BASED ON NO FACTS OR FIGURES.

If you cant do this then for gods sake shut up with this pathetic racist ranting about a lack of so called 'indigenous African companies' I find it mind boggling that you guys dismiss the list and offer not a single supporting fact apart from a complete misunderstanding about what NNPC is.

Mike, while we are on this, i have a really good idea. Why not include the South African Revenue services (SARS) which receives roughly $70 billion for the South African government on Forbes' list. That would put us right towards the top end.

On a serious note, i believe the Dangote Group could make the list if they were grouped in one business entity that is listed in a reputable stock exchange like JSE, LSE or NYSE. The Nigerian stock exchange is still got a long way to go before its seen as one of the major players in the global capital markets.

9yja

June 8th, 2007, 07:09 PM

Um, if a company was started in south africa, its south african. If that to u does not equal 'african', then you my friend, are an idiot.
before you know what i'm talking about,you would be at six feets under the ground.:bash:

kulani

June 8th, 2007, 07:31 PM

.. We can all say that we know many billionaires in our countries but we can’t prove it because we have no way to do so. By the way almost every country in the world has rich individuals who made their money in shady deals. My problem with this discussion and many others is that some people from certain countries seem to take offence whenever a discussion takes place recognizing accomplishments in other countries. We don’t need baseless arguments, Forbes list is legitimate but if anyone can show that a company or individual should be on the list, they can do so by providing information here.
South Africa is the most developed African country so it follows that they would have the biggest companies and richest individuals. Many in this forum might have problems with wealth distribution and opportunity in SA but that is not the discussion here, we all know that apartheid played a major role in wealth inequity.
I have no problem with Nigeria but I do have a problem with outlandish statement that have no factual basis no matter who makes them. A statement like “those whites are not even rich enough if they were in nigeria.” Or “The men and companies mentioned here are for big shots, notwithstanding their are Nigerians' also to be mentioned.Forbes of a true works with methodolgy of sales, market value, assets and profits not really seeing others which are not having international prospect, like NNPC of Nigeria second to shell in the country,according to a Nigerian friend of mine.He said,Nigerians have really good number of billionaires but their money aren't clean.No matter what, Nigeria shall occupy a place soonest,I beleive!”, leads many to believe that the individual making the statements is arrogant and is unwilling to look at fact unless they favor his point.

Amen to that. couldn't have captured this one better.

kulani

June 8th, 2007, 07:46 PM

Lovely, Liberia is on the list too. Any one knows this company and where its listed?

http://www.forbes.com/2007/03/27/07forbes2000_map.html

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1272/536123234_f91c5517a4_o.jpg

Inertia

June 8th, 2007, 08:04 PM

I know exactly wot ur talking abt, i am quite skilled at detecting subtle undertones in the english language. Refer to my previous post regards racism.

End of discussion for me, this thread like most others has been torn abt by childish, ignorant, naive and stupid rants by certain individuals. i will hereon only post abt relevant topics that do not fuel the abovementioned idiocies.. i suggest all of u do the same

Nixoderm

June 8th, 2007, 08:11 PM

Honestly, the forbes list is unfair to leave out Dangote come on he is one of Nigeria's few legitimate BILLIONAIRES!! Lol any ways, I think i would say out of this hissy fit really, I am sick of all this NIGERIA WAR!!! Honestly, people should grow up!!

Matthias Offodile

June 8th, 2007, 09:51 PM

Hence, there may be a lot more billionaires in Africa not making it to the list.

Kboy, that´s what I am trying to get across!:)

Matthias Offodile

June 8th, 2007, 09:54 PM

As far as the US Dollar millanaires are concenerned, FT wrote that in an article and it was not me! I will try to find it for our South African forumers

Matthias Offodile

June 8th, 2007, 10:06 PM

Nigerians have really good number of billionaires but their money aren't clean

Sure, but when it comes to clean money, do you honestly believe that all those American millionaires and billonaires and millonaires made their money in non-shady deals???:lol:

As far as Englishman Mark Thatcher (Magret Thatcher´s´beloved and adored son) that used to live in a cozy mansion in Cape Town and that wanted to topple the current leader of Equatorial Guinea just to get them lucrative deals, is this what you define "as clean money"? There are honest people that made their money through hard work but many and this is the majority made it by means of shady deals!

So when it comes to "shady deals" in Nigeria, the Western World is certainly the place that invented corruption and "shaddiness", the only difference between the West and the so-called "Third World" is that they know how to "cover it up" better!

Matthias Offodile

June 8th, 2007, 10:24 PM

Here is the article, it dates from 2003, things have changed for Nigeria since then. It is an older FT article! The bash Nigeria again in it but they also point to this aspect that there are more US dollar millionaires than in the UK! And it was in 2003!

Potential to succeed

December 08, 2003

http://ic.pressflex.com/576.pressflex.net/images/masthead.jpg?00c0744c1f71bbb3698067d13dff9b13

If the Nigerian government’s reform programme is successful, it could unlock rich resources and bring prosperity to its citizens and to investors who are up for the challenge. James Eedes reports. Nigeria is brimming with opportunity but investors need to go in with their eyes wide open.

The size and scale of opportunity are enormous. Critical infrastructure, like electricity and telecommunications, does not work. When the telecommunications sector was deregulated, it spawned a cellular industry that grew from nothing to three million customers in a little more than two years. Ambitious plans to address the country’s housing backlog – estimated at up to eight million units – presents a massive construction opportunity valued at up to $170bn, not to mention stimulating industries supplying materials to the building trade.
If the government’s much-vaunted economic reform programme yields results, accelerating economic growth from a pedestrian 3% per year to a targeted 7%, the ultimate prize will be the awakening of Nigeria’s 130 million-strong consumer market. (...)

Citizens let down

Why did this resource-rich country fail to deliver prosperity to all its citizens? Professor Mfon Amana, chairman of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, places the blame squarely at the door of the former military rulers. “The military do not know how to govern; they only know how to plunder and steal. It was an attitude that filtered down to all levels of government and the public sector.”

New stability

Crucially, however, the country and its political system are largely stable. Earlier this year, democratic elections were held for the second time since civilian rule was restored in 1999. Despite accusations of irregularity and predictable logistical hassles, the results were accepted and President Olusegun Obasanjo won a second term.
Following nearly four decades under successive military regimes, Nigeria has walked out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Increasingly, the country is an important continental player. Mr Obasanjo was a key architect of the New Economic Plan for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) along with South Africa’s president Thabo Mbeki. Mr Obasanjo is also a leading figure in the Commonwealth and earlier this year he received US President George W. Bush in the capital, Abuja, a sign of Nigeria’s growing international status.
But it will come to nothing if Mr Obasanjo cannot remedy the country’s economic ills. Despite the world’s eighth largest proven reserves of oil and fifth largest proven reserves of gas, 60% of the population lives below the poverty line. An unproven but widely believed statistic is that there are more dollar millionaires in Nigeria than there are in the UK, (...)

Source: http://www.fdimagazine.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/464/Potential_to_succeed.html

Why is there so much Naija bashing on this forum? What is your motivation behind it all?:ohno: If Nigeria remains stable for the next 10-15 years, the world will gaze and wonder...even if this suits South Africans or not, you cannot stop Nigeria, the elephant is moving!;)

Matthias Offodile

June 8th, 2007, 10:51 PM

You should learn to respect facts.

If the richest Nigerian is worth $3 then let it be.

But the truth is the Richest Nigerian is Aliko Dangote. He is worth some $8 Billion dollars. And no Kulani that doesn't translate to $100 Billion dollars. Nobody is fooling anyone, we are simply asking People to acknowledge FACTS.

People always say Nigeria has 60% Poverty and they say it's facts.

But when the same Priciple is used for Stats like Nigeria's Telecommunication industry, # of Billionaireas and other Areas that Nigeria exceeds in The criteria is Altered and percieved under different circumstances.

If you cannot accept all Facts then how can you be held credible when you speak on issues like Poverty, Aids and Instability.

Aliko Dangote earned is money Legitimately as did Bill Gates or Slim Carlos. The only difference is that His wealth and his general Being is discriminated against.

Kulani it is an insult and a foolish remark to deem Nigerians (especially those on this forum as Liars).

What is there to Lie about. Look up the Facts yourself Kulani. .

Look up the Facts before you insult an entire Nation

Tbite, I couldn´t have said it better! Only corretion is that Dangote is worth almost $10.8bn and not $8bn:) Here is the article. Nigeria, Egypt, Angola and Algeria are able to challenge SA´s current all over-shadowing dominance, but the future will tell another story, no matter how hard people continue to bash Nigeria and despite its hurdles, the country is moving! Moreover, if South Africans think that Nigeria is "such a waste of time", a "basket-case" or an "unlucrative market infested by corruption" they can simply stay away, there are many other investors interested in our country and only more will come!

THE INDEPENDENT

5:00AM Sunday April 15, 2007

In the old days, for some, going shopping in Nigeria meant going to London.

Now Nigerians, at least in Lagos, can go to the country's first shopping mall and parade past air-conditioned shops of clothes and jewellery, or sit in a coffee shop, sipping a latte or cappuccino. The centrepiece is a South African Shoprite supermarket - again Nigeria's first - where the middle classes can buy ordinary things such as biscuits and pre-packed beef.

Not far away, on the edge of the street, are the old shops - open-air markets where women sit with little piles of tomatoes or onions on the ground in front of them. Nearby, in the open air hang slabs of meat feasted on by flies. Until a few years ago, these markets and a few family stores were all that was available as shops.

Elements of the old Nigeria are still visible at the Palms Mall. The Shoprite manager, Andrew Mweemba, complains that containers of perishables regularly get held up at the port. The local electricity supply is too unreliable, so the whole mall is powered by generators, which puts prices up. But, says Mweemba, they are hitting their targets and controlling costs.

They are planning several other malls in what must be one of the last countries in the world to enjoy retail services the rest of the human race take for granted. This is probably the most visible sign of a new Nigeria, a country that is becoming more in tune with the rest of the planet. Its cause is the growth of a young middle class, many of whom have returned from London or New York to work in the booming financial services industry.

The Nigerian "Big Bang" started in 2001 with a free auction for Nigeria's mobile phone licences. Stung by a global reputation for corruption and fraud, President Olusegun Obasanjo's government started to reform the banks, reducing their number from 89 to 25, and supporting businesses that wanted to do things according to international standards.

In the old days Nigerian business people were simply agents, getting contracts from the state or acting for foreign companies. Nigeria produced little except oil and gas, and its exceedingly rich elite stayed rich because of connections, not competence.

Osaze Osifo, 39, who worked for HSBC in London, is typical of the new generation. He and six other Nigerian professionals are setting up a US$300m ($407m) equity fund in cool, glass-panelled offices with a view across the lagoon and out to sea. They have international businessmen on to their board to make sure everything is done in accordance with international business practice.

"It is not just local people and people coming back from overseas," he explains. "Nigeria is where it is at. The hotels are full, and the merchant banks are beginning to arrive." What encouraged people like him to return was the business space opened up by the economic reforms. Obasanjo picked a business-minded team to run the economy and the national bank, and appointed a brave young police officer to run the anti-corruption body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Its spectacular investigations and arrests of prominent people have helped to persuade outsiders that you can do business in Nigeria without being corrupt. The sale of mobile phone licences in 2001 was the start of the new era, according to Osifo.

The business tyros are challenging the old oligarchs in business and, inevitably, in politics. "More and more people in Nigeria have too much at stake.

"They have something to fight for, and they don't want their businesses ruined by the reputation for corruption," says Osifo.

Lagos also used to have a frightening reputation for robbery and violence, but that too has subsided. Ten years ago the biggest companies on the Nigerian stock exchange were subsidiaries of multinational corporates. Today, the three richest companies are all Nigerian. Its top 10 banks, most of them new, have announced returns of between 14 per cent and 38 per cent on shares.

Nigeria's richest business man, Aliko Dangote, turned 50 last week. A manufacturer of everything from cement to orange juice, he is reported to be worth 8bn Euros ($10.8bn) - and may not be the richest man in Nigeria. Some of the oligarchs may be richer, but not for much longer.

Africmento

June 9th, 2007, 01:44 AM

So when it comes to "shady deals" in Nigeria, the Western World is certainly the place that invented corruption and "shaddiness", the only difference between the West and the so-called "Third World" is that they know how to "cover it up" better!

Very well said. This is from today's The Independent regarding the Guardian investigation of BAE/Saudi deal. Typical of what happens in the West. This was in the UK but is also typical of how Bush and his cronies from Texas got very rich. But if it ever happens in Nigeria, then corrupt people, officials, companies, government and dirty money is loudly thrown around. Folks, "shady deals" take place in many innocent looking major corporations from Cape to Cairo, London to Hong Kong, from New York to New Zealand and everywhere in-between.

BAE 'paid Saudi prince £1bn in secret'
By Sadie Gray
Published: 07 June 2007
British arms company BAE Systems secretly paid a Saudi prince more than £1bn over a period of more than 10 years, an investigation has revealed.

Prince Bandar bin Sultan received the money with the full knowledge of the Ministry of Defence, according to the BBC's Panorama programme. BAE sent up to £120m a year to two Saudi embassy accounts which the BBC says were a "conduit" to Prince Bandar. The prince, who was the Saudi ambassador to the US for 20 years, was the architect of the Al Yamamah deal to sell military aircraft to Saudi Arabia. The deal, worth £43bn, was signed in 1985.

David Caruso, an investigator who worked for the American bank which held the accounts, told the BBC: "There wasn't a distinction between the accounts of the embassy, or official government accounts as we would call them, and the accounts of the royal family."

Panorama says the payments were listed on the arms deal contract as "support services," and were authorised every quarter by the MoD. The Serious Fraud Office discovered the payments during an investigation into the Al Yamamah deal which was halted last year after a review by the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith. He said it was in Britain's national interest to drop the investigation.

Prince Bandar and the MoD declined to comment on the matter, and BAE said that the company acted lawfully at all times.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article2621974.ece

Tbite

June 9th, 2007, 01:46 AM

There are so many Nigerian critics(The Majority being South Africans). Yet I keep My mouth sealed on Negative things going on in South Africa etc..

Matthias has posted even more Facts, yet I expect some Hard Headed people will remain unconvinced.:ohno: :lol:

GregPz

June 9th, 2007, 09:57 AM

Lovely, Liberia is on the list too. Any one knows this company and where its listed?

Royal Caribbean is the world's 2nd largest cruise company. The company has its headquarters in Miami but like many shipping lines has its ships registered in Liberia.

Matthias Offodile

June 9th, 2007, 11:27 AM

An article taken out of the Guardian which only strengthens my argument made earlier. The West should simply shut up and wipe in front of its own door. In Germany so many corruption scandals rose to the surface in recent yeras but I think the majority still lies in darkness! The Western World doesn´t consist of "saints" and the rest of the world are not "devils" as they constantly keep saying! Yes, Africa and other parts of the world are corrupt but is the Western World with its "ultra-clean record" any better?

Britain is 'as corrupt as worst African states'

http://image.guardian.co.uk/static/23998/networkfront/images/header.gif

Duncan Campbell

Monday September 4, 2006
The Guardian

Britain, the US and Switzerland should rank among the world's most corrupt countries, according to a paper delivered to an economics conference at the weekend. The failure of these and other developed countries to clamp down on offshore tax havens is responsible for more hardship than any corrupt acts by third world leaders, a leading tax expert said.

"I would place the United Kingdom high on the list of most corrupt countries," said John Christensen, formerly an adviser to the Jersey government and now director of the Tax Justice Network (taxjustice.net), speaking at the Economic Geography Research Group conference.

He said he based this on Britain's role as a tax haven and a defender of the tax haven role of its overseas territories and Crown dependencies, as well as its "dismal role in undermining the effectiveness" of the European Union's attempts to close tax loopholes.

