CEOWorld magazine reports that Dangote, with a net worth of $10.5 billion, is the only African on the list of the world’s billionaires. The rest of the top 10 are all from Asia or Europe. Aliko Dangote, the wealthiest man in Africa, was ninth on the Forbes list of the world’s richest manufacturing billionaires.
The 66-year-old millionaire, who amassed his fortune via his 85.2% share in Dangote Cement, the biggest cement maker in sub-Saharan Africa, attributes much of his success to his maternal grandfather, who instilled in him a passion for business.
According to CEOWorld magazine, below are the top 10 wealthiest manufacturing billionaires in the world in 2023:
- Reinhold Wuerth & family: $25.7 billion
- Michael Hartono: $22.3 billion
- He Xiangjian & family: $21.2 billion
- Takemitsu Takizaki: $18.7 billion
- James Ratcliffe: $18.2 billion
- Goh Cheng Liang: $11.3 billion
- Li Shuirong: $10.9 billion
- Viktor Rashnikov: $10.5 billion
- Aliko Dangote: $10.5 billion
- Anthony Pratt: $9.8 billion
Industrialization
From humble beginnings in the early 1980s with a loan from his uncle, Dangote has grown his commercial empire to include the cement, sugar, wheat, and salt sectors, among many others. Dangote Cement, Dangote Flour, and Dangote Sugar are just a few of the many Dangote Group businesses now active in ten African nations.
Dangote, in an online interview, said that manufacturing is a powerful tool for alleviating poverty since it generates jobs. The Nigerian billionaire maintains that nations like Singapore and South Korea, both smaller than Nigeria, have a per capita GDP of $65k and $31k, respectively, because of their advanced levels of industrialization.
Clearly, manufacturing plays a vital role in industrialization. No country in the world has ever industrialised or gained ‘developed nation status’ without owning a vibrant manufacturing sector,” Dangote stated. The manufacturing sector is described as “the heartbeat of industrialisation and the bedrock for inclusive economic growth and development”.
