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The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far

The Nigerian economic space has seen the rise of many millionaires and billionaires who have continued to defy the strains and pulls of economic recessions and reforms as they amass wealth through diligence in their related fields. As a result, these Men and Women have contributed to national economic growth. Moreover, they are responsible for almost half of the jobs Nigeria, and its sub-Saharan neighbors have been privileged to enjoy over the years. This article aims to recognize these influential people and their contributions/net worths.

Tony Elemelu

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
Thisday Live

Tony Elumelu is the CEO of Heirs Holdings, a business empire he founded after leaving the banking sector. His organization invests in financial services, real estate, hospitality, healthcare, electricity, oil, and gas. Tony Elumelu is worth over $700 million.

Tony Elumelu began his banking career at Union Bank as a member of the Youth Corps and continues to be one who could turn a failing institution around and bring it back to profitability. n 1997, he allegedly persuaded a small group of investors to take over a medium-sized commercial bank that was on the point of going out of business.

The newly purchased bank was Standard Trust Bank, and Tony Elumelu was appointed its CEO. In a short period, he brought the bank back to profitability, and later, it merged with UBA, the third-largest bank in Nigeria at the time.

Tony Elumelu was appointed as the new combined UBA bank’s CEO, and he successfully turned it into a Pan-African Bank with locations in more than 20 different African nations. When he left his position as CEO of UBA, the company had a market capitalization of $2 billion, $12 billion in assets, and over 10,000 employees.

Jim James Ovia

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
Jim Ovia Foundation

According to Forbes estimates, Jim James Ovia has a $980 million net worth. One of the biggest commercial banks in the nation, Zenith Bank, was envisioned by Ovia in 1990. He serves as the company’s Chairman and significant stakeholder.

As the founder of Zenith Bank, he also holds the majority of the bank’s shares. In addition to the Lagos Marriott Hotel, the Aquamarine Boat Club, and the over-15-story Civic Towers, he also owns property worth billions of Nairain in other regions of the nation. , As the Chairman of Prudential Zenith Life Assurance Limited, he oversaw the historic union of Zenith Life, Nigeria’s most rapidly expanding life insurance firm, with Prudential UK, one of the largest life insurance companies in the world.

The most profitable general insurance firm in Nigeria, Zenith General Insurance Limited, is helmed by him and has a large percentage owned by him.

He created the Civic Centre and Aquamarine Boat Club because he was a massive fan of classic architecture and wanted to take advantage of Nigeria’s expanding hospitality industry. He also constructed the Civic Towers, an office building with 15 stories that are sometimes described as Nigeria’s “Empire State Building” next to this. He founded Cyberspace Limited because he was motivated by the potential of technology in Nigeria.

Igho Charles Sanomi

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
Bloomberg.com

One of the youngest Nigeria’s wealthiest businesspeople is Igho Charles Sanomi. In addition to running successful businesses, he is a geologist, a public speaker, and a philanthropist. He has financial interests in shipping, real estate, aviation, and telecommunications. Igho Sanomi now has a $1 billion net worth.

He was born on May 17, 1975, in Agbor, Delta State. He is the CEO of Taleveras and the Executive Director of Cosmos Oil AG. Igho Sanomi, the founder of the Taleveras Group, has corporate interests in engineering, construction, real estate, shipping, and telecommunications. Additionally, he is the progeny of a former assistant inspector general who earned millions of naira from his building, power, and energy businesses. It is also interesting that his company owns sizable stakes in two oil blocs in Nigeria. Taleveras Group, a Nigerian energy trading business, was established by Sanomi in 2004. Taleveras trade several million tons of gasoline, LPG, and jet fuel.

Taleveras secured production sharing contracts (PSCs) for three Ivory Coast offshore oil blocks in April 2012. In addition, a 65% share in one of Taleveras’ offshore upstream projects in Ivory Coast was sold to Russian company Lukoil in June 2013 for an undisclosed sum. Taleveras also has stock in a Nigerian company that distributes electricity.