Mr Christensen said it was time to "turn the current focus on corruption and development on its head". He argued that there had been too much emphasis on corruption in third world countries and not enough on the abuse of offshore tax havens by the wealthiest nations.

Transparency International, a pressure group campaigning against corruption, reinforced stereotypes by depicting African nations as the most corrupt, he said. By contrast, Mr Christensen said, many of the countries it identified as least corrupt were offshore tax havens, (...).

A spokesman for Transparency International in Berlin said its index was based on a definition of corruption as "the abuse of entrusted power for private gain". He said TI also examined the collaboration of richer countries in all forms of corruption.

Mr Christensen said that, through a process of stealth, the global economy had been reconfigured to match the interests of a class of super-rich who held their wealth in offshore tax havens such as Jersey, Monaco, Switzerland or the Cayman Islands. "They live more or less where they choose, and their main preoccupation lies with staying rich," he said.

"Detached from the concept and practice of citizenship, they have managed to relieve themselves, to a remarkable extent, of the obligation to contribute to the national treasury."

(...)

Throughout the developing world, tax evasion and the looting of resources to secret bank accounts has nurtured resentment, widespread unemployment, poor public services and a general lack of opportunity, Mr Christensen claimed.

"Most of these problems can be remedied by strengthening international cooperation. Effective information exchange between national authorities would go a long way towards overcoming the problems of capital flight and tax evasion.

"The principal barrier standing in the way of progress towards achieving these goals is the lack of political will."

Source: http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1864034,00.html

friendsofthecity

June 9th, 2007, 01:53 PM

I don't think we should flood this forum with the issue of corruption.Sincerely, Nigerians are very corrupt notwithstanding, I don't think it is the duty of South Africans to start insinuating that at this forum.I guess, it's out of jealousy most people did that.Seeing the Nigerian potentials exceeding south African's with years to come might has well ushered in the discord.Well,Nigerians should stay focus and don't let petty issue deray your projects.Go for the best and I beleive you people will get there one day.PEACE!

Nixoderm

June 9th, 2007, 02:02 PM

I don't think we should flood this forum with the issue of corruption.Sincerely, Nigerian are very corrupt notwithstanding, I don't think it is the duty of South Africans to start insinuating that at this forum.I guess, it's out of jealousy most people did that.Seeing the Nigerian potentials exceeding south African's with years to come might has well ushered in the discord.Well,Nigerians should stay focus and don't let petty issue deray your projects.Go for the best and I beleive you people will get there one day.PEACE!

:badnews: :badnews: :badnews: :badnews:

South Africans and Nigerians should STFU!!! i am tired of the recent invasions of every thread with the ever continuing, this is better than that!! This is all thanks to the idiot Mosi-oa-Tunya!! So, let every one just ignore them and let them battle it out!! Maybe, they would stop when they are tired!!

mike2005

June 9th, 2007, 04:55 PM

Nixoderm

June 9th, 2007, 05:23 PM

The reason why we appear on this forum is because most of the Nigerian forumers spout the most unbelievable rubbish. Once again I ask for facts and figures about the Nigerian companies that are bigger than the ones listed in the Forbes article. The fact is that no one of the Nigerian formers can come up with any apart from wild speculation based on no facts or figures or indeed seemingly any personal knowledge at all.

Mathias if you know so much about the economy that you can dismiss the Forbes article as racist and wrong give me a list of the top Nigerian companies complete with figures to back it up.

If you cant then stop ranting about the global conspiracy against Nigeria and accept that Nigeria is not a global economic player and that it has an economy that is nowhere near as important or large as South Africa or Egypt and that it cannot claim to be anywhere near SA when it comes to global corporate influence.

But yet Nigeria's GDP is the second/third best performer in Africa. The 2nd Spot is being shared with Algeria as two reliable sources have them in either position. Please you and I know Nigeria is a global economy player if not why would the G8 compare it to China, India and Brazil. Yes, the former german Chancellor, even whats it to be extended into the G8 with these major players. IMF lists Nigeria as part of the N11, the economies that can challenge that of the g8 and SA didn't make it!!! SO mike, STFU!!! I know Nigeria is not a bed of roses but don't ever imply that our economy is not among Africa's best and a major global player!

The list is obviously bogus! Nigeria has the most $ millionaires in Africa yet none of them appear on the list. Dangote is worth 10.8bil yet he doesn't even come close to the list. Mike, Matt has given you enough evidence and if all you do is just dismiss them then you can shove it up your h***!

That is all I would say... for now anyways.

naijalove

June 9th, 2007, 05:25 PM

Tbite

June 9th, 2007, 05:40 PM

There have being two times in History that Analysts have said Nigeria, China, India and Brazil would become the Next developed Countries. Nigeria has since fallen out of that group and Nigeria's GDP Plundered. However, I don't have to Study Macro Econmics to know that this period is the Third time in history.

Dangote Group acounts for a sixth of $46 Billion NSE(Nigerian Stock Exchange).

Mike2005 explain to me, how a man that is worth less than a Billion dollars can finance a Cement Factory that is worth $2.5 Billion?

Since when did Facts equal Ranting?

Tbite

June 9th, 2007, 06:28 PM

The Man Himself!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/business_nigeria0s_challenges/img/laun.jpg

This is the richest man in Africa," says Femi Otedola as he walks out of the offices of Aliko Dangote.

Africa's perhaps richest man invests in every area of the economy and harbours political ambitions.

On the ninth floor of the Dangote Group headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria's most successful businessman has a panoramic view of the sprawling urban mass, which makes up Nigeria's commercial capital.

His visitor, Mr Otedola has made a fortune from trading fuel and petroleum products in Nigeria, but Mr Dangote is in another league.

His business empire spans the economy. He dominates the markets for sugar, cement, rice, pasta, textiles and salt, and he is big in transport, oil and gas.

"I think I have to be rated by Forbes magazine first before I can be [called] the richest man in Africa," says Mr Dangote modestly. "But, you know, I'm comfortable."

New investments
Mr Dangote has come along way from his early days of trading commodities in his home town of Kano in the north.

We have had a generational change in business and this is now going to happen in government

Aliko Dangote, Dangote Group

He recently turned 50 and has listed two of his 13 companies on the Nigerian stock market. His stake in those two alone is worth more than $4bn (£2bn).

In politics, as in business, he is also a powerful player. He is not ashamed to be financially supporting President Olusegun Obasanjo's ruling People's Democratic Party and he is confident that its candidate Umaru Musa Yar'Adua will become Nigeria's next president.

"I am close to people in government because I am one of the big businessmen in Nigeria," he explains. "If we don't have the right people there then [all the] money I have is useless. If the country turns into another Zimbabwe, for example, then I will become a poor person."

For now, Mr Dangote is confident about the future and he lists some of the $9bn of investments in Nigeria he is currently planning, including the world's biggest sugar refinery, a 300,000 barrels a day oil refinery and a massive 5,000 megawatt power project.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6572289.stm

Dangote Group is listed under the Nigerian Stock Exchange as "NG-Dang". This dude is made of money.

P.S Femi Otedola is also a Mega Entrepeneur. There is not the slightest bit of doubt in my mind that Dangote is in the Top 5 of African Billionaires

Matthias Offodile

June 9th, 2007, 06:38 PM

If you cant then stop ranting about the global conspiracy against Nigeria and accept that Nigeria is not a global economic player and that it has an economy that is nowhere near as important or large as South Africa or Egypt :bash: and that it cannot claim to be anywhere near SA when it comes to global corporate influence.

Have you checked the figures lately, when it comes to facts and figures??? we had a lits of GDP figures sometime here on the forum! I currently can´t find it... We will see how Nigeria´s economy is the second largest in entire Africa by 2007, we still got some steps to climb until we reach "almighty" SA but don´t forget that Nigeria is rising and there is a lot of room upwards. If Nigeria is so "unimportant" "trashy" or whatever, why do you think that Angela Merkel mentioned it on par with China, India and Brazil?

You SA people are really shameless (or at leats the vast majority of you). Everything that comes out of Nigeria is spitten upon by SA. Who do you think you are?

Mike2005, if you consider Nigeria such a "waste of time", such a "hopeless basket case" "such a ruined and corruption-infested country", just tell your bloody Shoprites, Protea´s and MTN´s to get out of Naija! I don´t think that they will listen to your advice, Mr "All knows it best"!

As far as the Forbes list is concerned, are you really so uncritical and small-minded or are you just provoking?

StormShadow

June 9th, 2007, 06:48 PM

Ladies and Gentlemen, time to relax. Let's all chill for moment. Some believe the list isn't accurate enough ? I for one was surprised that I didn't see a Nigerian or a Kenyan or a Moroccan on the list. The list mentions the top 5 which appears to be believable. If the bracket was larger more of Africa's wealthiest people would of appeared on the list. Anyone has a list that is over 5 ? Top 20 would of been much better.

Nixoderm

June 9th, 2007, 07:02 PM

stoicman31

June 9th, 2007, 07:12 PM

I think this infighting is making the entire continent looks bad...basically comfirming what is being said about Africa. Why can't you have more than one major player there? Why does everything in Africa has to be a zero-sum situation?...tribally, regionally, racially and religiously? Y'all don't have to wait for outsiders to ruin you, you're your worst enemies. If the guy in Nigeria is worth $11 billion dollars, I think he can build at least build 20 more Oprah-style schools..which I'm sure are badly needed in Nigeria.

Matthias Offodile

June 9th, 2007, 07:35 PM

Mike2005, some more food for thought!

I don´t know if you ever heard about the new BRIC countries, you should have as you work at a financial instituion. The next eleven: Nigeria is among them. These are facts not fiction or wishful thinking!

Next Eleven

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2b/Next_11_Map.PNG/800px-Next_11_Map.PNG

The Next Eleven (or N-11) is a short list of countries named by Goldman Sachs investment bank on December 12, 2005 as having promising outlooks for investment and future growth.

GS used macroeconomic stability, political maturity, openness of trade and investment policies and quality of education as criteria. The N-11 paper is a follow-up to its 2003 paper on the emerging "BRIC" economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China).

And here is another article, almost 6 months old but pretty revealing! Nigeria is not a minnow what you are aiming at explicitly and implicitly!

Nigeria may be the next emerging markets gem

http://www.arcaajans.com/genel_images/logo-financial-times-1.jpg

December 11th, 2006
By Chuka Mordi

Published: December 4 2006 02:00 | Last updated: December 4 2006 02:00
Outside South Africa, sub-Saharan African capital markets represent the last frontier for the unhindered flow of global capital. The problem has always been the absence of the combination of scale and local expertise required to attract global fund managers.
This bleak situation is finally improving in a perceptible fashion. In the first week of October, the Nigerian government, via the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), allocated a total of $7bn (€5.3bn, £3.6bn) to be jointly managed by its local banks and global fund managers. Each global manager, in partnership with a local Nigerian bank, received $500m.
This has been little commented on but it highlights the role of technocrats in managing the economy and their growing influence over the propensity of politicians to spend state funds. The CBN has traditionally kept the external reserves as deposits with foreign banks, and this is the first time that it is appointing foreign asset managers to manage part of its reserves. The effect this will have on the long-term emerging market outlook for Africa in general, and Nigeria specifically, is significant.
The mandate is a global fixed income one, but it is our prediction at Nex-Rubica that in the next three years, on the back of current growth trends, local securities will be included in the asset mix. There is currently not enough depth in the Nigerian market - its market capitalisation is $31bn, total issue of government bonds about $4bn - to support such a large inflow of cash without overly inflating the market. But the Nex-Rubica forecast is for this size to double between now and the final quarter of 2007, surpassing Egypt by 2008.
A variety of factors influence this prediction. Twelve months ago, in market cap terms, Nigeria had just one bank capitalised above $1bn. Following a government-driven consolidation exercise, there are now six banks of this size, varying from $1bn to $3bn. With banks showing top-line growth in the triple-digit range, high double-digit underlying growth and a market penetration of just 15 per cent in a population of 140m people, the expectation of at least 10 banks capitalised above $5bn in the country by the end of 2007 is plausible. Current consensus estimates for banking sector profits for 2007 are above 200 per cent
With the financial services sector as a catalyst and a significant number of new issues in the pipeline, our projected market size of about $100bn in equities by year-end 2008 will be just about right for decent-sized emerging market funds to take a serious look.
The CBN foreign reserves allocation is due to rise to $12bn within the next few months when the remaining 11 banks acquire foreign partners, and then to $25bn within the next few quarters when allocations are raised to $1bn each.
The object of this exercise is capacity building for the Nigerian banks in the fund management sector. He who has the gold makes the rules, and the issuer of a $25bn mandate can easily switch from global equities to African equities at a stroke. At present, this is an implausible if not impossible scenario but it will not seem so outlandish in 18 months. The reserve management programme in itself will not transform the market, but it is indicative of a nation that has finally come round to the concept of orthodox fiscal policy and - most important - accountability.
African markets have been growing at a phenomenal rate. The key drivers for this growth have been a relaxation in the regulatory regime, privatisation of government corporate holdings and relative stability in the major African economies. In Nigeria, the high oil price has enabled the country to clear its $35bn debt, build up an excess of $50bn in foreign exchange reserves, increase spending and embark on significant restructuring of the economy. While global stock markets have grown steadily in the past five years, the major African stock exchanges have experienced almost exponential growth.
In spite of the growth, only three African markets outside South Africa possess the scale to attract anything other than niche emerging market funds. These are Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria. Of these three, Nigeria is showing the highest growth prospects.
In the last year, the outperforming stocks on the Nex-Rubica Africa Top 40 Index, have been Nigerian financials. One key attraction is that the risk/return profile in the Nigerian market is generally uncorrelated to western markets. Starting from a relatively low base, Nigeria alone has the momentum in terms of its population, resources and growth potential to catapult it to the first rank of emerging market economies.

Chuka Mordi is director of strategy and head economist at Nex-Rubica, a pan-African specialist

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006

9yja

June 9th, 2007, 07:38 PM

baddaa-boy

June 9th, 2007, 08:31 PM

in my opinion nigeria shud get their own forum because every time i visit ssc africa i just see alot of nonsense , in 99% of the time started by an nigerian. Im not mentioning names. They always think that they r best in africa, u need 2 open ur eyes and realise that their r other countries better than u at some things. I dont hate nigeria and not saying that all the nigerian forumer on this site do that but there are some individuals always involved in the argument, " N A I J A"

Nixoderm

June 9th, 2007, 11:30 PM

Please everyone stop the whole country war, please!!!!

kulani

June 10th, 2007, 05:43 AM

Tbite

June 10th, 2007, 05:50 AM

Okay.

But I for one don't think Nigeria is all that.
I can mention a Billion things wrong with Nigeria from the back of my palm.
Ghana has less than Half the Poverty of Nigeria. Nigeria couldn't conduct a fair election bal blah.

This is nor getting ridiculous. Apart from Naija, I don't think there is single Nigerian on this forum that thinks that Nigeria is all that.

SInce when did Nigeria become the best in Africa. We have 60% Poverty, a Low GDP per capita and many other problems.

The thing is that it is pathetic to depict Nigerians as Egocentric people fro simply asking for Justice. I respect facts and Facts should not be compromised or altered.

And if you still can't get my point, then good luck to you.:)

kulani

June 10th, 2007, 05:57 AM

those south african dudes are not respectful to their big brother(nigeria):bash: ,they v'e it seen coming that nigeria will overtake them very :soon: .:lol:

my advice for them:it's destiny that nigeria is gonna be the giant of africa,so you "south africans" should just accept ur faith.don't be jealous!:toilet: :toilet: :toilet:

Nigerian's ego are almost legendary when it comes to proclaiming to be the "almighty" in Africa, when they still can't do some basic things like provide electricity. Other african countries are hard at work while Naija is talking. At the end of the day its really actions that speaks louder and talk is cheap. So i guess lets see how everyone is doing in 10 years. i am out. History i guess will judge us.

