Kenya’s super-rich are missing from the list of Africa’s dollar
billionaires, as Forbes magazine published the list of the continent’s
wealthiest individuals.
By OTIATO GUGUYU
Summary
- Kenya’s super-rich are missing from the list of Africa’s dollar billionaires, as Forbes magazine published the list of the continent’s wealthiest individuals.
- Although the number of countries with dollar billionaires in Africa has increased from four to eight over the past decade to 2020, this year there was not even one Kenyan in the list of Africa’s 20 richest men and women.
- Although Kenya is East Africa’s biggest economy and the eighth largest in Africa, it has been left behind by neighbouring Tanzania, which has one dollar billionaire - Mohammed Dewji.
Although the number of
countries with dollar billionaires in Africa has increased from four to
eight over the past decade to 2020, this year there was not even one
Kenyan in the list of Africa’s 20 richest men and women.
Although
Kenya is East Africa’s biggest economy and the eighth largest in
Africa, it has been left behind by neighbouring Tanzania, which has one
dollar billionaire - Mohammed Dewji.
Mr Dewji, 44, was
ranked the 16th wealthiest man in Africa with a $1.6 billion fortune in
textile, flour milling, beverages and edible oil. In October 2018, he
was kidnapped at gunpoint in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania’s capital, and
released after nine days.
Egypt and South Africa have
the highest number of dollar billionaires with five each, followed by
Nigeria (four) and Morocco two. Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote is the richest
man in Africa, with an estimated net worth of $10.1 billion (Sh1
trillion) built from sugar, cement and flour industries. The world’s
richest man is Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, with a networth of $113
billion. His wealth has increased in recent weeks as rules on social
distancing helped his e-commerce giant to grow by eliminating the need
for shoppers to physically visit outlets. Mr Bezos has been ranked as
the richest man for three years in a row.
Bill Gates is the second richest man globally while Bernard Arnault displaced Warren Buffet to the number three spot.
The
richest woman in the world is Alice Walton, heir of the Walmart
supermarket chain fortune. She is the ninth richest person globally with
a worth of $54.4 billion.
Other dollar billionaires in
Africa include Egypt’s construction magnet Nassef Sawiris ($8 billion),
Nigeria’s oil tycoon, Mike Adenuga ($7.7 billion) and South Africa’s
Nick Oppenheimer ($7.7 billion).
Africa has 20 dollar
billionaires, according to this year’s Forbes rich list that based
individual’s net worth of mainly using stock prices and the prevailing
exchange rate. Their wealth was calculated on certain dates.
The
magazine’s past rankings have been hotly disputed with various
individuals claiming to either have more or less wealth than estimated
by Forbes researchers.
For instance, when Bidco’s Vimal
Shah was listed as Kenya’s richest man in 2013 with a networth of $1.6
billion, he dismissed the report as untrue. He was later dropped from
the list. Forbes later said it dropped him after landing on new
information that led the magazine to attribute the wealth to Bidco’s
founder and Vimal’s father, Bhimji Depar Shah and family, not Vimal the
individual.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was included
on the inaugural list in 2011, was dropped the following year and is no
longer included because he is not seen as the custodian of the Kenyatta
family’s wealth, then estimated at more than $500 million.
Nigeria-based
Ventures financial magazine tipped Manu Chandaria as the wealthiest man
in the country and 25th richest on the continent with a fortune of
$1.65 billion in 2013.
It placed the fortunes of
Nicholas Biwott and Naushad Merali, who both made their money during the
era of President Moi, at about $1 billion (Sh86 billion). Other
super-rich Kenyans include industrialist Chris Kirubi and the family of
the late Philip Ndegwa, a former CBK governor. Mama Ngina Kenyatta has
in the past made it to the rich list.
This year, Isabel
Dos Santos, daughter of former Angolan president Edwardo dos Santos,
was named as Africa’s richest woman with a net worth of $2.2 billion.
Investment
managers say the ability of the rich to hide wealth in investment
vehicles such as nominee accounts, shell companies and the weak
disclosure rules in Kenya, make it difficult to truly ascertain the
worth of Kenya’s wealthy.
Most use proxies to own large stakes in listed companies, land and commercial property in key towns across the country.
Besides,
a high proportion of Kenya’s rich have stashed their wealth in tax
havens like Switzerland, Singapore, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands.
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