Nigeria is blessed with abundant natural resources, but by far the greatest treasure we have is the people. So many talented people make up Nigeria, and many of these people have used their talents and resourcefulness to make a lot of money.
Richest Men in Nigeria in 2024
This post explores the richest men in Nigeria. Their assets have been assessed by Forbes, and their net worth estimated.
1. Aliko Dangote
Estimated net worth: $10.5 billion
Born on April 10, 1957, Aliko Dangote is a businessman and entrepreneur. The Dangote Group is the biggest industrial conglomerate in West Africa, and he is most known for being its founder, chairman, and CEO.
In November 2023, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index put his net worth at $16.1 billion, making him the wealthiest individual in Africa, the richest Black person globally, and the 107th richest person in the world overall.
One of Africa’s biggest companies today, the Dangote Group operates internationally in Benin, Ghana, Zambia, and Togo. The Dangote corporation, which includes subsidiaries including Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Cement, and Dangote Flour, has evolved from a trade concern to become the biggest industrial corporation in Nigeria.
In 2007, Dangote became the first billionaire in Nigeria. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote allegedly increased his fortune by $9.2 billion in 2013, ranking him as the wealthiest person in Africa and the thirty-ninth richest person worldwide.
Dangote was identified as an HSBC customer and the owner of assets located in a tax haven in the British Virgin Islands in 2015 according to the HSBC disclosures.
2. Dalhatu Bashir
Estimated net worth: $9.4 billion
Bashir Born on November 12, 1949, Bashir Dalhatu is a businessman and politician who has amassed great wealth.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in law from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria in 1972, was admitted to the bar in 1973, and then pursued legal studies in London.
Before moving on to become state counsel in the Ministry of Justice, he worked for the Kano State government in several capacities, including the ministries of agriculture and Works and Survey. Later on, he established B. M. Dalhatu & Co., a private practice in Kano.
Dalhatu was the Secretary of Transport and Aviation in the 1993 Interim National Government. He also held the positions of Minister of Power and Steel in Sani Abacha’s administration from 1993 to 1997 and Minister of Internal Affairs from 1997 to 1998. He subsequently wed Abacha’s daughter.
3. Abdullahi Rano Auwalu
Estimated net worth: $9 billion
Born on February 7, 1974, Auwalu Abdullahi Rano, also referred to as AA Rano, is a well-known businessman. In addition to being the founder of Rank Airlines, he serves as the CEO of AA Rano Group.
4. Abdul Samad Rabiu
Estimated net worth: $7.6 billion
Abdul Samad Isyaku Rabiu is a Nigerian billionaire, businessman and philanthropist who was born on August 4, 1960. His father was a well-known businessman in the 1970s and 1980s. He is the founder and chairman of the Nigerian conglomerate BUA Group, which generates over $2.5 billion in income mostly from manufacturing, infrastructure, and agriculture. In addition, he serves as the Nigerian Bank of Industry (BOI) chairman.
After graduating from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 24, he went back to Nigeria to manage the family company. BUA International Limited was founded in 1988 with the express intent of trading commodities. Iron and steel, rice, wheat, and edible oil were all imported by the enterprise.
In 1990, BUA agreed with the government, which was the owner of Delta Steel Company, to provide raw materials in return for completed goods. This gave the fledgling firm a much-needed boost. BUA went on to diversify into the steel industry, building many rolling mills in Nigeria, importing iron ore, and manufacturing billets.
A few years later, BUA bought Nigerian Oil Mills Limited, which was Nigeria’s biggest edible oil processing firm. BUA built two flour-milling facilities in Lagos and Kano in 2005.
By opening the second-largest sugar refinery in sub-Saharan Africa in 2008, BUA had ended an eight-year monopoly in the Nigerian sugar sector. The business then started building a $900 million cement factory in Edo State, which it completed in early 2015, and acquired a controlling stake in a publicly traded cement firm in Northern Nigeria in 2009.
5. Mike Adenuga
Estimated net worth: $6.3 billion
Mike Adenuga is a Nigerian billionaire and the fifth wealthiest individual in Nigeria. His business, Globacom, is the second-biggest telecom provider in Nigeria, with operations in Ghana and Benin. He has investments in both the oil exploration company Conoil (previously Consolidated Oil Company) and the Equitorial Trust Bank.
In 1979, at the age of 26, Adenuga sold lace and distributed soft drinks, earning his first million dollars. His company Consolidated Oil discovered oil in the shallow seas of Southwest Ondo State in 1991, making him the first indigenous oil business to do so in a commercial amount. He was granted a drilling license in 1990.
In 1999, he received a conditional GSM license. When the government launched another auction in 2003, he was given another one after the first one was withdrawn.
In August 2007, he received the first African Telecoms Awards (ATA) title of African Entrepreneur of the Year.
Adenuga submitted a takeover offer in May 2015 for the $600 million acquisition of Comium Côte d’Ivoire, the provider of mobile communications in Ivory Coast.
6. Arthur Eze
Estimated net worth: $5.8 billion
The CEO of Atlas Oranto Petroleum, the biggest privately held petroleum exploration and production firm in Nigeria, is Arthur Eze, a businessman.
On November 27, 1948, Arthur Eze was born in the Southern-East region of Nigeria. Eze received his diploma from Nkwere, Imo’s St. Augustin Secondary School in 1970.
He is the younger brother of the king of the town in Dunukofia called Ukpo.
7. Femi Otedola
Estimated net worth: $5.7 billion
Born on November 4, 1962, Olufemi Peter Otedola is a philanthropist and businessman. He now serves as executive chairman of Geregu Power PLC and was formerly chairman of Forte Oil PLC.
In addition, Otedola founded Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd. and is the proprietor of many other companies in the financial, real estate, and shipping industries. As part of Nigeria’s industry liberalization, he just invested in the production of electricity.
8. Oluwarotimi Ifeoluwa
Estimated net worth: $4.6 billion
Not much is known about this billionaire but he was estimated to have a net worth of $4.6 billion and is among the 10 richest men in Nigeria. He is a businessman in the Oil Agriculture and Real Estate sectors.
9. Orji Uzor Kalu
Estimated net worth: $3.8 billion
Nigerian politician and businessman Uzor Kalu was born on April 21, 1960, and now serves as the senator for the Abia North Senatorial District. He was Abia State’s governor from May 29, 1999, until May 29, 2007. Kalu is the chairman of the Nigerian publications Daily Sun and New Telegraph, as well as SLOK Holding
He was chairman of the Cooperative and Commerce Bank Limited and the Borno Water Board before he was elected. In addition, Kalu was the head of the PPA Board of Trustees and a member of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He ran for president on behalf of PPA in the general election held in April 2007. After formally announcing his retirement as PPA BOT head, he is presently a member of the governing All Progressive Congress (APC).
Under the All Progressives Congress banner, Orji Uzor Kalu ran in the 2019 Nigerian general election to represent the people of Abia North in the Senate. With more than 10,000 votes, he beat Mao Ohuabunwa, the sitting senator.
10. Ogagaoghene Odubrae
Estimated net worth: $3.2 billion
Another billionaire who has remained elusive in this list is Ogagaoghene Odubrae. He has a net worth of $3.2 billion according to Forbes. Not much is known about him other than the fact that he is a businessman dealing in the Agriculture, finance, and investment sectors.
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