Tbite

June 10th, 2007, 05:59 AM

Okay.

Well said Kulani. Peace.
Perhaps in the future Nigeria will be more Transparent and will be featured on such lists. :)

Let's get this thread back on track.

We should post more information on The featured Billionaires. :cheers:

Tbite

June 10th, 2007, 06:21 AM

#1 Naguib Sawiris

http://images.forbes.com/media/lists/10/2006/4MRK.jpg

Naguib Sawiris (in Arab نجيبساويرس) is a magnate Egyptian of the telecommunicationses.

President and greater shareholder of the society Orascom Telecom, manager of fixed telephony and mobile leader in the countries of the area of the Mediterranean. Orascom operates in the constructions and the tourist activities, and controls Mobinil, the main society Egyptian of mobile telephony.

In he classifies of the richer men of the world published from the review Forbes in the 2007 finds itself to 62° the place. [1]

In February-March 2005 Weather Investments, a holding company from guided he, acquires from ENEL, 65% of Wind, important manager of fixed telephony and mobile in Italy let alone provider Internet and he becomes some president. Like previewed from the agreement, in the February 2006 Enel exercises the sale option allowing to Weather Investments to acquire 100% of Wind.

#2 Onsi Sawiris

http://www.clickafrique.com/displayimage.aspx?imageID=108&sectionID=19&isThumbNail=0&isPhoto=0

Egyptian businessman, Onsi Sawiris is one the richest men in Africa, along with his family, he is estimated to be worth approximately $5 billion by Forbes Magazine.

Born in Sohag, a predominately Coptic city in Upper Egypt halfway between Aswan and Cairo in 1930, Sawiris enjoyed an early life typical of the Upper Egyptian gentry that his family was part of, before heading off to University as part of the preparation to manage the family’s land holdings.

He however turned his attentions to constructions, setting up a contracting firm, which operated initially in Upper Egypt but later on, moved its operations to Cairo and the delta provinces.

By the 1960’s he had grown his firm into one of the largest in Egypt as he benefited from the patronage of the Egyptian government. However the 60’s also proved to be a turbulent time for Egypt and Sawiris his firm taken over by the government due to the nationalisation policies of the current regime.

After being forced to as employee of his now nationalised firm for five years; Sawiris and his family eventually left Egypt to set up in Libya, where they lived from 1966 to 1977. During this period Sawiris was able to rebuild his fortune using his construction expertise to build water works and other construction project for the oil-rich nation.

Sawiris began rebuilding his Egyptian operations upon his return in 1977, taking on complex projects throughout Egypt either as the lead contractor or in conjunction with international construction firms.

This brought about another successful spell in the Egyptian construction industry leading to the flotation of his company on the Cairo Stock Exchange in 1999. The company has since expanded into the Orascom conglomerate, which he now runs with his three sons, with global operations spanning construction, cement, telecommunications, and tourism.

Through his Orascom Construction, a joint venture with Swiss cement gaint Holderbank, Sawairis controls 25% of the Egyptian cement market. He expanded his telecommunications business last year by acquiring the third largest telecommunications company, Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A. in a €12.138 billion deal, 51% of which went to Orascom Telecom.

#3 Nicky Oppenheimer

http://images.forbes.com/media/lists/10/2006/2MY9.jpg

Nicholas "Nicky" F. Oppenheimer (born 8 June 1945) is a billionaire South African businessman, the chairman of the De Beers diamond mining company and its subsidiary, the Diamond Trading Company. He also has a large financial interest in the gold mining company Anglo American.

He is the son of Harry Oppenheimer and grandson of Ernest Oppenheimer, the first generation of the family to chair (from 1929) the De Beers diamond mining company in South Africa, founded by Cecil John Rhodes in 1888.

He was educated in England at Harrow School and Christ Church, Oxford where he read a MA in PPE.

Forbes "World's Richest People" List of billionaires (2005) estimated his net worth at US$6.0 billion in 2005.

In 1968 he married Orcillia "Strilli" Lasch, daughter of industrial tycoon Helli Lasch and Orcillia Lasch, Sen.. His son Jonathan Oppenheimer and nephew Taylor Plant are expected to succeed him in the company.

He lives in Johannesburg on the Brenthurst Gardens estate and has a country estate in England, Waltham Place (with gardens open to the public and an associated organic Farm), at White Waltham in Berkshire. As another sign of his wealth, he recently bought an Agusta Westland helicopter.

#4 Johann Rupert

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40079000/jpg/_40079069_rupert203.jpg

Johann Peter Rupert (born 1 June 1950) is the eldest son of the late Afrikaans South African business tycoon Anton Rupert and Huberte Rupert and is the chairman of the Swiss-based luxury-goods company Richemont as well as of the South Africa-based companies VenFin and Remgro.

He grew up and still lives in the South African town of Stellenbosch, where he also attended the University of Stellenbosch and studied economics and company law. He dropped out of university to pursue a career in business. In 2004 the University awarded him an Honorary Doctorate.

Rupert and his wife Gaynor have three children.

Business Career
Rupert served his business apprenticeship in New York, where he worked for Chase Manhattan for two years and for Lazard Freres for three years. He then returned in 1979 to South Africa.

Founded Rand Merchant Bank in 1979 and Started Small Business Development Corporation in same year (+/- 500,000 jobs created since inception).

Merged RMB and Rand Consolidated Investments in 1984, and left as CEO to join Rembrandt Goup.

Rupert founded Compagnie Financiere Richemont in 1988.

Appointed Non-Executive Director of Rothmans International plc in 1988.

Elected “Businessman of the Year” by Sunday Times in 1988.

1989: Appointed Vice Chairman of Rembrandt Group Ltd.

1990: Elected by "Die Burger" newspaper and the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce as the business leader of the year.

Formed Vendôme Luxury Group SA.

1991:Appointed Chairman of Rembrandt Group Limited.

1992: Elected one of 200 "Global Leaders of Tomorrow" by World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland.

1993:Received the M.S. Louw Award by the A.H.I. ("Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut").

1994: Appointed Chairman of the Small Business Development Corporation Limited ("SBDC").

1995: (Formed Nethold SA, bought into Telepui and Mediaset.

Privatised Rothmans International plc. Merged Rothmans International and Rembrandt Tobacco.

1996: Elected Sunday Times Business Times's Businessman of the Year for second time. Merged Nethold into Canal +.

1997: Appointed Non-Executive Chairman of Gold Fields South Africa Ltd. Appointed to the Advisory Council of GEMS Oriental and General Fund.

1998: Merged Rothmans International and BAT Plc.

1999: Awarded the 1999 Free Market Award by The Free Market Foundation of South Africa.

2000: Restructured Rembrandt Group Limited and formed Remgro Limited and VenFin Limited. Appointed Chairman and Chief Executive of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA. Voted “Most influential Business Leader” in South Africa by CEO’s of top 100 Listed Companies

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Economics by the University of Stellenbosch. Johann played major roles in the establishment of Vodacom, the predominant cellular communication specialist group in Africa, as well as Tracker Network (Pty) Ltd. the industry standard in stolen vehicle recovery systems. Sold Vodacom to Vodafone for R21bn via the restructuring of VenFin Limited.

Staying on as Executive Chairman, he resigned as the CEO of Richemont in September 2004 after 15-month period of leading a company turnaround.

According to the 2006 edition of Forbes' list of the world's richest people, the Rupert family is 207th and worth approximately USD 3.3 billion.

#5 Nassef Sawiris

http://www.businesstodayegypt.com/imageview.aspx?ID=6687

Youngest son of Orascom conglomerate founder, Onsi Sawiris took over construction division from his father in 1998. The company reported a record $298 million in profits last year, thanks in part to Nassef's expansion efforts in developing countries such as Algeria, Indonesia and Iraq. Also has a significant stake in Houston-headquartered construction company Texas Industries.

#6 Donald Gordon

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/arts/2003/11/20/lichfield_gordon3.jpg

Donald Gordon is a South African businessman and philanthropist. The Royal Opera House and Wales Millennium Centre received a donation of £20 million payable over five years from the leading London based South African businessman Donald Gordon. This is believed to be the largest single private donation ever made to the arts in the UK, and as such has had the main auditorium of the Wales Millennium Centre named after him as well as the Grand Tier at the Royal Opera House. He is a Jewish CA(SA) and founded LIBERTY LIFE (listed on the JSE).

#7 Samih Sawiris

http://www.swissinfo.org/xobix_media/images/sri/2006/sriimg20060918_7076970_0.jpg

Samih Sawires (* 1957 in Cairo) is an Egyptian entrepreneur.

Sawires comes of to a wealthy koptischen family. After the study of the industrial engineer natures to DO Berlin, stepped it into the parental enterprise Orascom and became responsible for the range building industry. He becomes thereafter a boss of Orascom hotel & development. It has large success with the building of tourist centers as e.g. from desert cities, as for El Gouna (a lagoon city), a tourism Resort. At present it plans at a tourism project in other matte. Sawiris of projects are characterized by innovative beginnings. The magazine “Forbes” estimates the fortune of the Sawiris on 5.2 billion dollar.

Tbite

June 10th, 2007, 06:54 AM

Okay Guys check this out. It's The second richest African, He is not listed on Forbes as an African because he has Dual Nationalities.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/89/Mohammed-Al-Amoudi140.jpg

He is worth $8 Billion dollars and He is from Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia.

Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi (Ge'ez: ሞሓመድ አልአሙዲ, Arabic: محمد حسين العمودي; born 1946 in Dessie, Ethiopia but grew up in Weldiya).is a Saudi Arabian /Ethiopian business magnate who lives in Ethiopia and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In 2006 his net worth was estimated as between $2.5 and $6.9 billion, causing Arabian Business to rank him as the world's 8th richest Arab, and Forbes to rank him as the world's 77th richest person.[3] Al Amoudi's father is Yemeni and his mother is Ethiopian. He immigrated to Saudi Arabia in 1965 and became a Saudi citizen. Depending on disparate ethnic categorizations, and Al Amoudi's mixed Ethiopian and Yemeni parentage, he is considered to be the richest black person in the world[4] and/or one of the richest Arabs.

Al Amoudi made his fortune in construction and real estate before branching out to buy oil refineries in Sweden and Morocco. He is said to be the largest foreign investor in both Sweden and Ethiopia. He holds an Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy from the Addis Ababa University and has been honoured with the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

Business activity
Al Amoudi owns a broad portfolio of businesses not only in oil but also in mining, agriculture, hotels, hospitals, finance, operations and maintenance. Some have said he is gaining monopoly on businesses in Ethiopia, but there seem to be other wealthy Ethiopians to challenge some of his companies. Despite losing bids to Al Amoudi, CEO Girma of Ethiopian Airlines said Al Amoudi's work is a healthy competition, saying "growth and competition, it is good for everybody.

His businesses are largely to be found within two conglomerate holding and operating companies, Corral Petroleum Holdings and MIDROC, which he owns and manages. He employs over 40,000 people through these companies.

Commitment to East Africa
Al Amoudi has focused his East African investments on Ethiopia since the mid-1980s. MIDROC Ethiopia was created in 1994. He is strongly committed to Ethiopia, especially job creation and infrastructure capacity building. He is also well known as a philanthropist in his birth country and has built a 140-bed health care facility and supports visual impairment, disabled, children's health and poverty alleviation programmes. In the education arena, he provides overseas scholarships and is a patron of the Ethiopian arts. Al Amoudi has sponsored the CECAFA Cup, Africa's oldest cup competition for the last three years, during which time the football tournament has been known as the Al Amoudi Senior Challenge Cup.

Al Amoudi is a frequent visitor to the UK and the US where he has further business interests and was jointly honoured by the World Bank and State Department for his work in supporting African development. This was the first time that the World Bank had hosted such an event for a private sector investor.

mike2005

June 10th, 2007, 03:41 PM

Matthais I never said Nigeria was totally irrelevent and indeed you can make money there but it is still a case of foreign companies going into Nigeria to make money rather than large nigerian countries dominating the rest of Africa. Of cousrse youy can amke money in a country with one of the largest oil resrrves in the world and my god if nigerea was not experiencing economic growth at the moment with the oil priuce as it is it would be rather shocking. BUT you back up my point when you listed all the giant SA companies investing in Nigeria. Why did you not list the giant Nigrian companies investing in SA and the rest of the continebnt if Nigeria is a corporate power house athat is catching up with SA? Th efact is you cant because Nigeria simply doe snot have the companies to do that.

It is a great oil fuelled market but its current economic growth is diappointing cosnidering the high oil price especially when compared with other oil giants and as Goldmansd made clear in its report you quoted above when the oil price falls Nigeria will be in trouble as its current growth is alsmost all driven my oil revenue not a diversfied economic base.

In short mate it would take decades of Nigeria booming, record oil prices and total stagnation in the SA economy for Nigeria to catch up with SA. And oil prices are not going to remain this high forever and the SA economy is not going to stagnate.

Im not doing Nigeria down but it is not africas superpower and it is not the leading economy on the continent which you guys seem to think it is. It only contributes 11% of Africas GDP and its economic growth rate is only marginally more than SAs despite record oil prices. Those are the facts.

mike2005

June 10th, 2007, 03:43 PM

Matthais I never said Nigeria was totally irrelevant and indeed you can make money there but it is still a case of foreign companies going into Nigeria to make money rather than large Nigerian countries dominating the rest of Africa. Of course you can make money in a country with one of the largest oil reserves in the world and my god if Nigeria was not experiencing economic growth at the moment with the oil price as it is it would be rather shocking. BUT you back up my point when you listed all the giant SA companies investing in Nigeria. Why did you not list the giant Nigerian companies investing in SA and the rest of the continent if Nigeria is a corporate power house that is catching up with SA? The fact is you cant because Nigeria simply does not have the companies to do that.

It is a great oil fuelled market but its current economic growth is disappointing considering the high oil price especially when compared with other oil giants and as Goldmans made clear in its report you quoted above when the oil price falls Nigeria will be in trouble as its current growth is almost all driven my oil revenue not a diversified economic base.

In short mate it would take decades of Nigeria booming, record oil prices and total stagnation in the SA economy for Nigeria to catch up with SA. And oil prices are not going to remain this high forever and the SA economy is not going to stagnate.

Im not doing Nigeria down but it is not africas superpower and it is not the leading economy on the continent which you guys seem to think it is. It only contributes 11% of Africa GDP and its economic growth rate is only marginally (around 1%) more than SAs despite record oil prices. Those are the facts. Nigeria is NOWHERE NEAR displacing SA as the continental powerhouse. Sorry guys.

9yja

June 10th, 2007, 04:21 PM

Nigerian's ego are almost legendary when it comes to proclaiming to be the "almighty" in Africa, when they still can't do some basic things like provide electricity. Other african countries are hard at work while Naija is talking. At the end of the day its really actions that speaks louder and talk is cheap. So i guess lets see how everyone is doing in 10 years. i am out. History i guess will judge us.
I never said nigeria was perfect,in fact,every african countries are still struggling to survive.every countries had enough problem at hands.
what you don't want to recognise is the good sides of other fellow countries,you only believe in ur country as the only country that's as made it, which is not 100 percent true.
all of our countries got to survive,if it's good for "south africa",it's good for the "rest",....and if it's well with the "continent",it's well with south africa.
big up!we love our countries.:banana:

9yja

June 10th, 2007, 05:57 PM

Nigeria: Nigerians are Natural Entrepreneurs, Says Mordi

Vanguard (Lagos)8 June 2007
Posted to the web 8 June 2007

Yinka Kolawole
Lagos

The Executive Director, Investment Banking & Asset Management, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Mr. Chika Mordi, has described Nigerians as natural entrepreneurs who are not afraid to venture into private business.

