Tag: Nigeria

Residents along the Lagos Badagry expressway in Nigeria on Sunday, witnessed a loud explosion followed by sparks of thick flames, that claimed lives and caused extensive damage to buildings.

Debris and thick smoke were seen over a large area as perturbed residents gathered in groups assessing the damage. Local media reported 15 deaths citing the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, said in a statement that the incident “was as a result of gas explosion which occured after a truck hit some gas cylinders stacked at a gas processing plant.

An NNPC official added that “preliminary findings indicated that the impact of the explosion was so huge that it led to the collapse of nearby houses and damage to NNPC pipelines on which efforts are being made to curtail the resultant fire.”

Nigerians took to social media to grieve in part and also bemoan what they said are dysfunctional systems that expose ordinary people to such hazards. The NNPC boss and his team visited the site of the incident while President Muhammadu Buhari also sent condolences via social media.

Source: africanews.com

The deaths recorded from the Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has reached 118, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has disclosed.

From January 1 to February 23, 2633 suspected cases, with 689 confirmed cases and 118 deaths have been recorded in the country.

The number of cases has significantly increased compared to what was reported for the same period in 2019.

In 2019, 1249 suspected cases with 381 confirmed and 83 deaths as of the same period.

This year, there have been more cases reported in more states across the country.

Outbreak

Lassa fever has become an epidemic in the country and is being diagnosed all year round. The Lassa fever season peaks during the dry season from November to May with high case fatality rates.

In the reporting week, NCDC said the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 115 cases from the previous week to 102 cases.

These were reported from 18 states – Ondo, Ebonyi, Edo, Bauchi, Plateau, Benue, Lagos, Enugu, Gombe, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Sokoto, Taraba, Delta, Rivers, Adamawa and Nasarawa.

Also, four health workers were newly infected in Edo and Ondo states, bringing the total number of infected health workers to 20.

Health workers are susceptible to getting infected because of the nature of the disease.

Cumulatively from week 1 to week 08,118 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate of 17.1 per cent.

In total for 2020, 27 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 115 local government areas.

Of all confirmed cases, three states – Edo, Ondo and Ebonyi – have the highest burden of the disease at 72 per cent.

The primary host of the disease is the rat and it (ailment) is transmitted from the rodents to humans. Human to human transmission also occurs and has been identified as high proliferation of the disease.

Symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, sore throat, general body weakness, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pains, chest pain, and in severe cases, unexplainable bleeding from ears, eyes, nose, mouth, vagina, anus and other body orifices. It could also present persistent bleeding from sites of intravenous cannulation.

Source: allafrica.com

The Mexican government has returned an “ancient” bronze sculpture to Nigeria after it was seized by customs officials in the capital’s airport.

The sculpture is believed to date back to the 6th Century from the south-western city of Ife, reports AFP news agency.

An official from Mexico’s foreign ministry is quoted saying that the sculpture had been illegally exported.

Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) tweeted a photo of the sculpture:

#PrensaINAH 🗞️

Restituye México pieza del pueblo yoruba a la República Federal de Nigeria; esta acción se suma al llamado mundial de retornar el legado patrimonial a su lugar de origen.

Más información 👉 https://t.co/RSp1ywYr2G pic.twitter.com/NaPkVAiwQy

— INAHmx (@INAHmx) February 26, 2020

Diego Prieto, the head of INAH, is quoted saying that experts had “determined that it was a piece of Yoruba origin”.

Source: myjoyonline.com

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) yesterday said it killed some key leaders of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) at Jubillaram and Alinwa in the northern part of Borno State.

This came as troops of the Operation Hadarin Daji in Zamfara State killed 13 bandits and arrested eight others in Zamfara State.

NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, said yesterday in Abuja that the Air Force Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation Lafiya Dole, under the auspices of Operation Rattle Snake III, struck the ISWAP leaders as they assembled for meetings, after intelligence reports.

The statement however, did not give the number of those killed, their names or ranks in the group, but it added: “The mission was executed on the heels of credible intelligence reports indicating that some key ISWAP leaders had assembled for meetings, which were being held simultaneously at two separate venues, at Jubillaram and Alinwa in Marte Local Government Area.

