In a significant shift in the rankings of Africa’s billionaires, Johann Rupert, South African luxury goods tycoon and his family have claimed the title of the continent’s richest, surpassing Nigerian business magnate, Dangote. This change at the top marks the end of Dangote’s 12-year reign as Africa’s wealthiest person.
Forbes’ latest billionaire ranking places Rupert and his family at the 201st position globally, while Dangote now ranks 219th. The shift in fortunes can be attributed to a major devaluation of the naira, which fell by approximately 40 per cent last June. This devaluation significantly impacted Dangote’s wealth, primarily earned in naira, which ended 2023 as one of the worst-performing currencies globally according to Bloomberg.
Dangote, whose fortune is largely tied to his cement, sugar, and flour businesses in Nigeria, saw his wealth decline to $9.5 billion last year, a near one-third reduction from the previous year. Meanwhile, Johann Rupert, born over 73 years ago in Stellenbosch, South Africa, has seen a steady increase in his wealth.
Yesterday, on arrival at the headquarters of one of Africa’s largest conglomerates in Lagos, EFCC operatives demanded documents relating to allocation of forex to the group in the last 10 years. They then scrutinised the documents provided by Dangote officials for hours, carting away some.
It was, however, gathered that the EFCC had written to some other companies directing them to supply documents supporting the allocation and utilisation of foreign currencies to them in the last 10 years. No explanation was given to why the raid/inspection began with Dangote Group and there were no details of other firms listed for investigation.
The EFCC letter to the companies is part of ongoing investigation into alleged preferential forex allocations to individuals and organisations by the Emefiele-led Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to a source, while some of the companies the EFCC wrote to had since complied, others asked for more time to gather the information and documents.
“The commission (EFCC) is investigating Dangote Plc and other big companies. The commission discovered that the allocations were not approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari,” the source claimed.
Investigators have in the past months accused the CBN of favouring and enriching some individuals and companies through non-transparent allocation of forex to them. Recall that last month, a forensic audit of the CBN under Emefiele allegedly uncovered 593 bank accounts domiciled in the United States, the United Kingdom and China in which Nigerian funds were deposited without authorisation from the board and investment committee of the apex bank.
The report also revealed how some organizations ‘abused’ forex allocated to them for importation of raw materials. This is just as others are said to have been involved in ‘round-tripping’ after getting forex at the official rates.
From 2015 until it was scrapped in June last year, the CBN operated a complex forex regime designed to shore up the naira by limiting the amount of dollars available from official sources. This made the Nigerian currency look stronger on the official market, even as it weakened on the unofficial parallel market.
President Bola Tinubu used his first speech after taking office on May 29 to criticise the policy, which he said encouraged arbitrage. The president suspended Emefiele in June and the former CBN chief was arrested shortly afterwards and taken into custody. He was released on bail last month.
When contacted over the development, the spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, confirmed the presence of the anti-graft operatives at the location but declined comments on the reason for their presence.
Officials at Dangote did not also respond to requests for comment. Several calls were made to the spokesperson for Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, and Dangote’s media manager, Sunday Esan for reactions, but the calls made to their phones were not answered.
A source, however, queried the raid, saying such Gestapo tactics by the EFCC could discourage foreign investors from coming to Nigeria.
“The Dangote Group is perhaps Africa’s largest conglomerate and it is troubling that EFCC could deal with it in an unnecessary show of force, especially when it is not obstructing its investigation in any form,” the source added.