Mordi stated this Tuesday, in Lagos, while flagging off the maiden edition of the UBA Business Booster Series (U-Business) initiated by the bank to enhance the capacity of small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) to contribute the nation's economic growth. He said that Nigeria has seen many businesses prosperity.

H

Nixoderm

June 10th, 2007, 07:41 PM

dysan1

June 10th, 2007, 08:02 PM

friendsofthecity

June 10th, 2007, 10:18 PM

Nigeria is big whether SA like it or not.Nigeria has the potentials of leading the continent in combination of SA,Egypt and Algeria 25 years to come--it's fact and you can't beat it.One thing it's not time for Nigerians to start rejoicing now when things are not fixed yet.I pray for that country to really move forward 'cause it cares for others than the SA---the initiative going on in west Africa sub-region,involvinging in peace for the region rather than comment,economic reform for the sub-region rathern than flaunt and oppress.In the real sense SA investment in other parts of the continent was not for a reason for development but for profitable aim,a friend of mine said.He said most of the SA companies never sponsor things like health reforms,education in those countries the are investing only to create executive members from SA .I like SA so much,it's a beautifu place.But, why hate Nigeria in respond to what a single person ultered in a forum,that you said in the person of NAIJA.Everybody knows that guy to be childish and a whimp at thesame time.Nigeria deserves good place in that continent as well as others.It's not right SA should get all the dominance.Ain't African but I felt it's not just right.Look the trouble US got itself into cos we beleive we are gods!PEACE!

Africmento

June 10th, 2007, 10:28 PM

This forum should be renamed the African comedy club. It almost always makes me laugh.

I feel terribly sorry for every country in Africa besides Nigeria, for it seems that Nigeria is the only country that ever wants to get a mention here.

Guys i know you are passionate about your nigeria, but you guys are getting a very bad reputation across the entire SSC cos of your uncontrollable rants. All the south africans have done is raise pertinent facts and ask questions, all you have replied is vicious rhetoric. And that "Naija" guy is one scary MoFo

Dysan1, I won't retort to your comments because it would only continue the SA vs Nigeria saga. But I do want to say that this whole episode is EXACTLY why Nigeria should have it's own forum. Let Nigerians go in and talk about Nigeria and accentuate the positives, which is really the goal. We know that there are many negatives in Nigeria (an SA too) but we want to look at the positive progressions. I rarely go there but I have perused the South African forum and obviously it is mostly South Africans that make postings and comments in there and you don't see much of this SA vs Nigeria type hijacked threads. You can have your own lively debates amongst yourselves. But on SSC|Africa forum it is easy for South Africans to now come in and thrash the threads if you don't like a comment made by a Nigerian because it is an African forum and not limited to just Nigerians. Typical was the Abuja 64 story stratosphere thread that started into a SA vs Nigeria saga when Mosi came in making his typical negative comments. Look at the Kenyan Nairobi thread showing beautiful pictures and positive direction of Nairobi. It is easy for someone to go in and hijack the thread and talk about what is going on now with the Nairobi slums of Mathare and show pictures of 'the other Nairobi' but nobody is gonna do that.

Focus on the positives.

Matthias Offodile

June 10th, 2007, 11:00 PM

Dysan Mike2005 and Mosi, how many Nigerians are on SA forums leaving silly comments?
Answer:None!

And how many SA are here to preach us how "under-developped" we are and how "superb" you are?
Answer: Almost All!

We will never become friends, we tried it so many times and it always failed. I also tried to be friendly and refrain from verbal attacks in the past months but if you people continue to treat us badly, look for provocations like Mosi this time, I just i consider it my obligation to shoot back vehemently!

So now my only plea is just to avoid any future conflict that SA people simply stick to their forum and stay away from Nigerian-related topics they know absolutely nothing about! Why is this so simple to understand for you people?

Matthias Offodile

June 10th, 2007, 11:01 PM

9yja

June 10th, 2007, 11:03 PM

Artemis

June 10th, 2007, 11:06 PM

EXACTLY why Nigeria should have it's own forum. Let Nigerians go in and talk about Nigeria and accentuate the positives, which is really the goal.

and why should anybody stay off posting so called "negative comments" in a nigeria section? that won´t change your problem..

in my view the problem is that most users here are not intrested enough in the main topics of this forum (highrises, urbanity, architecture, design..) - this is clearly. just have a look at the offtopic threads which are opend day by day or those threads which are highjacked and spammed over with political discussions. otherwise this problem would be nonexistent.

nigeria may need a SSC forum cause the amount of projects is going to reach a significant level, but not for the reason you stated, so i am aganist it cause my concern is that some users think the this section could draw the outline against other users...

stoicman31

June 10th, 2007, 11:34 PM

I totally agree with the above post. They have made a joke out of SSC Africa section. I understand its the poorest region in the world but whats up with all these fighting? aren't there any developments going on there, rather than the wish to dominate each other?

Matthias Offodile

June 11th, 2007, 12:00 AM

and why should anybody stay off posting so called "negative comments" in a nigeria section? that won´t change your problem..

How much of the negative do we find on other forums like the SA forum? Do they show their slums, crime, filth and poverty and discuss it broadly, the answer is NO

But we Nigerians should be obliged to talk the matter over and over again "just because it is Nigeria" and the Western media has spread this stereotypical images on Nigeria/Africa over many years or even decades!

Again my answer is a strict: NO!

The Nigerian sub-section as well as any other sub-section should solely focus on positive news, that´s what I find on any other forum on SSC. Moreover, we should subdivide our forum in the future.

1.) Projects

2.) Skybar

But you will see that some particular "friends" from that country or downunder will seek any way or form to provoke us even if it goes as far as to sign on under a new name/identity or whatever!

Africmento

June 11th, 2007, 06:26 AM

what are you also refering to by adding that, just to please an ignorant.don't let me consider you as a mother f^^ker traitor,for you re Exhibiting idiocy of you in person.

:ohno: :ohno: :ohno: Uncalled for. Actually, I agree with friendsofthecity's general comments and also his specific comment and you are proving his point (about you and obvious comments by others to that effect). Sometimes you've just gotta tone it down.

Africmento

June 11th, 2007, 06:34 AM

and why should anybody stay off posting so called "negative comments" in a nigeria section? that won´t change your problem..

Why? For the same reasons Nigerians don't post "negative comments" in the current South African forums. They don't have to but they do.

Hey, everyone can agree to disagree. Nothing wrong with that. All Nigerians don't agree on the same thing all the time or even most of the time, if you haven't noticed. But it's one thing to have a lively debate about something and another to intentionally force an unnecessary volcanic eruption.

in my view the problem is that most users here are not intrested enough in the main topics of this forum (highrises, urbanity, architecture, design..) - this is clearly. just have a look at the offtopic threads which are opend day by day or those threads which are highjacked and spammed over with political discussions. otherwise this problem would be nonexistent.

True that the main topics of this forum are highrises, urbanity, architecture, design etc, but whether it is SSC or skyscraperpage or any other forums, there is normally always a SKYBAR section or a SUB-FORUM thread within the main forum to discuss offtopics. Here on SSC there are dozens of offtopics in the South African forum, if you haven't noticed.

Yes, there tends to be political discussions. I believe you are Nigerian and thus understand that in Nigeria development and politics usually are inseperable bed partners.

9yja

June 11th, 2007, 12:59 PM

:ohno: :ohno: :ohno: Uncalled for. Actually, I agree with friendsofthecity's general comments and also his specific comment and you are proving his point (about you and obvious comments by others to that effect). Sometimes you've just gotta tone it down.
really!i'm not oppose to his "campaigning" for peace,:ohno: just dat he added a few words about "naija" which was unacceptable!
it's okay know!:cheers:

GregPz

June 11th, 2007, 02:22 PM

So now my only plea is just to avoid any future conflict that SA people simply stick to their forum and stay away from Nigerian-related topics they know absolutely nothing about! Why is this so difficult to understand for you people?

Um....This was not a Nigerian topic it was an AFRICA topic so South Africans have as much right as anybody to comment. Granted the Forbes list (which I posted for interest and comment, not to stir controversy) isn't complete. Thanks for pointing that out but it would be nice if forummers then update the list to reflect reality with data to back it up instead of immediately going on the defensive and denouncing the list as racist and seeing it as an attack on Nigeria. These forums are about discussion and debating not the immature fighting that ths become the Africa forum trademark.

80SAFRIKAN

June 11th, 2007, 02:37 PM

Western media has spread this stereotypical images on Nigeria/Africa over many years or even decades!

Exactly. Thats the great thing about this site. It has the courage to show the side of Africa "we" dont often get to hear about.

People around the world have such a distorted view of Africa and Africans because of the media.....

If you are interested in the negative side of Africa there are plenty of other places to go, this should be a place for people who believe in Africa and want to focus on the positive things that ARE happening on this unique continent.

hsark

June 11th, 2007, 04:51 PM

sorry but what was the topic of this thread again ??

Tbite

June 12th, 2007, 02:02 PM

Okay this is really getting ridiculous. In my opinion there is no reason whatsoever why Nigeria's richest man Aliko Dangote shouldn't be in the Top #3, but after much debate it is evident that debating his worth is a waste of time.

So let's just agree to disagree and get back to the topic.:)

Matthias don't stress yourself out, there is nothing to discuss here.:)

Tbite

June 12th, 2007, 02:07 PM

South Africa's Richest Black Billionaire.

Patrice Motsepe

http://www.africancrisis.org/images/Patrice_Motsepe_01.jpg

http://www.africancrisis.org/images/Patrice_Motsepe_02.jpg

http://www.africancrisis.org/images/Patrice_Motsepe_03.jpg

Patrice Motsepe (born 1962) is a leading African South African mining entrepreneur. His company, African Rainbow Minerals (ARMGold), has interests in gold, ferrous metals, base metals, and platinum.

He is married to Dr. Precious Moloi and they have three children.

Patrice Motsepe was voted South Africa's Business Leader of the Year in 2002[1]. In 2004 he was voted 39th in the Top 100 Great South Africans.

As a passionate football lover he also owns Mamelodi Sundowns FC which is the most successful premiership club in South Africa since the inception of the Premier Soccer League in 1996. They have won four league titles and a few cups, and are still the only club to have won three consecutive league titles. He is also a big contributor to the social development of South Africa, sponsoring a few disadvantaged NGO's and school journeys aimed at discovering the future starts of South Africa soccer.

Appointed to the Board of ARMGold in 2003 and became Executive Chairman during 2004.

Another Article about him :)
http://www.africancrisis.org/Photo.asp?Subject=RBM

africanman

June 13th, 2007, 11:51 PM

This discussion is about the richest individuals in Africa but it has forked into something else completely. I would argue that to be a billionare, you need records to protect your wealth. We all know individuals have arquired wealth in shaddy deals but for anyone to be a billionare and not have any way to show his assets, he or she is taking major risks. Now I don't know how many millionares are from SA, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique or any other African country but I do know that to protect your interests you need some kind of public record of your wealth.
We can argue about advantages certain individuals had/have but numbers do not lie and I hope that we can all leave it at that. I would be very disapointed if Kenya had 10 people on the list with all the poverty in the country. Centralized wealth really only benefits the individual not the larger comunity and in effect stifles development. Countries like Sweden and Norway which do not have anyone in the top 50 have a higher living standard because opportunities are available to everyone.

Tbite

June 22nd, 2007, 08:07 AM

Nigeria: Dangote - Leading Businessman And Billionaire

Business in Africa (Johannesburg)

21 June 2007

Aliko Dangote isn't your run-of-the-mill successful Nigerian businessman. He is always simply clad - no three-piece suits, no natty ties, no fawning aides, no airs, and no long speeches. Just a simple babariga, the long robe favoured by Nigerians for leisurely activities, topped by a small roundish cap.

But beneath that cap is one of the smartest business minds in Nigeria, a mind that has helped this modest and shy 50-year-old businessman to become Nigeria's undisputed Number One industrialist and business king, sitting atop a multi-billion dollar business empire, from a humble beginning that does not include a college education.

Unlike many of Nigeria's other big businessmen, Dangote is averse to publicity. Getting an interview with him (for example, BIA made efforts to get an interview with him for weeks to no avail), as journalists have discovered is seldom a successful affair.

"I have always been a bit shy with the press-I don't want too much publicity," he said during a rare interview with The Guardian, one of Nigeria's leading dailies, in 2000.

So how big is Dangote? Given the dearth of statistics on the holdings of most of Nigeria's super-businessmen, there is no proper estimate of Dangote's wealth. But his businesses' sheer presence, its reach and supply of the majority of basic items lend credence to the commonly held belief that he is Nigeria's richest. Dangote, with his Dangote Group of companies, runs about 13 companies with interests in oil, banking, agriculture, manufacturing, textile and transportation spread across the West African Sub-region. Recently, he listed two of these companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and analysts put his stakes in these two alone as being more than $4bn. His on-going projects are said to be about $10bn and this include the world's biggest sugar refinery, a 300,000 barrels a day oil refinery and a 5,000 megawatt power project. Already, he owns one of Africa's biggest cement plants, the $800mn Obajana cement plant (three others are nearing completion); co-owns a charter airline; several dollar-denominated luxury high rises; and the most viable of Nigerian textile and flour mills. And much more. Among Nigeria's small tribe of billionaires, rivalry is intense and often very deep. Seldom is a member of the group willing to admit that the other is richer or smarter. But Femi Otedola, Nigeria's undisputable leader in the diesel market (Otedola, a canny businessman whose company, Zenon, though less than a decade old has pushed locals and multinationals aside to emerge the leader in this highly sub-sector, will also make good material for another story) and a billionaire wasted no time in admitting that Dangote is in a class of his own. "This is the richest man in Africa," Otedola, a good friend of Dangote, told a BBC reporter earlier this year.

Although, he is modest to the point of being reticent, Dangote is a very shrewd and capable businessman. His rivals, such as the big businesses he ran out of the rice and sugar markets, accuse him of underhand and ruthless tactics. But Dangote likes saying that his tactics-such as the time, he imported a huge consignment of rice to crash high prices at the behest of government- are normal. One other thing that has helped Dangote is his political correctness. Although he is Obasanjo's good friend, he has equally good rapport with opposition politicians and likes reiterating that he is a businessman and not a politician. He has however said that he has no interest in politics.

"I am a businessman, pure and simple," he once said to another interview, "Our intention is to do business, and help the communities where we do business. My father was actually a member of the Federal House here; he was a politician and a business man. You know at that time you could combine being a business man and also a politician. And really my father was quite big in politics but that doesn't mean that I have any ambition. I have been living here in Lagos (or about 20 years but people hardly know me."

His unlikely run to the top of the Nigerian business sector started at the age of 20 in 1977 when he got a loan of N500,000 from his maternal grandfather, the patriarch of a very successful trading family, the Dantatas. That loan was what he parlayed into enormous wealth. His father, a notable but less-business inclined politician, left him two buildings. "I did not really inherit anything apart from, maybe, two buildings. I had three (Benz) 911 (10 tonner trucks) which my grandfather bought for me and they were working and he was keeping the money for me at that time. So by the time I came out, I had about N127,000 or so. And then my grandfather also gave me a letter to collect N500 000 as loan to be paid back in two years but there was no interest," he told The Guardian.

Before then he had worked for his uncle. In fact, in his word, he 'squatted' in the latter's office when he started with two staff: a manager and a secretary. "I started with the business of cement, which was giving us a lot of money because at that time Nigeria was making so much money and we were doing a lot of constructions. On a vehicle which I normally get from my uncle, I was making about Nl,350 to Nl,4000 and everyday I had an allocation of about 3-4 trucks including Saturdays and Sundays.