“Accordingly, the ATF scrambled its attack aircraft to engage both locations, damaging the meeting venues and neutralising the terrorists,” Daramola said. He said they were neutralised in operations conducted on Thursday.

Daramola said NAF, operating in concert with surface forces, would sustain its air campaign to shape the battlespace in the North East for the effective conduct of further ground and air operations.

According to him, Operation Rattle Snake III which commenced on February 4, was aimed at targeting selected locations within the North East in order to shape the battlespace for more effective onslaught against the insurgents.

The multinational joint task force (MNJTF) also recently announced that it killed a high ranking ISWAP commander named Khalifa Umar.

A statement from the Task Force said the influential commander of the terror group was “eliminated” during an airborne attack on one of the insurgents’ hideout on a Lake Chad community known as Tunbums Sabo.

The statement signed by Timothy Antigha, the spokesman of the MNJTF, indicated that Khalifa Umar was killed during an “ongoing offensive operations against ISWAP and other purveyors of violence and instability in the Lake Chad Basin.”

Although ISWAP’s main area of operations is further east in the Lake Chad area, the group has attacked a number of military locations in the Maiduguri-Biu-Damuturu triangle in recent months. In late July, ISIS claimed ISWAP fighters killed 25 Nigerian troops in Benisheikh and earlier that month claimed ISWAP fighters fought off a Nigerian military assault in the Damboa area.

In a related development, troops of the Operation Hadarin Daji in Zamfara State killed 13 bandits and arrested eight others in Zamfara State, the Acting Force Information Officer, Captain Ayobami Oni-Orisan said in a statement yesterday.

Source: allafrica.new

The United Kingdom has expressed its readiness to deepen and strengthen relationship with traditional partners in the commonwealth after exit from European Union.

The UK High Commissioner to Nigeria, Amb. Catriona Liang, expressed the country’s desire when she paid a courtesy visit to Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje at the Government House, Kano.

“I think we are in a very good period at the moment because with the new government in the UK under Prime Minister Boris Johnson we are in a journey of re establishing and strengthening relationship with traditional commonwealth partners in Africa particularly Nigeria.

“Nigeria is always important to relationship in Africa, we put our money where we have our biggest mission, we have 500 people working for us, 300 in Abuja and 200 in Lagos and another 30 or so in places like Kano,” she said.

According to her, the previous Prime minister visited Nigeria few years ago and that she has been given clear instructions to deepen and strengthen the relationship and partnership.

Liang said that one of her major jobs was to follow up to the UK -Africa summit, with focus on commerce and economic side of it.

Speaking on Kano, the high commissioner said that the country would focus on three broad areas; governance, human development and economic growth.

She said that the UK would slightly shift the way it worked in the country, saying that it was going to develop the concept called “neutral accountability”.

“We are commending the governor for his efforts in human development. This is very encouraging. It is noteworthy to understand that we are strengthening our ties with African states.”

“We are also looking at agriculture, the main stay of your state economy. Ours is to always strengthen our ties. It is known that Kano state has a long standing relationship with our country,” she said.

Ganduje solicited for stronger synergy between the state and United Kingdom, hinting that policies around the sectors were deeply entrenched to have great impact on human development.

“In the area of education, we came up with this policy, which we know is a heavy-loaded policy statement, which needs all hands on deck.

“We all believe that with the right education, these issues of insecurity and joblessness would come to pass.

“We also understand that education is a right to each and every citizen.

“That is why we have a Law in place that whoever fails to take his child or children to school is committing an offence,” he said.

“The issue of the integration of Almajiri system into our conventional education system is another task that must be accomplished. That is why we are also taking this matter very seriously.

“In the area of agriculture I am informing you that apart from making sure that we maximize our production, we are doing our best to also see that farmers get all the necessary support to do well in their farmlands,” he said.

According to him, the support comes from good and people-oriented agric policies to provision of quality seeds, other implements among others.

Ganduje urged United Kingdom to help hand in propelling and supporting the noble programme that would address the issue of out-of-school children with all seriousness and determination.

Source: allafrica.com

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Amaju Pinnick has defended the choice of Joseph Yobo as assistant coach of the senior national team, amid a huge public outcry over his appointment last week.

The former captain, 39, replaces Imama Amapakabo and is expected to work with manager Gernot Rohr as third in command.

