A Nigerian is African richest man!

Behold the face of an African Billionaire!

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. 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.