"Later I realised that I was making a lot of money though then I didn't have a lot of ideas of what to do. It was only cement business that I knew and I stuck to it up till 1980 when I started knowing Lagos, becoming a Lagosian, understanding where to go and finding people to buy import licences from. Within three months I paid my grandfather back because I had no further need of his money," he said. Dangote would always credit his move to Lagos in the 1980s as one of his biggest breakthroughs. Kano, his family operating base and business headquarters though one of West Africa's biggest trading hubs, lacks Lagos' many opportunities. He was afraid that his family wouldn't want him to come to Lagos. They felt Lagos' fast-paced life could corrupt him. "In fact, when I told my grandfather that I will like to be given the opportunity to come to Lagos, I just tried him because I thought the answer was going to be no but he allowed me to go," he said. And again he felt he should leave the family business and strike out on his own. "Working with family, you hardly succeed because you have other children. You know, it is difficult when you come from a large family," he said.

Dangote's greatest fear when he started business was that of failure. "I had that fear of being totally on my own because if there is a failure it will show immediately but if you are with somebody and there's a little failure, you'd still have a cover up because they'll be looking at that bigger signboards," he said. Fortunately for him, shortly after his arrival in Lagos and after he had made good money in the cement business, the military came and clamped all the leading businessmen into jail after accusing them of working with corrupt politicians. It was an opportunity of a lifetime for Dngote to take over the market left by this huge vacuum. He seized it with both hands. He cornered the sugar market and also made massive inroads into the importation of rice.

But he has also made mistakes. His biggest was his initial foray into banking, where a bank that he invested in heavily went bankrupt. But before it did, he had pulled out and cut his losses saying that he felt he should only operate a business that he understood. He said one of the reasons for the fast growth of his businesses is its prudence and wise investment decisions, the biggest of which is decision to always plough his profits back into Nigeria. "The difference between our company and others is that we always invest. We don't go on buying this one, or that one, spending money the normal (way) Nigerians kill business. We always try to re-invest whatever we make in the business not to take the money and keep it in an offshore account. (It is) not that we don't have money abroad. We have but not the majority of our money. We try as much as possible to invest our money here," he said.

But his biggest break was his shift from the importation business to manufacturing. That shift was inspired during a trip to Brazil in the late eighties. "The first company I visited was a company called Arisco, a company that produces 503 different items. I was impressed when I went to one of their factories. They had over 4,000 workers. Even though in Nigeria at that time we were not in manufacturing, the only manufacturing company we had at that time was textiles.

"Going to Brazil I thought that we were at the same level with Brazil because I used to hear of Brazil as a debtor nation owing so much money. But when I went there, I saw massive industrialisation, it was unbelievable. I started thinking that how come they have these things in Brazil and we don't have it in Nigeria. So with that now, when I came back I said okay, fine, I want to venture into industry," he said.

But he said he realised that the safest way of venturing into industry was to avoid a situation where both manufacturing and the marketing side of business will compete for his attention at the same time.

"So, the easiest for me to do is to now pick the same item that I am now trading in and do a backward integration, which will be much easier and faster for me. So we started with sugar refinery. Then when we met again we said what about spaghetti we are doing (importing) about 360 containers every year, we should go and do spaghetti. So, we jumped into spaghetti. Polypropylene bagging, because we didn't want somebody to hold us to ransom in terms of bagging. "Believe me, each and everyone item that we've gone into has been a blessing because there's not a single one that we are not making good money out of today. I realise that it is much better than trading, even though industries too have their own headaches (in terms of margin). If you have good margin like we have, you won't have any problems,' he said.

Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/200706211038.html

This Guy, is doing a lot for his country.:)

kulani

June 22nd, 2007, 07:03 PM

Aliko Dangote is the business man in Africa for sure, from the little that i have heard and read about him. I had not heard of this man until towards end of last year when i saw on DSTV the Dangote group of companies running some adverts along side the Tinapa project.

TBite, can you post a picture of this business man who i believe needs to be recognized for his wealth which was earned through hard work and his business acumen.

Matthias Offodile

June 22nd, 2007, 10:00 PM

ALHAJI ALIKO DANGOTE

http://www.africareport.com/uploads%5Cvideo%5Cthumb8446555057137.jpg

http://www.afripol.org/person6.gif

Tbite

June 23rd, 2007, 04:54 AM

The Guy is not your Average Business man, He once said that If Nigeria goes down he'll go down with Nigeria. What a Man.:|

GregPz

June 23rd, 2007, 11:05 AM

The Guy is not your Average Business man, He once said that If Nigeria goes down he'll go down with Nigeria. What a Man.:|

That's good to hear because so many of Africa's wealthy seem to forget their roots and the countries that made them and instead head off to join the European elite.

iluvnaija

June 23rd, 2007, 06:14 PM

kulani

June 23rd, 2007, 06:33 PM

yep ...u see the problem with forbes not listing him is cot cos he is african but cos he is black...even in america there was an uproar about how they(forbes) always try n exclude black peeps..oprah was one of the first tht thy admitted to ...till date thy refuse to recignize micheal jackson despite his beatles collection worth over a billion dollars...so its a much bigger thng thn bein african

I can accept that there may be some people who have earned they wealth honestly who are being overlooked because of their African roots. Its definately got to do with the media's anti-African crusade and attitude which paints this picture of an africa that is plagued by poverty, disease, corruption, wars etc. Something i know irks our President Mbeki a lot. But we do have to be careful too that we don't suggest unsavory characters as being worthy of praise.

This of course must apply to American and European billionaires as applying double standards will tarnish the reputation of such lists and recognition. A guy like Aliko Dangote with the little that i know about him, appears to have simply built up his empire through hard work and should be recognized while a character like Mike Adenugo who is being pursued even by Nigeria's own EFCC should not be recognized in this list until he is acquitted by EFCC of all crimes of economic nature. By the same token the oil oligarchs of Russia should not make the list until they have been cleared of any wrong doing. So I am totally against the use of double standards.

kulani

June 23rd, 2007, 06:36 PM

I heard something about Dangote buying an oil refinery, is it one of these or a completely different refinery?

* Port Harcourt Refinery (PHRC), 210,000 bpd
* Warri Refinery (WRPG), 125,000 bpd
* Kaduna Refinery (KRPC), 110,000 bpd

Matthias Offodile

June 23rd, 2007, 07:39 PM

By the same token the oil oligarchs of Russia should not make the list (...)

But surprisngly those Russian oligarchs that made their money illegally made it to the top ranks of the Forbes list and guess why??.....
Answer: because they are 100% "pure" white, so they are allowed to "enter"!:ohno:

iluvnaija

June 23rd, 2007, 07:42 PM

iluvnaija

June 23rd, 2007, 07:43 PM

its the portharcourt refinery he bought......he also plans to build another one....p.s..it wasnt jst him it was a consortium of investors

Tbite

June 23rd, 2007, 08:42 PM

iluvnaija

June 23rd, 2007, 09:12 PM

africa's largest not second largest...

Tbite

June 24th, 2007, 10:12 AM

^^ The initial Articles said it would be the Largest, but more recent releases say Second Largest, So I really don't know.

kulani

June 24th, 2007, 06:28 PM

^^ The initial Articles said it would be the Largest, but more recent releases say Second Largest, So I really don't know.

Based on the thread (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=489835) about africa's oil refinery capacity, it would appear to be second largest after Algeria's Skikda Refinery (Sonatrach), 323,000 bpd. Nonetheless the Port Harcourt at 210,000 bpd would still be second largest in Africa and definitely the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa.

kulani

June 24th, 2007, 06:31 PM

the problem with adenuga does not partain to him directly.....there is a particular shareholder who owns some shares in his company who the efcc suspect to be babangida and dat is wwot they are tryin to get out of him....so its not him directly but the company he keeps

If you have nothing to hide, then you won't be on the run and refuse to meet with EFCC investigators. So i would not put a lot of confidence in him until he has at least availed himself for questioning with EFCC.

iluvnaija

June 24th, 2007, 10:38 PM

kulani he wos talkin bout the cement factory not the refineries

kulani

June 27th, 2007, 01:48 PM

kulani he wos talkin bout the cement factory not the refineries

Thanks for pointing this out. I thought he was talking oil refineries.

kulani

June 27th, 2007, 01:58 PM

Well the worth of an Entrepreneur would have to be determined by The worth of the Individual's companies, Shares, Investments etc. Aliko Dangote has 13 Companies listed on the NSE and he is the Majority Owner of Africa's Second Largest Cement Factory, Valued at between 990 Million and 2 Billion Dollars. He is also building the World's Largest Sugar Factory in Nigeria, so there is no doubt that the Man should be in the Forbes List. Forbes need to gather the details and List him.

Statistics should be refuted and overlooked if they have selective data

Guys, I have some inside information about the Dangote group. Two of my friends (an Investment Analyst and the other a Fund Manager) working for a prestigious private equity fund based in Joburg were in Lagos to go meet several Nigerian highflyers listed on the NSE including the Dangote group as well as the guys at Zenith Bank and IBTC (i think this is a bank too, is that what its called?) last week.

They told me that Dangote's sugar refinery alone is making a profit of roughly $289 million per year and its market share is almost 100%. He has listed 2 companies on the NSE and his stakes in both are well over $4 billion and he will be listing every single one of the remaining 11 companies on the NSE over the next 3-4 years. They were talking to him as their fund wants in on the IPOs. In their own words "Dangote's companies literally run entire economic sectors in Nigeria and his wealth is massive"

skytrax

June 27th, 2007, 05:51 PM

iluvnaija

June 27th, 2007, 07:07 PM

yeah IBTC is a bank..n dangote has a near monopoly on the sugar and cement market

9yja

June 27th, 2007, 07:26 PM

Billionaire???? are you sure?
I thought that the only black billionaire in the world was Oprah Winfrey...
Oprah's money is not anywhere near the richest black billionaire,lol.

kulani

June 27th, 2007, 07:41 PM

Billionaire???? are you sure?
I thought that the only black billionaire in the world was Oprah Winfrey...

Times are changing quickly and new billionaires are emerging in Africa.
Patrice lifted his net worth by around $400 million last year to $1.14 billion

Motsepe lifts personal wealth to R8bn

Staff Writer
Posted: Thu, 21 Jun 2007

http://www.miningmx.com/cm_pics/wts/1562-0-0-0_294925.GIF
http://www.miningmx.com/profiles/989928.htm

[miningmx.com] -- MINING supremos Patrice Motsepe, chairman of African Rainbow Minerals and Tokyo Sexwale, who recently resigned the chairmanship of Mvelaphanda Resources, clocked up the biggest increases in personal wealth, according to a recent survey.

'Who Owns Whom', which uses beneficial ownership of shares listed on the JSE Securities Exchange as an indication of who might be the country's richest people, said Motsepe increased his beneficial ownership in 2007 by 179% - a R2.85bn leap - to R7.94bn. This move sees him jump up to fourth position from eight last year, said Who Owns Whom.

Mvelapanda Resources chairman and presidential hopeful Tokyo Sexwale recorded a 275.1% increase in value to R979m, said Who Owns Whom.

The personal wealth of both mining house entrepreneurs was dwarfed, however, by Lakshmi Mittal of Mittal Steel and Nicky Oppenheimer of Anglo American and De Beers. They are the richest directors on the JSE, said Who Owns Whom. Johann Rupert of Rembrandt Trust also came in among the top most wealthy directors.

Oppenheimer is the richest South African-born person, with personal wealth invested in the JSE totalling R14.09bn, but Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal is the richest JSE investor overall.

Mittal just pips Oppenheimer to the number-one spot in the table that lists the top 50 directors in terms of value of their shareholdings in JSE-listed companies, with his 52.02% holding of Mittal Steel SA translating into an investment total of R14.68bn. Given that Mittal was born in India, Oppenheimer assumes top spot as the wealthiest South African through JSE-listed holdings.

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The total market capitalisation (value) of the JSE at the date of the first table in 2006 was R2.89 trillion, said 'Who Owns Whom'; it has since grown by 20.9%.

'Who Owns Whom' said 38 of the 50 directors who appeared in the 2006 list have made an appearance again. The average increase in holdings of the 38 directors is 51%, outstripping the growth in value of the JSE.

Other significant increases in value were enjoyed by Bidvest boss Brian Joffe (a 261.2% leap to R986m) and PSG's Jannie Mouton (who saw his holding grow by 140.1% to R670m).

Inertia

June 27th, 2007, 10:14 PM

Oprah's money is not anywhere near the richest black billionaire,lol.

haha u know nothing dude. Oprah is the richest woman in the world, and subsequently the richest black person, by a long margin. Please only post info that u can actually back up

friendsofthecity

June 27th, 2007, 11:24 PM

There are possibly blacks which are far richer than Oprah Winfery from so many angles but their wealths cannot be accertained.At the moment Oprah Winfery is the second richest black person on earth after Ethiopian Mohammed Al Amoudi, according to forbes.

9yja

June 28th, 2007, 12:14 AM

haha u know nothing dude. Oprah is the richest woman in the world, and subsequently the richest black person, by a long margin. Please only post info that u can actually back up
You make me wanna pee...how much is oprah's money nowadays.Though uncertain, i know she is the richest black woman!

Mageba

September 4th, 2007, 02:42 PM

There is always a bias in favor of the one doing the survey, for their desired effect. This so-called balanced reporting serves the interest of those who are waging economic and psychological warfare against Africa in general. Although there may exist some truth, it is important to understand the psychological implications for our people. Keeping score on whose wealth is greater does not better the conditions of our people, but validation should not be in the hands of the enemies of Africa. Never expect a combatant to acknowledge your strengths nor allow you an advantage. The best thing we as Africans (indigenous) is build together for for the sake of our lands and progeny. Azibuye emasisweni.

Alex Roney

September 4th, 2007, 06:00 PM

Their maybe wealthier blacks than Oprah, but none can be held to a higher moral standard than this woman.

OPRAH FOR PRESIDENT! :banana:

ewangai

September 4th, 2007, 06:13 PM

there is no way sasol is bigger than nnpc..its not possible. check global ranking of oil companies

I saw in the FT that NNPC is almost Bankrupt so it might not be doing that well.

Jakes1

September 5th, 2007, 12:53 PM

I saw in the FT that NNPC is almost Bankrupt so it might not be doing that well.

But it is nigerian, so it must be performing incredibly well! ITS ALL LIES I TELL YOU! Propoganda! Even the poorest companies/people in nigeria are better/wiser/more beautiful/more amazing etc. than anyone else on the continent or in the world. And richer of course...

Matthias Offodile

September 5th, 2007, 07:18 PM

But it is nigerian, so it must be performing incredibly well! ITS ALL LIES I TELL YOU! Propoganda! Even the poorest companies/people in nigeria are better/wiser/more beautiful/more amazing etc. than anyone else on the continent or in the world. And richer of course...

Shut up!

Matthias Offodile

September 5th, 2007, 07:24 PM

Jakes1,

I have forgotten to add "there is no reasonable management nor preople outside SA, Namibia and Botswna". Spmeone from you guys said that a while ago.

So why did Nigeria got $9.5 BILLION dollar in foreugn invetsment (most of it went to the non-oil sector) despite tons of deficiencies that your wish to point out incessantly while Namibia just received $22 Million in a year "although" 120 000 Whites still run the country.

You people discredit yourself, it is like bad comedy!

allhavoc

September 6th, 2007, 02:13 AM

Is all this really necessary?

ewangai

September 6th, 2007, 06:29 PM

Inertia

September 7th, 2007, 05:27 PM

You forget Matthias is a full blown racist - he hates whites. It's actually quite unacceptable that the mods allow him to post drivel like that ^^

kulani

September 7th, 2007, 05:34 PM

Guys, lets revert back to the purpose of this thread. I am sure we all get the point. I really think we all could learn from one another and actually stop calling each other names and all that. Africa needs our collective effort and co-operation to move forward and not the kind of swearing and intolerance i see here every now and then. That said, we should not become intolerant to differing opinions. It is the hallmark of a progressive society to have different opinions and not attempt to suppress them. At the same time, those who want to criticize must not abuse their right to do so and must do so without bias or prejudice or else they risk losing their credibility.