But some fans and a section of the local media have questioned the decision to appoint Yobo saying he ‘lacks the right qualifications’.

“The concept behind this is to nurture and condition former captain Joseph Yobo to provide leadership and mentorship for the young team,” Pinnick said.

“He has an incredible experience playing for some of Europe’s biggest clubs. He is one of our most-capped players ever and also won the Nations Cup.

“I believe that as Nigerians we have a chance to make a positive step forward and it’s important to give him the opportunity to succeed.”

His country’s second most capped player, Yobo won the first of his 100 caps for Nigeria against Zambia in Chingola in 2001.

The former Everton, Fenerbahce and Norwich City star, who represented his country at the 1999 Under-20 World Cup, skippered the Super Eagles to Africa Cup of Nations success in South Africa in 2013.

However, the former NFF’s head of the technical department, Kashimawo Laloko, insists there are better options. He says there are more well known names in the country other than the defender who played in six Africa Cup of Nations tournaments between 2002 and 2013 in a 14-year career.

“I don’t think we should just appoint someone because of their name. As it is, Yobo is not qualified to be an assistant coach,” Laloko told BBC Sport.

“I have nothing against him as a person but his appointment lacks logic. There are other qualified former players who are more deserving to be assistant coaches.”

Despite the criticism, Pinnick says the football authority is ready to support Yobo to grow in the role and in his effort to obtain the required licences.

He also calls for patience and public support to enable Yobo to follow in the footsteps of his former coach, Nigeria legend Stephen Keshi.

“Yes Fifa rules say that the head coach and first assistant coach must have coaching licences, but Yobo is not the first assistant coach,” Pinnick added.

“That’s how Stephen Keshi started. Who says Yobo can’t be the next Nigerian to win the the Nations Cup as player and coach.

“We can tap into his wealth of knowledge because we can not keep relying on foreigners as coaches all the time. We as a nation can help build one of our own.”

In the last three decades, Austin Eguavoen, Stephen Keshi and Samson Siasia are the three former international players to have gone from assistant coaches to managing the Super Eagles.

Yobo featured in three World Cup tournaments in 2002, 2010 and 2014, playing ten matches at the World Cup finals in total – the most appearances for the West African nation on the biggest stage.

He became the first African to captain Everton in October 2007 and made more than 250 appearances for the Toffees, helping them qualify for the Champions League in 2005 and playing in the side that lost the 2009 FA Cup final to Chelsea.

Ward representatives and a section of civil society leaders have rejected a proposal for regional governors.

In their memoranda to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) task force that is validating its report, the leaders want the devolution structure to remain as it is.

“We instead call for the revitalisation of the economic blocs which will spur economic growth in the regions,” said Ms Florence Mwangangi the vice-chairperson of the County Assemblies Forum.

The forum has a membership of 2,331, who include 2,237 MCAs, the 47 Speakers and the 47 clerks of the regional Houses.

The idea of creating regional governments was first mentioned by ODM leader Raila Odinga during the 2018 Devolution Conference in Kakamega.

He suggested that these larger governments would manage the counties to make them financially viable and better managed.

Similarly, the Multi-Sectoral Forum, comprising civil society leaders, dismissed the regional government’s proposal as a bad idea.

OVERSIGHT AGENCY

The forum, instead, proposed the establishment of a devolution oversight authority.

In its presentation, the County Assemblies Forum, chaired by Nyandarua County Assembly Speaker Ndegwa Wahome, called for financial autonomy from the county executive.

“It is unfortunate that up to now, county assemblies have to rely on the county executive to get funding. It does not make sense that a county assembly, which is at the mercy of the governor, has to oversight the county executive that decides when and how much money it gets,” said Ms. Mwangangi.

Similarly, the group wants strict adherence to the Commission for Revenue Allocation recommendations on revenue sharing, saying that any deviation by Parliament should not exceed three percent.

Source: nation.co.ke

Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court, Abuja has restrained Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from deregistering 31 political parties.

Justice Chikere, in her ruling, said having failed to counter the application by the applicants, the affected political parties had the legal right which must be protected.

