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Rich Vs The Poor: African Billionaires Have Fewer Children Compared To The Poor

Poor Africans continue to have bigger families compared to their rich counterparts.

The State of Uganda Population Report 2017 indicates that Ugandan women have a high fertility rate, with each woman producing on average five children in their lifetime. This, the report notes, translates into a high dependency syndrome that hampers socio-economic development.

This possibly explains why poverty levels are still high in many African countries. A closer look at the top 10 richest people in Africa indicates that they mainly have one wife and fewer children compared to the poor. Read on!

Aliko Dangote

The Nigerian billionaire has been Africa’s richest person for seven years in a row. Forbes early this year put his net worth at $12.2 billion, but has since soared to over $13bn.

Dangote, 61, is the CEO and Chairman of CEO, Dangote Group the producer of Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer.

He also owns stakes in publicly-traded salt, sugar and flour manufacturing companies.

He is married with only three children (girls).

Nicky Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer from South Africa was ranked the 2nd richest person in Africa by Forbes in January this year. His net worth was put at $7.7 billion, up $700 million from last year. His source of wealth is diamonds.

Oppenheimer, 72, is married with one child.

Johann Rupert

With his net worth valued at $7.2 billion, Rupert deals in luxury goods. The South African tycoon is chairman of Swiss luxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont. The company is best known for the brands Cartier and Montblanc.

Rupert, 67, is married with three children.

Nassef Sawiris

Forbes valued Sawiris’ net worth at $6.8bn early this year. The 57 year old deals in chemicals and construction.  He is married with four children.

Mike Adenuga

Mike Adenuga’s net worth was valued at $5.2bn by Forbes early this year.

Adenuga, Nigeria’s second richest man, built his fortune in telecom and oil production.  His mobile phone network, Globacom, is the second largest operator in Nigeria, with 37 million subscribers.

His oil exploration outfit, Conoil Producing, operates 6 oil blocks in the Niger Delta.

Adenuga, 65, is married with seven children.

Issad Rebrab

Issad Rebrab’s net worth is estimated at $4.1bn.

Rebrab is the founder and CEO of Cevital, Algeria’s biggest privately-held company.  Cevital owns one of the largest sugar refineries in the world, with the capacity to produce 2 million tons a year. The 74 year old is married with five children.

Naguib Sawiris

Valued at $4bn as of January 2018, Sawiris is a scion of Egypt’s wealthiest family. His father Onsi and brother Nassef are also billionaires. He built a fortune in telecom, but in 2017 stepped down as CEO of Orascom Telecom Media & Technology (OTMT).  In 2011, Sawiris sold Orascom Telecom to Russian telecom firm VimpelCom in a multi-billion dollar stock and cash transaction.  Sawiris acquired a nearly 20% stake in Australia-listed gold mining firm Evolution Mining.

He also owns nearly 20% of Toronto-listed Endeavour Mining, which operates gold mines in West Africa. He is married with four children.

Koos Bekker

His net worth was estimated at $2.6bn in early 2018.

The 65 South African tycoon is revered for transforming South African newspaper publisher Naspers into an ecommerce investor & cable TV powerhouse.

He led Naspers to invest in Chinese Internet and media firm Tencent in 2001 — by far the most profitable of the bets he made on companies elsewhere.

Bekker, who retired as the CEO of Naspers in March 2014, returned as chairman in April 2015. He is married with two children.

Isabel dos Santos

Isabel dos Santos is the only woman on the top 10 African billionaires.

Her net worth was put at $2.7bn by Forbes early this year. She is the oldest daughter of Angola’s longtime former president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who stepped down in fall 2017.

She purchased shares of Portuguese companies, including telecom and cable TV firm Nos SGPS.

Isabel dos Santos, 45, is married with three children.

Mohamed Mansour

Mohamed Mansour’s net worth is estimated at $2.7bn.   He oversees family conglomerate Mansour Group, which was founded by his father Loutfy. Mansour established General Motors dealerships in Egypt, becoming one of GM’s biggest distributors in the world.

Mansour Group also has exclusive distribution rights for Caterpillar equipment.  He was Minister of Transportation under the Hosni Mubarak regime. His brothers, Yasseen and Youssef, are also billionaires.

The 70 year old is married with two children.

 

Taddewo William Senyonyi
https://www.facebook.com/senyonyi.taddewo
William is a seasoned business and finance journalist. He is also an agripreneur and a coffee enthusiast.

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