Matthias Offodile

September 8th, 2007, 11:23 AM

You forget Matthias is a full blown racist - he hates whites. It's actually quite unacceptable that the mods allow him to post drivel like that

That´s the best joke that I have heard for a long time. Me hating whites???? :lol: :lol: :lol: You take my breath away...I don´t have anything againts White people, many friends and even relatives of mine are white. So stop your nonsense and ill-founded talk

For the very last time: I have absolutely nothing against white people, I only don´t like the Whites of your country, I am sorry (but you don´t like Nigerians neither, we all have our preferences....maybe there are kind people among you but I haven´t met them so far, I am sorry) and I am not awfully fond of the Whites that live in Namibia (because many of those that live there have a right-wing German background) Read the history books, it is written in there.

But just as Kulani said, let´s just cut it off here - we are running in circles - and let´s return to the topic of the thread.

I will simply do my very best to ignore comments from people of your country as long as they are not given by Kulani and Pule.

Lydon

September 8th, 2007, 10:30 PM

After all of that nonsense I've totally forgotten what the point of this thread was...

P.S. You managed to contradict yourself with "For the very last time: I have absolutely nothing against white people, I only don´t like the Whites of your country,..." You can't not like us and have nothing against us at the same time. Make up your mind.

iluvnaija

September 8th, 2007, 10:42 PM

guys guys back to the point o the thread.......aiite who do y'all think are the current billionaires on the block in africa and who might get included on forbes new list...personally i think people like dangote, sexwale, mike adenuga, femi otedola and co are some o them anybody agree

Matthias Offodile

September 9th, 2007, 05:28 PM

P.S. You managed to contradict yourself with "For the very last time: I have absolutely nothing against white people, I only don´t like the Whites of your country,..." You can't not like us and have nothing against us at the same time. Make up your mind.

No, there is absolutely no contradiction for me. Do Norwegians have the same "mentality" than people from Kosovo? Are Danish people like Spaniards? All are white but differences are huge between white people. Same for the Whites of South Africa. I am not fond of the White South Africans (IN GENERAL: maybe there are some nice and liberal individuals among you....), the reasons for my dislike have been given too many times on this forum, I don´t want to repeat them over and over again. South Africans don´t like Nigerians neither (that´s no secret). We can both learn to live with it, at least myself!

Lydz, Your are new to this forum otherwise you would see the larger picture of it.

But please put all those matters to rest now, we won´t be able to talk matters over, we have tried too many times before with no fruitful results. So I have made up my mind to ignore posts directed by certain SA members. It is the only way to deal with it.

Lydon

September 9th, 2007, 08:45 PM

I have absolutely nothing against Nigerians. I think they are very friendly people. Just because one person in an a$$ doesn't mean the rest of their race/people of the same nationality are. Attempting to judge an entire nation of people is simply naive.

Being new to this forum (which I as a matter of fact am not...I only recently decided to end my silent observance and start posting) has absolutely nothing to do with my opinion. This being a forum means that I can readeverything you have posted, and I have a pretty good picture of what is going on thank you very much. Learning to "live with it" isn't going to solve anything. Imagine if people learned to live with hitler's rule...

All I can say is that disliking white South Africans is your own loss, and I certainly hope that I don't come across anyone as closed-minded as you seem to be.

Anyway...arguing amongst ourselves is going to get us nowhere. Hopefully we'll see a more diverse list of companies in the near future.

Matthias Offodile

September 9th, 2007, 08:58 PM

I have absolutely nothing against Nigerians. I think they are very friendly people. Just because one person in an a$$ doesn't mean the rest of their race/people of the same nationality are. Attempting to judge an entire nation of people is simply naive.

Being new to this forum (which I as a matter of fact am not...I only recently decided to end my silent observance and start posting) has absolutely nothing to do with my opinion. This being a forum means that I can readeverything you have posted, and I have a pretty good picture of what is going on thank you very much. Learning to "live with it" isn't going to solve anything. Imagine if people learned to live with hitler's rule...

All I can say is that disliking white South Africans is your own loss, and I certainly hope that I don't come across anyone as closed-minded as you seem to be.

Well, If that is your opinion of me and the world, well, then I - as a "close-minded" person - can "learn to live with it". FULL STOP AND END OF DISCUSSION!

Lydon

September 9th, 2007, 09:21 PM

"close-minded"

You forgot the "d" in your quote :jk:

stoicman31

September 9th, 2007, 09:59 PM

These racial arguments are really embarrassing to me. Can't we all get along? Matt aren't you half white?

Michaelda

September 9th, 2007, 10:09 PM

These racial arguments are really embarrassing to me. Can't we all get along? Matt aren't you half white?

what does him ahving to be half white have to do with anything? havent you guys read that he has no issue with white people per se, but rather the white south africans who seem to be some of the most racist people on the planet

Matthias Offodile

September 9th, 2007, 10:25 PM

what does him ahving to be half white have to do with anything? havent you guys read that he has no issue with white people per se, but rather the white south africans who seem to be some of the most racist people on the planet

Thanks Michaelda, that´s my point that I was trying to make clear!

Lydon

September 10th, 2007, 05:16 PM

I've personally never met a racist white South African, so obviously some of us *cough* hang out with the wrong crowd.

Tanzanite

February 3rd, 2008, 01:54 AM

Times are changing quickly and new billionaires are emerging in Africa.
Patrice lifted his net worth by around $400 million last year to $1.14 billion

Motsepe lifts personal wealth to R8bn

Staff Writer
Posted: Thu, 21 Jun 2007

http://www.miningmx.com/cm_pics/wts/1562-0-0-0_294925.GIF
http://www.miningmx.com/profiles/989928.htm

[miningmx.com] -- MINING supremos Patrice Motsepe, chairman of African Rainbow Minerals and Tokyo Sexwale, who recently resigned the chairmanship of Mvelaphanda Resources, clocked up the biggest increases in personal wealth, according to a recent survey.

'Who Owns Whom', which uses beneficial ownership of shares listed on the JSE Securities Exchange as an indication of who might be the country's richest people, said Motsepe increased his beneficial ownership in 2007 by 179% - a R2.85bn leap - to R7.94bn. This move sees him jump up to fourth position from eight last year, said Who Owns Whom.

Mvelapanda Resources chairman and presidential hopeful Tokyo Sexwale recorded a 275.1% increase in value to R979m, said Who Owns Whom.

The personal wealth of both mining house entrepreneurs was dwarfed, however, by Lakshmi Mittal of Mittal Steel and Nicky Oppenheimer of Anglo American and De Beers. They are the richest directors on the JSE, said Who Owns Whom. Johann Rupert of Rembrandt Trust also came in among the top most wealthy directors.

Oppenheimer is the richest South African-born person, with personal wealth invested in the JSE totalling R14.09bn, but Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal is the richest JSE investor overall.

Mittal just pips Oppenheimer to the number-one spot in the table that lists the top 50 directors in terms of value of their shareholdings in JSE-listed companies, with his 52.02% holding of Mittal Steel SA translating into an investment total of R14.68bn. Given that Mittal was born in India, Oppenheimer assumes top spot as the wealthiest South African through JSE-listed holdings.

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The total market capitalisation (value) of the JSE at the date of the first table in 2006 was R2.89 trillion, said 'Who Owns Whom'; it has since grown by 20.9%.

'Who Owns Whom' said 38 of the 50 directors who appeared in the 2006 list have made an appearance again. The average increase in holdings of the 38 directors is 51%, outstripping the growth in value of the JSE.

Other significant increases in value were enjoyed by Bidvest boss Brian Joffe (a 261.2% leap to R986m) and PSG's Jannie Mouton (who saw his holding grow by 140.1% to R670m).

umm do you realize that R8Billion is roughly $107 million??

Oprah's wealth is around $2.5 billion as of Sep 07..

Michaelda

February 3rd, 2008, 04:55 AM

umm do you realize that R8Billion is roughly $107 million??

Oprah's wealth is around $2.5 billion as of Sep 07..

isnt it roughly 1 billion dollars

Lydon

February 3rd, 2008, 12:21 PM

Erm...Tanzanite I suggest you have a look at the exchange rates...it's over $1 billion...

kulani

February 3rd, 2008, 07:37 PM

umm do you realize that R8Billion is roughly $107 million??

Oprah's wealth is around $2.5 billion as of Sep 07..

Me thinks either Tanzanite does not know the exchange rate between Rand and Dollar or that 8 billion is equivalent to 8000 million. Anyway, no harm in making mistakes as long as one is willing to accept and learn.

buffnaija

March 2nd, 2008, 12:57 AM

Fact is , forbes obviously has no presence in Nigeria. Theres no way u can tell me none of Nigerias 25 banks is not big enough to be listed as one of the biggest. Nigeria also has several large insurance companies that should be up on that list. And lets not forget globacom which has over 20 million subscribers. And besides, if nigerian business men want to be richer they need to list their companies on the stock exchange like dangote is doing. we have several Nigerians that could easily become billionaires if they did just that.

sammyjay77

March 2nd, 2008, 02:53 AM

Forbes (www.forbes.com) has published a list of the world's US$ billionaires and the 2000 biggest companies in the world. Here's how Africa fares:

US$ Billionaires
Global rank___Name_______________Country______Worth (billion US$)
62_______Naguib Sawiris____________Egypt_______10
158______Onsi Sawiris______________Egypt_______5
158______Nicky Oppenheimer & family_South Africa__5
194______Johann Rupert & family____South Africa__4.3
226______Nassef Sawiris____________Egypt_______3.9
432______Donald Gordon___________South Africa__2.2
664______Samih Sawiris_____________Egypt______1.5

Biggest Companies
316 Standard Bank Group.. South Africa.. Banking
333 FirstRand ..South Africa.. Banking
474 Sasol.. South Africa.. Oil & Gas Operations
554 Sanlam.. South Africa.. Insurance
656 Telkom.. South Africa.. Telecommunications Services
705 MTN Group.. South Africa.. Telecommunications Services
1023 Remgro.. South Africa.. Conglomerates
1115 Bidvest Group.. South Africa.. Conglomerates
1190 Impala Platinum Holdings.. South Africa.. Materials
1273 Imperial Holdings.. South Africa.. Transportation
1433 Naspers.. South Africa.. Media
1443 Barloworld.. South Africa.. Conglomerates
1702 Steinhoff Intl Holdings.. South Africa.. Consumer Durables
1748 Alexander Forbes.. South Africa.. Insurance
1765 Gold Fields.. South Africa.. Materials
1837 Metropolitan Holdings.. South Africa.. Insurance
803 Royal Caribbean.. Liberia.. Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
1508 Attijariwafa Bank.. Morocco.. Banking
957 Orascom Telecom.. Egypt.. Telecommunications Services
1560 Orascom Construction Inds.. Egypt.. Construction
1763 Telecom Egypt.. Egypt.. Telecommunications Services

Here's how they calculated the biggest companies:

Why are these lists still dominated by South Africa and Egypt? Where are representatives from emerging powers?

I am seeing all these breakdown for the first time and I laugh.:ohno::ohno::ohno:

This is what Political and Autocratic Forbes want you to believe.

I reserve my other comments.

sammyjay77

March 2nd, 2008, 02:59 AM

Aficas Brilliant Minds: Aliko Dangote

The group runs operations in several West African countries. The group's business areas include: food processing, cement manufacturing and transport. Most divisions or subsidiaries of Mr. Dangote's group are private and thus it is difficult to get a concise estimate of his personal wealth. He estimates his own wealth at $ 10 US billion, while a more conservative estimate which includes his $ 4 US billion stake in his two public come in at a little more than half of his estimate. Though estimates of his wealth vary depending upon the publication, one thing that doesn't change is the common sentiment is that Mr. Dangote is Africa's wealthiest business person.

From beninmwangi:

Dangote Sugar started as a small trading company back in the 70's and the company is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. It is a subsidiary of the Dangote Group. Based upon the information contained within the 2007 Dangote Sugar IPO prospectus and at today's exchange rate just this Dangote Group subsidiary alone has a value of over 1.6 Billion US dollars.

A survey of today’s Dangote Group would find a business conglomerate whose market covers Nigeria, as well as a huge portion of West Africa. The company is a market leader in sugar importation ( to the tune of 400,000 metric tonnes or 70 % of Nigeria’s total requirements). This imported sugar is refined in the group’s sugar refinery in Lagos, Nigeria and this sugar factory is reputed to be the largest on the African continent and the third largest in the world.

The Dangote Group also imports rice, cement, fertilizer, and fish-just to name a few. Additionally, the group exports cocoa, cotton, sesame seed, and ginger. The group is also a major producer of textiles and has a major stake in one of Nigeria’s largest salt processing companies.

Furthermore, he has made investment promotion in Nigeria and in other parts of Africa his own personal cause. One of the other interesting aspects of Mr. Dangote is his very low profile and media-shy demeanor.

kulani

March 2nd, 2008, 12:34 PM

I am seeing all these breakdown for the first time and I laugh.:ohno::ohno::ohno:

This is what Political and Autocratic Forbes want you to believe.

I reserve my other comments.

sammyjay77, i share your sentiments that there is probably a lot of skepticism that i believe may be largely fueled by jealousy against successful Nigerian businessmen. But do realize that the list of richest people is made up of people who own listed or publicly traded companies. As your article shows, Aliko Dangote's wealth is largely privately held assets which means that Forbes will not include him because they base their calculations on publicly traded assets. I understand that he has listed some of his assets on the Nigerian Stock Exchange but this only happened last year, so perhaps we should wait a little bit to see whether he is going to be featured in the next editions of Forbes once more of his companies are traded publicly on the NSE. We have had the same argument for the largest companies in Africa and i did point out that NNPC would not qualify on the Forbes list because they are state owned and not listed (just like for example Transnet and Eskom in South Africa). I think our best bet on that list is going to come from the telecoms and banking sector in Nigeria. The banks will probably get on that list first since Globacom does not look like it is listed. Why aren't they listing Globacom on the NSE.

Michaelda

March 3rd, 2008, 04:08 AM

well forbes does list the wealth of many owners of private companies, like oprah for instance. public companies make it easier to measure wealth but its not really a barrier if its private. besides dangote has several companies listed on the nigerian stock exchange. forbes is just a very racist magazine.

Alex Roney

March 3rd, 2008, 06:04 PM

^^:lol:

Xusein

March 3rd, 2008, 06:22 PM

Michaelda

March 3rd, 2008, 06:56 PM

i dont know it has something particular agaisnt nigerians, but the mag is racist. i used to be along time subscriber but had to end it

Alex Roney

March 3rd, 2008, 07:50 PM

i dont know it has something particular agaisnt nigerians, but the mag is racist. i used to be along time subscriber but had to end it

Michael I don't mean to be offensive but lets be honest here, Nigeria accounts for only .4% of the global economy, why would forbes waste energy and money to put it down? Matter a fact why would it risk being termed a racist magazine by people like you when its better spent collecting neutral data. After all its a financial magazine, the only color people like that care about is green.

Alex Roney

March 3rd, 2008, 07:52 PM

I don't know how many times I've heard people in this forum call magazines and newspapers racist simply because they don't like whats being written.

Inertia

March 3rd, 2008, 07:59 PM

I don't know how many times I've heard people in this forum call magazines and newspapers racist simply because they don't like whats being written.

I know it's a bit of a joke

Carver02

March 3rd, 2008, 08:18 PM

I don't know how many times I've heard people in this forum call magazines and newspapers racist simply because they don't like whats being written.
Because many times the writers are ignorant of much of Africa, assume that certain countries are basket cases and are not worth investigating, and/or are owned by known right-wingers (such as the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch, which has also published editorials in support of the intellectual inferiority of blacks).