In an interlocutory motion with suit number: FHC//ABJ/ CS/444/19 between Advanced Congress of Democratic (ACD) and 2 others Vs. Attorney General of the Federation and another (INEC), the applicants had on Oct. 30, 2019, approached the court.

INEC had, on Feb. 6, deregistered 74 political parties .

Nigeria has over the past 18 years recovered $4.6 billion (1.4trn) allegedly looted from the nation’s treasury and stashed abroad by the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha. Data on the recoveries collated by Daily Trust indicates that the funds were repatriated mainly from four countries between 2002 and 2020 under the administrations of Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.

The countries include Switzerland, Jersey Island in the United Kingdom, United States of America and Liechtenstein.

Under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, $1.2 billion was recovered in 2002; $149 million from Jersey Island, the UK in 2003; $500 million recovered in 2004 from Switzerland and another $458 recovered in 2005 from Switzerland.

During the Goodluck Jonathan administration, $1 billion was recovered in 2012 and $380 million in 2015, both tranches from Switzerland. The Jonathan administration also recovered $227 million from Liechtenstein in 2014 and $48 million from the United States the same year.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s government recovered $322 million from Switzerland in 2017 and $308 million from Jersey Island, United Kingdom in February 2020, being the latest.

Of the four countries, Switzerland tops the list of countries where the funds were recovered from.

A total of about $2.6 billion of the funds so far repatriated to Nigeria was recovered from Switzerland while the other recoveries came from UK and USA. Switzerland was the principal recipient of funds allegedly stolen under the Abacha regime. However, there are concerns that funds so far recovered may have been ‘re-looted’ or mismanaged by those at the helms in Nigeria.

Last week, an agreement was signed by the federal government, the government of Jersey and the United States to repatriate $308m of such funds to Nigeria, under some conditions.

The agreement which the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, signed behalf of Nigeria, tied the return of the funds to three major projects across Nigeria.

The projects include the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway (Western Region), Abuja-Kano Road (Northern Region), and Second Niger Bridge (Eastern Region).

Conditional transfer

Negotiations for the return of the funds which began in 2018, according to the agreement, specifically indicated out who will manage the assets and the various organisations that would monitor the expenditure to ensure that they are not diverted to other purposes.

The tripartite agreement reads in part: “The projects on which the funds will be expended will be administered by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority and independently audited. The Federal Republic of Nigeria will establish a monitoring team to oversee the implementation of the projects and report regularly on progress.

“The Nigerian government, in consultation with the other parties, will also engage civil society organisations which have expertise in substantial infrastructure projects, civil engineering, anti-corruption compliance, anti-human trafficking compliance, and procurement to provide additional monitoring and oversight.”

The attachment of the conditions was blamed on the poor accountability and high level corruption in the country, especially that previous repatriated funds were said to have been stolen.

The latest fund to be repatriated was looted through the US but was recovered and confiscated in Jersey Island at the request of the US government.

The funds were laundered through the U.S. banking system and then held in bank accounts in Jersey in the name of Doraville Properties Corporation, a British Virgin Islands company, and in the name of a son of the ex-military ruler.

“This agreement has culminated in a major victory for Nigeria and other African countries as it recognizes that crime does not pay and that it is important for the international community to seek ways to support sustainable development through the recovery and repatriation of stolen assets,” Malami said after the agreement was signed.

He said the funds would be administered by Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund and used to develop roads that will boost supply chain connections and economic growth.

The Swiss government in 2017 said it would return to Nigeria about $321m in assets seized from Abacha’s family via a deal signed with the World Bank.

In a separate news release, the U.S. Department of Justice said it was seeking to enforce forfeiture judgments for approximately $30m in assets located in Britain and more than $144m in France.

The moves to recover the funds started just after former President Olusegun Obasanjo got to office in 1999.

In April 2002, the Abacha family returned $1bn to the federal government in a deal which involved the Swiss Federal Office of Justice.

The deal allowed the family to keep $100m and required the government to drop “some criminal charges” against Mohammed, Mr Abacha’s son, New York Times then reported.

According to Transparency International (TI), in 2006, another $723m was returned to Nigeria from Switzerland but was largely unaccounted for.

“That past experience led Switzerland to controversially attach conditions to the repatriation of this batch of $322 million in 2018, including third party oversight – meaning that the World Bank will now monitor the distribution of the funds,” TI said.

