Africa’s billionaires ‘will come forward’

REUTERS

Founder and Chief Executive of the Dangote Group Aliko Dangote.

Africa may have as many as 200 “hidden” billionaires operating in the unofficial economy who will seek to legitimise their wealth in the future, according to investor Mark Mobius.

“There is a lot of hidden wealth,” Mobius, the executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets, said in London yesterday.

“You hear about Dangote but there may be 200 with the same kind of resources that we do not see. The black economy is very big.”

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, is benefiting from the continent’s economic growth, adding $3 billion (R24.6bn) to his wealth this year, taking him to $13bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index.

Dangote controls Dangote Group, one of the continent’s largest conglomerates with publicly traded businesses in cement, sugar, flour and salt that make up about a third of the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s market value.

Africa’s economy was forecast to expand an average 6 percent a year for the next five years if Europe, its largest trading partner, records 0 percent to 2 percent annual growth, Moody’s Investors Service said. – Bloomberg