Carver02

March 3rd, 2008, 08:20 PM

Michael I don't mean to be offensive but lets be honest here, Nigeria accounts for only .4% of the global economy, why would forbes waste energy and money to put it down? Matter a fact why would it risk being termed a racist magazine by people like you when its better spent collecting neutral data. After all its a financial magazine, the only color people like that care about is green.If that was their reasoning, then the list is named incorrectly. It should be the list of the richest people and the biggest companies that we (Forbes) know of, have come across, and/or care about.

sammyjay77

March 3rd, 2008, 10:43 PM

I don't know how many times I've heard people in this forum call magazines and newspapers racist simply because they don't like whats being written.

You have to see beyond your nose!!! Do you want to tell me that Black Africans are not seen as inferiors?. You must be a joker If you say NO!!!

sammyjay77

March 3rd, 2008, 10:43 PM

De La Canada

March 4th, 2008, 12:33 AM

OK for hose ofyou saying forbes is racist thats just not right...u want to know why all those african companies are up there? becuz they ahve been there for years. In nigeria becuz of political instability and a history of horrible infastructure which company will run succesfully and be able to be up there in that list

NONE!

Even today with the nigerian economy better you still have alot of rough edges such as the electricity problem. Once all these edges are smoothened out these companies will boom even more.

De La Canada

March 4th, 2008, 12:35 AM

For ailiko dangote talking about how rich he is why doesn't he call up Forbes and get his networth checked out? and just get it over with

Alex Roney

March 4th, 2008, 01:35 AM

Because many times the writers are ignorant of much of Africa, assume that certain countries are basket cases and are not worth investigating, and/or are owned by known right-wingers (such as the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch, which has also published editorials in support of the intellectual inferiority of blacks).

I'm sorry but thats a bunch of bs, western writiers are naive and ignorant about many regions, yet this is the only forum that I come to where people start chanting "racism! racism!" And a lot of times when certain countries don't figure well in certain statistics or rankings its as if that magazine has an "evil" agenda. Some people here have an inferiority complex, whenever someone says something they don't approve or does not fit their narrow minded view point its racism. I'm not saying that western publications don't get it wrong but bringing race is seriously getting old and it makes people look stupid when its blatantly brought up.

Alex Roney

March 4th, 2008, 01:37 AM

You have to see beyond your nose!!! Do you want to tell me that Black Africans are not seen as inferiors?. You must be a joker If you say NO!!!

Well sammy instead of preaching your little conspiracy theories, show me some proof. What I mean by proof is cold hard facts that show that they find black africans as inferiors, not some article you just don't like.

De La Canada

March 4th, 2008, 01:50 AM

Lagbuja

March 4th, 2008, 02:24 AM

Well, this is just a rumor, these are not my words but I heard that westerners dont want to acknowledge the success of black countries. Also, I heard that they want to keep negative stereotypes about africa alive.

This is terrible and it needs to be stopped.

adebayoa

March 4th, 2008, 10:43 AM

word alex roney the whole race card is just old and now getting disgusting........i have been watching these forums over the years and word it sickens me that every time Nigeria isn't mentioned in a global situation the chants of racism arise

from your comments, I can see that you are a caucatian. Are you telling me that racism does not exist and that Africans are seen in an equal light as Europeans and other Caucatians? Tell me then why is it that the only thing we see in the Weatern press about Africa is negative images of children starving to death and adults killing each other? Why is it that the West is willing to label Mugabe as a brutal dictator, whilst countries such as Saudi Arabia are let off the hook? Why is it that when Yugoslavia went to way the West intervened and yet allowed over 1 million Rwandans to be slaugthered?

Yes I agree there is no racism, we are all equal. :ohno::bash:

Alex Roney

March 4th, 2008, 12:25 PM

from your comments, I can see that you are a caucatian. Are you telling me that racism does not exist and that Africans are seen in an equal light as Europeans and other Caucatians? Tell me then why is it that the only thing we see in the Weatern press about Africa is negative images of children starving to death and adults killing each other? Why is it that the West is willing to label Mugabe as a brutal dictator, whilst countries such as Saudi Arabia are let off the hook? Why is it that when Yugoslavia went to way the West intervened and yet allowed over 1 million Rwandans to be slaugthered?

Yes I agree there is no racism, we are all equal. :ohno::bash:

LOL!!!! It's funny how those who scream racism and feel as if they have the moral high ground to call others racist are the ones who conjecture racist thoughts towards others. It's a fascinating anomaly. How do you know he's a caucation? Because he doesn't follow your point of view that everything is racist? You've just proven my point, you pass judgments on people you don't even know, your stereotyping is the real racism here. The "western press" which is a large and diverse sets of opinions write negative things about different regions all the time. The fact that you lump the "western press" into one is already ignorant. NBC and Fox News are polar opposites. Is it racist when the western press talks about human rights in China? Or violence and poverty in Latin America? It only seems to be racist when its negative talk about Africa hmm... how interesting.

Let me give you a little geo political lesson, the only reason why the Europeans and Americans intervened in the balkans because instability in Europe was not beneficial at all to the European powers. Unfortunately genocide in Rwanda was an irrelevent phenomenon to western powers, so they didn't react. It's a terrible mind set but nations act on their own interest, which is why nations like South Africa and Nigeria also did very little. Are they racist too?

sammyjay77

March 4th, 2008, 07:14 PM

Well sammy instead of preaching your little conspiracy theories, show me some proof. What I mean by proof is cold hard facts that show that they find black africans as inferiors, not some article you just don't like.

I am not preaching any kind of conspiracy theories here. You want facts and Here are some very few,one of them was even the headline in one of the UK biggest Dailies

In 2006 Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist at LSE, suggested that Africa’s plight is to be blamed on low IQ. There was fury in March 2006 when Frank Ellis, a supporter of the Bell Curve, at the university of Leeds suggested that women and blacks were inferior to whites. So it is no suprise that the latest person to throw their hat into the ring, a Dr Watson on tour in the UK, has suggested that “black people were less intelligent than white people and the idea that “equal powers of reason” were shared across racial groups was a delusion” and “Western policies towards African countries were wrongly based on an assumption that black people were as clever as their white counterparts when “testing” suggested the contrary.” Hmm…

WHAT A HELL!!!!!!

They will definitely cause offence to some people but I am trying to prove a point here!!!

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x43/sammyjay77/independent_181007_250px1.jpg

The editor of the Independent newspaper faces widespread criticism for the promotion of views legitimising "scientific racism".

The Independent was left reeling from a barrage of criticism after it helped to launch an anti-African campaign propagating "white" male supremacist views about African people.

The front page article of its 17th October issue featured the headline "Africans are less intelligent than Westerners" and became the subject of fervent national debate across the British media. The comments made by 79-year old James Watson, who currently heads one of America's leading scientific research institutions originally featured in an article in the entertainment section of the Sunday Times newspaper on 14th October and have left many querying why the Independent decided to make this a front page lead story three days after the publication of the initial piece. Some have claimed that the fact that the article coincided with the arrival of Watson into the country to promote the release of his latest book was a deliberate decision by the editorial team at the Independent.

The newspaper has so far refused to face up to public scrutiny about its irresponsible and racist decision to give such prominence to the redundant views of the genetic scientist, James Watson, who is known for his controversial views about women, genetic manipulation and African people. The online version of the article features the slightly amended headline; “Fury at DNA pioneer's theory: Africans are less intelligent than Westerners”.

Like I said earlier. You have to see beyond your nose.!!!

De La Canada

March 5th, 2008, 01:32 AM

what!!! I'm a black Man my friend not Caucasian........My Lord!

De La Canada

March 5th, 2008, 01:35 AM

De La Canada

March 5th, 2008, 01:38 AM

and Dude you can't compare Zimbabwe to Saudi Arabia...LMFAO!...THE Saudis are ruled by a monarch..hence they rule as long as they live...plus saudi arabia is doing amazing economically and even socially. Zimbabwe on the other hand is in shams under Mugabe and he is eating the country from the inside slowly. He isn't a monarch but a so called "President" ruling a so called "democratic" society which clearly isn't the case

De La Canada

March 5th, 2008, 01:40 AM

You people cannot seem to take criticism and consider all critics to be "Caucasian" and racist.......

Nixoderm

March 5th, 2008, 04:02 AM

Lagbuja

March 5th, 2008, 04:27 AM

Okay, I dont believe I'm writing this but it has to be said. :ohno:

The reason why people like this scientist think we're inferior is because the way we act and portray ourselves to be. In the media, especially american, black people are in music video's not using proper english and downright acting stupid, etc.

The wars in Congo, Rwanda (formerly), Cote d'Ivoire and Kenya fuel this scientists beliefs. In a way, I think we [blacks] are responsible for making people believe that were inferior. There is no reason for people to start wars and unrest over every little thing, many times things are never talked out, IF it is, than it is very brief. If Africans keep constantly going to war for something stupid, what do you expect people like this scientist to believe.

I'm not justifying this scientists racial rants but I'm just trying to establish that for an every action there is a consequence.

BTW: i'm a black american male.

sammyjay77

March 5th, 2008, 02:42 PM

Well sammy instead of preaching your little conspiracy theories, show me some proof. What I mean by proof is cold hard facts that show that they find black africans as inferiors, not some article you just don't like.

Alex Roney, I have already posted the "cold hard fact" proof that you asked for.

What are you going to say about it.?

Inertia

March 5th, 2008, 04:36 PM

That's an article in the Independent quoting someone elses opinion. Has nothing to with Forbes or the Independent for that matter. Disregarded.

Alex Roney

March 5th, 2008, 04:53 PM

I am not preaching any kind of conspiracy theories here. You want facts and Here are some very few,one of them was even the headline in one of the UK biggest Dailies

WHAT A HELL!!!!!!

They will definitely cause offence to some people but I am trying to prove a point here!!!

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x43/sammyjay77/independent_181007_250px1.jpg

Like I said earlier. You have to see beyond your nose.!!!

This is to easy.... How is that racist on the part of the newspaper? Look at the commentary under the title of the article "scientists causes fury.. blah blah bah" Only because any media does a story does not mean it endorses nor shares its opinion or views!!! I did journalism for about a year and covered many controversial topics, that doesn't mean I hold to those views.

Over a year ago the President at Harvard said that men are more intelligent than women, according to your logic any news paper or organization that asked or interviewed the president is in fact a sexist pig. Controversy sells!! And the Independent was in my opinion was clever to put that in their front page, because I bet a lot of people stoped and bought a copy of the paper that day. That doesn't make the publication racist, it makes them knowledgable about today's media and what sells.

Michaelda

March 5th, 2008, 07:38 PM

Michael I don't mean to be offensive but lets be honest here, Nigeria accounts for only .4% of the global economy, why would forbes waste energy and money to put it down? Matter a fact why would it risk being termed a racist magazine by people like you when its better spent collecting neutral data. After all its a financial magazine, the only color people like that care about is green.

do you ever bother to read forbes? when did the population of the country matter. its about the complexion of the citizens. as a former long time subscriber its clear how these editors view the world

sammyjay77

March 5th, 2008, 08:00 PM

This is to easy.... How is that racist on the part of the newspaper? Look at the commentary under the title of the article "scientists causes fury.. blah blah bah" Only because any media does a story does not mean it endorses nor shares its opinion or views!!! I did journalism for about a year and covered many controversial topics, that doesn't mean I hold to those views.

Over a year ago the President at Harvard said that men are more intelligent than women, according to your logic any news paper or organization that asked or interviewed the president is in fact a sexist pig. Controversy sells!! And the Independent was in my opinion was clever to put that in their front page, because I bet a lot of people stoped and bought a copy of the paper that day. That doesn't make the publication racist, it makes them knowledgable about today's media and what sells.

You said you were once a journalist-I have no reason to doubt you-but you will bore your readers to death because you lack the skill to sustain topics.

The question I asked you is this " Do you want to tell me that Black Africans are not seen as inferiors?." You went ahead to say " Well sammy instead of preaching your little conspiracy theories, show me some proof. What I mean by proof is cold hard facts that show that they find black africans as inferiors, not some article you just don't like."
I showed you proof. My point here is that we were writing about "Africans being refered to as inferiors" and you deviated and started talking about racism.

I could tell you were a student Journalist and not a professional

sammyjay77

March 5th, 2008, 09:45 PM

That's an article in the Independent quoting someone elses opinion. Has nothing to with Forbes or the Independent for that matter. Disregarded.

As for you Inerta, Look before you leap

Alex Roney

March 6th, 2008, 01:54 AM

You said you were once a journalist-I have no reason to doubt you-but you will bore your readers to death because you lack the skill to sustain topics.

The question I asked you is this " Do you want to tell me that Black Africans are not seen as inferiors?." You went ahead to say " Well sammy instead of preaching your little conspiracy theories, show me some proof. What I mean by proof is cold hard facts that show that they find black africans as inferiors, not some article you just don't like."
I showed you proof. My point here is that we were writing about "Africans being refered to as inferiors" and you deviated and started talking about racism.

I could tell you were a student Journalist and not a professional

The topic is about western media holding racist or a condescending mentality on Africans. Key word THE MEDIA not what individuals of different practices think.

BUT WERE TALKING ABOUT THE MEDIA!! Any person can take individual opinions and spin them around and generalize. All you got is what ONE scientist thinks, the article does not show that the newspaper itself holds those views.

You of all people seem the perfect person to judge.

Michaelda

March 6th, 2008, 03:30 AM

i guess forbes heard our complaints. dangote has been added to the new list of billionaires and he is more than 2x as rich as oprah

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_The-Worlds-Billionaires_CountryOfCitizen_16.html

Rank Name Citizenship Age Net Worth ($bil) Residence
677 Ralph Sonnenberg Netherlands 73 1.8 Switzerland
843 Joop van den Ende Netherlands 66 1.4 Netherlands
201 Graeme Hart New Zealand 52 5.1 New Zealand
707 Christopher Chandler New Zealand 48 1.7 New Zealand
707 Richard Chandler New Zealand 49 1.7 New Zealand
1014 Stephen Jennings New Zealand 47 1.1 Russia
334 Aliko Dangote Nigeria NA 3.3 Nigeria
247 Stein Erik Hagen & family Norway 51 4.3 Norway
368 Olav Thon Norway 84 3.0 Norway
396 Kjell Inge Rokke Norway 49 2.9 Norway
743 Arne Wilhelmsen & family Norway 77 1.6 Norway
897 PNC Menon Oman 59 1.3 India
785 Lucio Tan & family Philippines 73 1.5 Philippines
843 Henry Sy & family Philippines 83 1.4 Philippines
446 Leszek Czarnecki Poland 46 2.6 Poland
652 Michal Solowow Poland 45 1.9 Poland
897 Jan Wejchert Poland 58 1.3 Poland
897 Ryszard Krauze Poland 51 1.3 Poland
1014 Roman Karkosik Poland 57 1.1 Poland
1062 Boguslaw Cupial Poland 51 1.0 Poland
132 Americo Amorim Portugal 73 7.0 Portugal
605 Belmiro de Azevedo Portugal 70 2.0 Portugal
677 Jose Berardo Portugal 63 1.8 Portugal
843 Horacio da Silva Roque Portugal 63 1.4 Portugal
462 Dinu Patriciu Romania 57 2.5 Romania

Michaelda

March 6th, 2008, 03:36 AM

http://images.forbes.com/media/lists/10/2008/RS9H.jpg

the World's Billionaires
#503 Patrice Motsepe
03.05.08, 6:00 PM ET

Rodger Bosch/Bloomberg News/Landov
Age: 46

Fortune: self made

Source: mining

Net Worth: $2.4 bil

Country Of Citizenship: South Africa

Residence: Johannesburg , South Africa, Middle East & Africa

Industry: Mining/Lumber

Marital Status: married, 3 children

Education: Bachelor of Arts / Science
Doctor of Jurisprudence
Johannesburg mining magnate Patrice Motsepe is South Africa's first black billiionaire. Born in the sprawling black township of Soweto and then trained as a lawyer, Motsepe became the first black partner at Johannesburg's Bowman Gilfillan law firm, before starting a low-level conracting business doing mine scutt work. Bought low-producing gold mine shafts in 1994, turned them profitable using lean, mean management style. Since then, built $875 million (sales) mining conglomerate, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), with interests in a wide swath of minerals: precious metals (platinum and its cousins), nickel, chrome, iron, manganese and coal. Benefited from South Africa's Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) laws, which mandate that companies be at least 26% black-owned in order to get a government mining license. Also holds a 5.5% stake in Sanlam, a publicly traded financial services company outside Cape Town.