A Swiss court in December 2014, ruled that the Swiss government should repatriate the funds on condition that the World Bank would monitor its use.

This was followed by the federal government, the Swiss Federal Council and the World Bank Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on December 4, 2017, capturing the tripartite agreement on the World Bank’s monitoring role and the modalities of the fund’s repatriation and disbursement.

While the World Bank’s role is limited to monitoring the use of the funds, the responsibility for the use of the funds is with the federal government.

Previous arrangements

In 2005-2006, the funds were returned directly from Switzerland to the Nigeria and were programmed into the national budget and utilized by the Nigerian government in line with its National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS).

At that time, at the request of, and in agreement with the Nigerian and Swiss governments, the World Bank carried out an ex-post analysis on the use of the repatriated funds, particularly in terms of the contribution for these funds to NEEDS.

The bank’s analysis took a two-pronged approached looking at general budget expenditure trends at the macro level while also conducting a field survey of randomly selected projects funded under the budget program. Its role was limited to analyzing spending of repatriated funds after they were disbursed, and had no role in supervising the implementation.

In addition, in order to provide independent monitoring of the use of the funds, Nigerian Civil Society Organizations under the umbrella of the Network on Asset Recovery (NAR) made up of civil society organizations with expertise in anti-corruption and asset recovery will monitor the use of the funds for cash to beneficiaries and provide bi-annual reports on the use of the funds.

US warning

The United States warned Nigeria to be prepared for repayment if the latest $308m in question about to be released to the country was stolen again.

The spokesperson for the US State Department, Morgan Ortagus, in a statement said this was part of the deal with the Nigerian authorities before the Island of Jersey where the funds are being kept, agreed to its repatriation.

“The funds will be used by the Nigerian Independent Sovereign Authority for three infrastructure projects in strategic economic zones across Nigeria.To ensure that the funds are used responsibly and for the good of the nation, the agreement includes mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of these projects as well as external oversight, and it requires Nigeria to repay any funds lost as a result of any new corruption or fraud to the account established to hold the returned assets.

“This return reflects the growing international consensus that countries must work together to ensure stolen assets are returned in a transparent and accountable manner.This agreement is a symbol of the weight that the United States government places on the fight against corruption,” he said.

The US said they welcome President Muhammadu Buhari’s personal commitment and would continue to support civil society and other Nigerian efforts to combat corruption at all levels, as the fight against corruption is an investment in the future of Nigeria.

Reactions

In one of the earliest reactions, a human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, advised President Buhari to reject Switzerland’s conditions for the return of $321m loot. Falana said the condition given by the Swiss government, which allows the World Bank to supervise the spending of the returned assets, breaches international law.

Falana urged the federal government to collaborate with relevant civil society organizations to mount campaigns locally and internationally to ensure full compliance by Switzerland, the United States and other countries with international law principles of accountability, sovereignty, equality, fairness and non-interference.

Also, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and the Transparency International’s chapter in Nigeria, expressed concern about a lack of parliamentary and public approval of the distribution scheme.

CISLAC’s Executive Director, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said the center had repeatedly called for a trust fund to be set up to manage the repatriated assets, and other assets seized within Nigeria. According to him, repatriated assets from abroad account for only 10 to 15 percent of all assets seized since 2015.

“We are supporting the government in this recovery but with the condition that there must be an establishment of integrity trust fund that would manage this money and assets. We want to ensure that we have an institutional framework that would monitor the recovered assets in Nigeria,” Rafsanjani said.

Source: Daily Trust

For the ninth year in a row, Aliko Dangote of Nigeria has been declared as the wealthiest person in Africa, with an estimated net worth of $10.1billion.

In the latest ranking of the world’s billionaires by Forbes, the American global media company, focusing on business, investment, technology, entrepreneurship and leadership, Dangote’s present worth is down from his estimate of $10.3 billion, a year ago; attributed to possibly a slightly lower stock price for his Dangote Cement flagship company.

Africa has 54 nations, but only eight countries have billionaires according to Forbes, with South Africa and Egypt dominating not only the top 10 richest people in Africa list, but in the rankings overall with five billionaires each. Nigeria comes second with four billionaires, including Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.