According to Venture-Africa, a biannual Pan-African business magazine covering African capitalism, the Group exchanges millions of tons of gasoline, jet fuel, condensates, and LPG, as well as close to a billion barrels of crude oil annually. Taleveras also holds significant equity shares in three offshore oil blocks in the Ivory Coast and lucrative production-sharing contracts (PSCs) in two oil blocks in Nigeria. In addition, Nigerian electrical substations are built by the company’s Power subsidiary.

Folorunsho Alakija

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
Daily Trust Nigeria

The wealthiest lady in Nigeria is arguably Folorunsho Alakija. he serves as vice chair of Famfa Oil, a Nigerian oil exploration business. The company owns a portion of the offshore asset known as Agbami Oilfield. Her initial business was a fashion line that catered only to affluent customers, including the spouse of the former Nigerian president Ibrahim Babangida.

Immediately after completing a secretarial course at Pitman’s Central College London, Alakija began her career in 1974 as an executive secretary at Sijuade Enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria.

She transferred to the former First National Bank of Chicago, which later changed its name to FinBank and is now owned by FCMB (First City Monument Bank), to work as the managing director’s executive secretary. He later changed positions to become the office assistant to the Treasury Department at the International Merchant Bank of Nigeria (formerly First National Bank of Chicago).

She was previously the head of the corporate affairs department. Then, Alakija went on a new challenge, spurred on by her love of fashion, to pursue fashion design at The American College in London and the Central School of Fashion shortly after leaving the banking industry after 12 years of service. After returning to Nigeria, s he launched her first fashion company, Supreme Stitches. The company was eventually renamed The Rose of Sharon House of Fashion in 1996. It quickly gained notoriety under the name Rose of Sharon House of Fashion.

In addition to being the executive vice-chairman of Famfa Oil Limited and the group managing director of The Rose of Sharon Group, which includes The Rose of Sharon Prints & Promotions Limited, Digital Reality Prints Limited, and other companies, Alakija owns the majority of DaySpring Property Development Company. According to Forbes, Folorunsho Alakija has an estimated net worth of $1 billion, making her the wealthiest woman in Nigeria.

Pascal Dozie

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
Entrepreneurs. Ng

Diamond Bank’s founder, Pascal Gabriel Dozie, has a $1 billion net worth. Additionally, he is an investor in the South African international mobile telecommunications business MTN Group.

At the National Economic Development Office in the UK, Pascal Dozie started his work as an economist. e also taught part-time at the North Western Polytechnic in London. After that, he worked as an economist consultant for Uganda’s African States Consulting Organization between 1970 and 1971. He moved to Nigeria in 1971 at his mother’s request after quitting his work in Uganda. Is first business, the African Development Consulting Group was established in 1971 after he returned to Nigeria and used his knowledge in industrial engineering and econometrics (ADCG). DCG had previously collaborated with organizations like Pfizer and Nestle.

Clement Isong then employed him, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor, to research the Co-operative and Commerce Bank.

He was named Chairman of the now-defunct Progress Bank in 1985. Later that year, Dozie applied for a banking license to assist South-Eastern Nigerian traders with financial difficulties. The result was the establishment of Diamond Bank. The bank’s initial share capital was N10 million ($28,000), with only 21 interested shareholders. He met the Central Bank of Nigeria’s standards to run a conventional bank in 1990, and the Diamond Bank started operations in 1991. From 1991 until his resignation as CEO in 2006, he oversaw Diamond Bank.

Jimoh Ibrahim

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
City People Magazine

With a net worth of $1.1 billion, Jimoh Ibrahim is a politician, attorney, businessperson, and philanthropist. He is the owner of the corporation known as Global Fleet Group. The corporation has holdings in several industries, including real estate, oil and gas, insurance, hospitality, transportation, and hospitality.

Amongst the many subsidiaries of Global Fleet Group are Air Nigeria, Formerly known as Virgin Nigeria, NICON Insurance, Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation, NICON Luxury Hotel, Global Fleet Oil & Gas, and The NICON Group, located in Lagos, Nigeria, which deals in Investment firms, institutions, real estate holdings, transportation businesses.