Distribution of Billionaires by Residence
Diameter of disc reflects size of fortune. The red disc indicates Patrice Motsepe

Nixoderm

March 6th, 2008, 03:38 AM

This figure makes him(Dangote) the 6th richest person in nigeria. However, I think this figure is a little short though. Even the BBC states his riches at least near 10 billion or more.

Michaelda

March 6th, 2008, 03:41 AM

http://images.forbes.com/media/lists/10/2008/64RI.jpg

#334 Aliko Dangote
03.05.08, 6:00 PM ET

Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images
Age: NA

Fortune: inherited and growing

Source: sugar, flour, cement manufacturing

Net Worth: $3.3 bil

Country Of Citizenship: Nigeria

Residence: Lagos , Nigeria, Middle East & Africa

Industry: Diversified

Marital Status: ,

Education:

Nigeria's first billionaire hit the jackpot when his sugar-production company listed on the Nigerian stock exchange last year. Meanwhile, proposed initial public offerings of his flour and cement companies have stalled. Began career as trader at 21 with loan from his uncle; built his Dangote Group into conglomerate with interests in sugar, flour milling, salt processing, cement manufacturing, textiles, real estate, haulage and oil and gas. Closely linked to Nigeria's former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

Michaelda

March 6th, 2008, 03:43 AM

This figure makes him(Dangote) the 6th richest person in nigeria. However, I think this figure is a little short though. Even the BBC states his riches at least near 10 billion or more.

we have other billionaires in nigeria for sure. i dont know their rank tho. whats interesting is how forbes discovered these guys when they had as much as 3.3. billion. its not liek they were hidden when they had 1 or 2. anyway, good to see this realm opening up

De La Canada

March 6th, 2008, 05:00 PM

it's about time he got listed by forbes

sammyjay77

March 6th, 2008, 05:21 PM

Jakes1

March 6th, 2008, 05:30 PM

Dangote is on the list - just go to news24 and see. His networth? 3,3billion, which puts him a bit ahead of Motsepe's (south africa) 2odd billion. You guys only see what you want to see, and read what you want to read into situations.

Alex Roney

March 6th, 2008, 05:43 PM

COUNTRY / BILLIONERS
Australia-14
Austria-3
Belgium-1
Argentina-1
Brazil-16
Canada-23
Chile-4
China-45
Colombia-2
Czech Republic-1
Denmark-1
Egypt-4
France-12
Germany-49
Greece-5
Hong Kong-33
Hungary-1
Iceland-1
India-50
Indonesia-3
Ireland-5
Israel-7
Italy-12
Japan-25
Kazakhstan-8
Kuwait-4
Lebanon-3
Malaysia-7
Mexico-10
Monaco-4
Netherlands-3
New Zealand-3
Nigeria-1
Norway-4
Philippines-2
Poland-6
Portugal-4
Romania-2
Russia-82
Saudi Arabia-13
Scotland-2
Singapore-8
South Africa-3
South Korea-11
Spain-18
Sweden-6
Switzerland-27
Taiwan-7
Thailand-3
Turkey-36
Ukraine-7
United Arab Emirates-6
United Kingdom-49
United States-460
Venezuela-2

Europe Rank:

1* Russia - 82
2* UK - 49 / Germany - 49
3* Turkey - 36
4* Switzerland - 27
5* Spain - 18
6* Italy - 12

After 13 years on top, Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world. That honor now belongs to his friend and sometimes bridge partner Warren Buffett.

Riding the surging price of Berkshire Hathaway stock, Buffett has seen his fortune swell to an estimated $62 billion, up $10 billion from a year ago.

Gates is now worth $58 billion and is ranked third richest in the world. He is up $2 billion from a year ago, but would have been as rich--or richer--than Buffett, had Microsoft not made an unsolicited bid for Yahoo! at the beginning of February. Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helú now ranks as the world's second richest person with a net worth of $60 billion.

http://www.forbes.com/home/lists/2008/03/05/richest-people-billionaires-billionaires08-cx_lk_0305billie_land.html

Another misunderstanding I've seen in this forum is bragging on how many billionaires each country has. If your a developing country, having a lot of billionaires and millionaires isn't necessarily a good thing. In fact it reflects the income inequality. Of course with a growing economy the number of super wealthy will increase, but you want the people at the bottom of the economic ladder to improve at an equal or close enough pace.

Michaelda

March 6th, 2008, 06:18 PM

alex, who has bragged about how many billionaires a country has. people simply want these people recognized.

Michaelda

March 6th, 2008, 06:20 PM

sammyjay77

March 6th, 2008, 07:20 PM

alex, who has bragged about how many billionaires a country has. people simply want these people recognized.

Thank you...He is trying to show off with South Africa`s 3 Billionaires. Nobody is arguing about the number of Billion Dollar Men and women from any country but crying for them to be recognised. That simple!!!

paddylo

March 6th, 2008, 08:13 PM

i personally dont recognize those white south african billionaires. . . .they are illegitimate billions stolen from the black people of south africa. . .and everyone knows that

Moonblue

March 6th, 2008, 08:17 PM

A genuine question though. Now that Dangote has been "recognised", so what? Has that improved anything or is it just a pride thing so that we can say we have a billionaire?

paddylo

March 6th, 2008, 08:28 PM

no its not pride. . .he is listed on the stock exchange,he has made those smart nigerians who invested in his sugar refinery company millionaires,he has created wealth. . .he improves nigeria industrial/manufacturing/exporting base. . .i could go on. . .but i guess u're too blind to see it. . .

Moonblue

March 6th, 2008, 08:37 PM

The wealth thing is not new and those who invested in his business that he "made" millionaires were made millionaires irrespective of wether he was listed by forbes or not. He improved exporting base and all that before he was listed by forbes, so i am still yet to see why people have made this"recognition" a big deal if it is not just for things like 'we have a billionaire too'. All the things that you said this listing has achieved have not been achieved by the listing but was achieved since before he was listed by forbes.

sammyjay77

March 6th, 2008, 08:43 PM

i personally dont recognize those white south african billionaires. . . .they are illegitimate billions stolen from the black people of south africa. . .and everyone knows that

I like this man...cmon hit the nail on the head!!!

sammyjay77

March 6th, 2008, 08:44 PM

A genuine question though. Now that Dangote has been "recognised", so what? Has that improved anything or is it just a pride thing so that we can say we have a billionaire?

:ohno: :nuts: :nuts: :nuts:

sammyjay77

March 6th, 2008, 08:46 PM

paddylo

March 6th, 2008, 08:54 PM

so i am still yet to see why people have made this"recognition" a big deal
@Moonblue
then why have a list at all?...why dont u direct that to forbes. . but if u must have a list dont exclude a carlos slim richest in mexico,a warren buffet richest in the u.s or an aliko dangote richest in Nigeria. . its as simple as that. . .

plus we have this bullcrap here in the states of the richest black person in the world being oprah winfrey. . .most people who know Nigeria will tell u thats simply not true. .

Alex Roney

March 6th, 2008, 10:17 PM

i personally dont recognize those white south african billionaires. . . .they are illegitimate billions stolen from the black people of south africa. . .and everyone knows that

And people say that I'm the racist. :lol:

pappy

March 6th, 2008, 11:31 PM

A genuine question though. Now that Dangote has been "recognised", so what? Has that improved anything or is it just a pride thing so that we can say we have a billionaire?

No, it's just to say he's been recognized and he's a statistic. Nobody promised anything.

pappy

March 6th, 2008, 11:34 PM

pappy

March 6th, 2008, 11:38 PM

i dont know it has something particular agaisnt nigerians, but the mag is racist. i used to be along time subscriber but had to end it

Kill your emotions, try to sound intelligent.

Michaelda

March 6th, 2008, 11:40 PM

Kill your emotions, try to sound intelligent.

so its unintelligent to recognize and point out racism?

pappy

March 7th, 2008, 01:12 AM

so its unintelligent to recognize and point out racism?

No, but it's unintelligent to cry about the situation like a baby. Calmly state your opinion and keep it moving.

Alex Roney

March 7th, 2008, 01:25 AM

paddylo

March 7th, 2008, 02:53 AM

And people say that I'm the racist.
@Alex roney
u can laugh all u want my man. . .but south africa was a genocidal racist country,for most of its history of white rule till right about 1994. . . .thats the fact. . .if u want me to accept those so called white billionaires then u must be willing to accept any millions of dollars that mugabe and his cronies own in zimbabwe. . . .as legitimate. . .

funny how when black people point out historical facts. . .we are called racist. . .

De La Canada

March 7th, 2008, 05:01 AM

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU....MY GOODNESS MATURITY DEFINATLEY DOESN'T COME WITH AGE GOSH! I AM IN SHOCK AND DISBEILIF AT THE WAY ALL OF YOU ACT

THIS IS WHY AFRICA IS THE WAY IT IS...CONSTANT FIGHTING AND BICKERING OVER WHAT?....WHATS SO IMPORTANT THAT EVERYBODY HAS TO GO AT EACH OTHERS THROATS. YA'LL NEED TO SHATTUP ABOUT RACISM BECAUSE THATS NOT WHAT JAN HAD IN MIND WHEN CREATING THIS SITE.

MY GOODNESS YA'LL SERIOSULY MAKE ME SICK

Michaelda

March 7th, 2008, 05:02 AM

No, but it's unintelligent to cry about the situation like a baby. Calmly state your opinion and keep it moving.

which is what i did. but you clearly have an issue with it, but lack the capacity to express it articulately, hence the name calling. and you are calling for an intelligent conversation. ok, lol

pappy

March 7th, 2008, 05:04 AM

which is what i did. but you clearly have an issue with it, but lack the capacity to express it articulately, hence the name calling. and you are calling for an intelligent conversation. ok, lol

Just let it go. It's not that serious.

Michaelda

March 7th, 2008, 05:04 AM

This the last time I'll speak on this dumb matter regarding Forbes being "racist". Personally its probably the last time I'll even comment on any topic remotely related to this. I just like everybody to pick up the latest edition from Forbes. I'll give you a hint, the man on the cover is African and even more importantly for some here, he's BLACK!! I know I can't believe myself. I'll try to cry myself to sleep in shame.

you have your opinion, i have mind. you even think aparthied wasnt that bad and even if it was, so what, its just history. anyway, ..whatever. im sure you dont even read forbes outside of its yearly lists

Michaelda

March 7th, 2008, 05:05 AM

Just let it go. It's not that serious.

sure kid

Jakes1

March 7th, 2008, 11:43 AM

This thread is going south fast. Seems that rascists are always the ones who fail to admit that they are in fact a bit, uhm, shall we say reductionist?

Jakes1

March 7th, 2008, 11:45 AM

i personally dont recognize those white south african billionaires. . . .they are illegitimate billions stolen from the black people of south africa. . .and everyone knows that

Yes, luckily black africans can claim never to have exploited their fellow africans... or can they?

Men exploit men. Thats what humanity does. And if you cry victim the entire time, you will remain a victim.

Alex Roney

March 7th, 2008, 12:46 PM

you have your opinion, i have mind. you even think aparthied wasnt that bad and even if it was, so what, its just history. anyway, ..whatever. im sure you dont even read forbes outside of its yearly lists

Please provide evidence to that statement. Everyone is quick to make stupid statements but when I ask people to back up their claim, theirs silence.

Tbite

March 7th, 2008, 02:13 PM

ufookoro

March 7th, 2008, 02:19 PM

Nigeria: Forbes Names Dangote Richest African

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This Day (Lagos)

7 March 2008
Posted to the web 7 March 2008

Simon Kolawole
London

At last, an African has made it to the list of the world's richest persons in a yearly survey conducted by Forbes, the influential American magazine.

With an estimated net worth of $3.3 billion, Nigeria's industrial magnate, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is ranked the 334th richest person in the world.

He is one of the only two Africans who made the record-breaking list of 1,125 billionaires worth $4.4 trillion - the first time the rich-list would cross into four figures.

The other African on the list is South Africa's gold merchant, Mr. Patrice Motsepe, who is ranked 503 in the world.

However, the overall wealthiest person in the world is no longer the Microsoft co-founder, Mr. Bill Gates, who had continuously enjoyed the richest-man label for 13 years.

His friend and investment guru, Warren Buffet, is now the richest man in the world with $62 billion - an increase of $10 billion from the previous year.

Buffet has enormous investments in Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and Tesco, among several others.

Although Gates's fortune soared by $2 billion to $58 billion during the period surveyed, the Mexican communications magnate, Carlos Slim Helu, is ranked second with a net worth of $60 billion, pushing Gates to the third position.

Dangote's source of wealth, described as "inherited and growing" by Forbes, is traced to sugar, flour and cement manufacturing.

The magazine wrote: "Nigeria's first billionaire hit the jackpot when his sugar-production company listed on the Nigerian stock exchange last year Began career as trader at 21 with loan from his uncle; built his Dangote Group into conglomerate with interests in sugar, flour milling, salt processing, cement manufacturing, textiles, real estate, haulage and oil and gas."

Sources said last night that Dangote may worth more than $3.3 billion as Forbes' evaluation may not have covered non-quoted companies that are privately owned by the business mogul. Such businesses include Obajana Cement, Dangote Cement, Alheri Engineering, Port Terminal Operations, Transport and Oil & Gas. Sources close to Dangote confimed that when Forbes contacted the billionaire, they were only able to ascertain an estimation of his net worth on the basis of his quoted companies such as Dangote Flour, Dangote Sugar and Benue Cement Company.

Forbes was also said to have approached Dangote to feature him on their cover for this billionaire list edition which he politely declined.

Speaking to THISDAY on phone from Dubai yesterday, Dangote said he was grateful to God, but was confident that more Nigerians would make the list next year.

"The country is moving in the right direction," he said. "Things are happening. I am very confident that in the years to come, Nigeria alone will boast of 100 billionaires who are entrepreneurs. The signs are very good for Nigeria. Next year, I expect at least five Nigerians to be on the list."

Dangote's optimism is obviously shared by Forbes which noted that for the first time, the list cuts across the world.

"The reason for this explosion in wealth is that we're in the midst of a phenomenal global boom," Steve Forbes, Chief Executive of Forbes Magazine, said. "Never before in human history have so many people in so many parts of the world advanced so quickly economically as has happened in recent years."

Americans account for 42 per cent of the world's billionaires and 37 per cent of the total wealth, but Forbes noted that those shares are down two and three percentage points, respectively, from last year.

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And 16 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia, with 87 billionaires, is the new No. 2 country behind the US, overtaking Germany, with 59 billionaires, which held the honour for six years, the magazine noted.

The world's richest woman is the French L'Oreal chief, Liliane Bettencourt, who is 17th on the list with a net worth of $22.9 billion.

Other notable names on the rich-list include US chat-show host, Oprah Winfrey, worth $2.5 billion, property mogul, Donald Trump, $3 billion, and Harry Potter author JK Rowling $1billion.