Nassef Sawiris of Egypt is the new number two richest, worth $8 billion, up from $6.3 billion last year. Sawiris’ most valuable asset is a stake in shoemaker Adidas worth a recent $4 billion. The increase in Adidas’ share price alone added nearly $1.5 billion to his fortune since January 2019. He also owns a significant stake in fertilizer producer OCI N.V. In 2019, Sawiris and U.S. investor Wes Edens purchased the remaining stake they didn’t own in U.K. Premier League team Aston Villa Football Club.

Number three on the list is Nigeria’s Mike Adenuga, worth $7.7 billion. He owns mobile phone network, GloMobile as well as oil producer Conoil and extensive real estate holdings. His mobile phone network, Globacom, is the third largest operator in Nigeria, with 43 million subscribers while his oil exploration outfit, Conoil Producing, operates six oil blocks in the Niger Delta.

One member of this elite group was worth 50% less than a year ago. Due primarily to the introduction of a new (weaker) currency in Zimbabwe, Strive Masiyiwa’s fortune fell to $1.1 billion from $2.3 billion in January 2019. Zimbabwe, which has battled with hyperinflation, had been using the U.S. dollar as its currency, but in 2019 it switched to its own currency, initially called the RTGS. When converted into U.S. dollars, the values of Masiyiwa’s stakes in Zimbabwe-listed mobile phone network Econet Wireless Zimbabwe and Cassava Smartech fell dramatically in dollar terms.

Just two of the 20 billionaires are women: Isabel dos Santos, the eldest daughter of Angola’s former president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos; and Folorunsho Alakija of Nigeria. Dos Santos’ fortune has declined to an estimated $2.2 billion, down $100 million from a year ago. In late December, an Angola court issued an order to freeze the assets that Isabel dos Santos and her husband, Sindika Dokolo, own in Angola. Those include her stake in telecom firm Unitel and stakes in two Angolan banks; Forbes estimates those assets are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. A statement issued by Isabel dos Santos said the judgment contained “a number of untruths” and that she would fight the decision “by using all the instruments of Angolan and international law at my disposal.”

Africa’s billionaires are as a group richer than a year ago. Altogether, the continent’s 20 billionaires are worth a combined $73.4 billion, up from $68.7 billion a year ago.

Country rankings are unchanged from a year ago: Egypt and South Africa are tied with five billionaires each, followed by Nigeria with four and Morocco with two. Forbes found one billionaire each from Algeria, Angola, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. That’s the same as last year but a better representation than nine years ago, when only four African nations were home to ten-figure fortunes.

Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest man, founded and chairs Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer. He owns nearly 85% of publicly-traded Dangote Cement through a holding company. Dangote Cement produces 45.6 million metric tonnes annually and has operations in 10 countries across Africa. Dangote also owns stakes in publicly-traded salt, sugar and flour manufacturing companies. Dangote Refinery has been under construction for three years and is expected to be one of the world’s largest oil refineries once complete.

Explaining the methodology used in the ranking, Forbes Africa said “Our list tracks the wealth of African billionaires who reside in Africa or have their primary businesses there, thus excluding Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim, who is a U.K. citizen, and billionaire London resident Mohamed Al-Fayed, an Egyptian citizen. (Strive Masiyiwa, a citizen of Zimbabwe and a London resident, appears on the list due to his expansive telecom holdings in Africa; Isabel dos Santos, a citizen of Angola, has been living in Europe but retains assets in Angola–although they were recently frozen by a court in Angola.).

“We calculated net worths using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of business on Friday, January 10, 2020. To value privately held businesses, we couple estimates of revenues or profits with prevailing price-to-sales or price-to-earnings ratios for similar public companies. Some list members grow richer or poorer within weeks or days of our measurement date.”

Sharing the third position with Mike Adenuga with $7.7billion worth is a South African, Nicky Oppenheimer. Heir to his family’s fortune, Oppenheimer sold his 40% stake in diamond firm DeBeers to mining group Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash in 2012.

He was the third generation of his family to run DeBeers, and took the company private in 2001. For 85 years until 2012, the Oppenheimer family occupied a controlling spot in the world’s diamond trade. In 2014, Oppenheimer started Fireblade Aviation in Johannesburg, which operates chartered flights with its fleet of three planes and two helicopters. He owns at least 720 square miles of conservation land across South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Johann Rupert is the fifth richest African. He is the chairman of Swiss luxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont. The company is best known for the brands Cartier and Montblanc. It was formed in 1998 through a spinoff of assets owned by Rembrandt Group Limited (now Remgro Limited), which his father Anton formed in the 1940s. He owns a 7% stake in diversified investment firm Remgro, which he chairs, as well as 25% of Reinet, an investment holding co. based in Luxembourg. In recent years, Rupert has been a vocal opponent of plans to allow fracking in the Karoo, a region of South Africa where he owns land. Rupert says his biggest regret was not buying half of Gucci when he had the opportunity to do so for just $175 million.

Nigeria’s Abdulsamad Rabiu is in number eight position among the top 20 African billionaires. Rabiu is the founder of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate active in cement production, sugar refining and real estate. In early January 2020, Rabiu merged his privately-owned Obu Cement company with listed firm Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, which he controlled. The combined firm, called BUA Cement Plc, trades on the Nigerian stock exchange; Rabiu owns 98.5% of it.

Isabel dos Santos is one of the two women in the top 20 African billionaires coming in 13th position with a net worth of $2.2 billion. Aged 46, Dos Santos is the oldest daughter of Angola’s longtime former president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who stepped down in 2017. Her father made her head of Sonangol, Angola’s state oil firm, in June 2016, but Angola’s new president removed her from that role in November 2017. Forbes research found that while Isabel’s father was president, she ended up with stakes in Angolan companies including banks and a telecom firm. She owns shares of Portuguese companies, including telecom and cable TV firm Nos SGPS

In the 19th position is Strive Masiyiwa with a net worth of $1.1billion. Masiyiwa, 58, overcame protracted government opposition to launch mobile phone network Econet Wireless Zimbabwe in his country of birth in 1998. He owns just over 50% of the publicly-traded Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which is one part of his larger Econet Group. Masiyiwa also owns just over half of private company Liquid Telecom, which provides fiber optic and satellite services to telecom firms across Africa. His other assets include stakes in mobile phone networks in Burundi and Lesotho, and investments in fintech and power distribution firms in Africa.

Closing the 20 top African billionaire bracket is Nigeria’s Folorunso Alakija with a net worth of $1billion. Aged 69, Alakija is vice chair of Famfa Oil, a Nigerian oil exploration company with a stake in Agbami Oilfield, a prolific offshore asset. Famfa Oil’s partners include Chevron and Petrobras. Alakija’s first company was a fashion label whose customers included the wife of former Nigerian president Ibrahim Babangida. The Nigerian government awarded Alakija’s company an oil prospecting licence in 1993, which was later converted to an oil mining lease. The Agbami field has been operating since 2008; Famfa Oil says it will likely operate through 2024.

Forbes Africa journalist Peace Hyde says she first interviewed Aliko Dangote in Nigeria about three years ago for the popular Forbes Africa show, ‘My Worst Day with Peace Hyde’, airing on CNBC Africa, and has since had the privilege of meeting and speaking with him several times at both official and private functions.

“Dangote is someone who is extremely focused and driven with a bullish passion for Africa. For him, the goal is to dream as big and as grandiose as you can when it comes to the future of Africa because he believes, we have the human capital and resources to transform our continent. Everything is possible in his mind. His approach to business is testament to this fact.”

The largest employer in Africa’s most populous economy, Dangote is also seen as a stabilising force within the economies of several countries across the African continent. His story, however, has not been without failure.

“Dangote has had his fair share of ups and downs. But his advice to young entrepreneurs is having the ability to delay gratification and work hard through tough times so they can enjoy the fruits of their labour at a later date,” says Hyde.

Through the Aliko Dangote Foundation, which has the objective of reducing the number of lives lost to malnutrition and disease as well as combating Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in children, thousands of children have been saved from the brink of death.

Dangote is also known as a man of few words. “I have seen him spend an entire afternoon answering questions about his business to a room of MBA graduates and proceeding to take pictures with everyone before leaving. You will not find any of the obvious trappings of wealth like flashy cars or a big entourage with him and he takes the time to speak to anyone who approaches him at a function,” adds Hyde.

Source: ghanaweb.com