Others include Global Fleet Building, formerly known as the Allied Bank Building; Meidan Hotel, located in Lagos, Energy Bank, located in Accra, Ghana; Global Fleet Industries, formerly known as HFP Industries Limited, Oceanic Bank S.O. Tomé – S.O. Tomé, S.O. Tomé, and Principe and NewsWatch Magazine.

Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
The Guardian Nigeria

Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma is a former lieutenant general in the Nigerian army and a politician. He had a lengthy military career and was very important to the country’s military and political developments after independence.

After leaving the Army, TY Danjuma founded Nigeria America Line (NAL). Brazil and Lagos served as the company’s main trading hubs. Compared to its initial workforce of fewer than 13, NAL now has over 251 employees.

In 1984, Danjuma founded a second company called COMET Shipping Agencies Nigeria Ltd. to represent NAL.  since its inception; COMET has expertly managed a diverse range of vessels and cargo.

In 1995, he started oil exploration and production and established a company named South Atlantic Petroleum Limited (SAPETRO) exclusively for that purpose. The business received Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 246 from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in 1998. The license covers a total area of 2,590 square kilometers (1,000 sq. miles). Together with Petrobras and Total Upstream Nigeria Ltd (TUPNI), SAPETRO started exploring OPL246.

Theophilus Danjuma also has equity in Notore Chemical Industries, which makes urea fertilizer.

In 2016, TY Danjuma was chosen to serve as the board chairman of NatCom Development & Investment Limited. as a division of NatCom, Ntel is a network connection company that offers internet connectivity in Nigeria.

Additionally, he is the proprietor of the Surrey, England-based TY Danjuma Family Office Ltd. The privately held business in Surrey, England, manages the property belonging to General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma.

Leo Stan Eze

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
The Guardian Nigeria

Leo Stan Ekeh is a businessman with a net worth of $1.2 billion. He is the owner of Konga and Zinox Group. Africa’s top ICT ecosystem is Zinox. His company handles the manufacturing of computer hardware and ancillary equipment. On the other side, Konga is an online retailer of electronics.

ABC Orjiako

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
Konnect Africa

Ambrose Bryant Chukwuemeka Orjiako, sometimes known as ABC Orjiako, is a successful businessman and qualified physician. A significant independent oil and gas firm in Nigeria that he co-founded is called SEPLAT. the Nigerian and London stock markets both list SEPLAT on their exchange market. ABC Orjiako is estimated to be worth $1.2 billion.

Femi Otedola

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
Nairametrics

The largest shareholder in the publicly traded corporation Forte Oil is Femi Otedola. In the entire country, the corporation has more than 500 petrol stations. Additionally, he owns financial, real estate, and shipping holdings. The billionaire also owns companies in the maritime and finance industries, in addition to Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd. He is among the highest holders of FBN shares, with around 6%. The estimated net worth of Femi Otedola is over $1.8 billion.

Arthur Eze

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
The Guardian Nigeria

Arthur Eze is the CEO of Atlas Oranto Petroleum, the largest privately held exploration and production company in Nigeria. He is a politician, philanthropist, oil magnate from Nigeria, and Africa’s eighth wealthiest man.

Arthur Eze was born on November 27, 1948, in Ukpo Village, Dunukofia Local Government, Anambra State, Nigeria. Because he comes from a royal family and his older brother is the traditional chief (King) of Ukpo Village, he is more commonly referred to as “Prince Arthur Eze.”

With 22 oil and gas exploration licenses in 12 different countries across the African continent and oil and gas assets in the Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, and Liberia, Atlas Oranto Oil takes pleasure in being an oil and gas exploration firm. While the company’s corporate offices are based in Abuja, the federal capital of Nigeria, the company’s technical base is located in Lagos.

Benedict Peters

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
Chronicle. N

One of Nigeria’s billionaires is Benedict Peters. Early in the 1990s, he began his career in the oil and gas sector. Before forming Sigmund Communecci in 1999, he forged a partnership with the founders of Ocean and Oil. In addition, he is the founder Aiteo group.

He helped start Ocean and Oil Limited, now known as Oando, a petroleum trading and exploration company, in the 1990s. Before leaving in 1999 to found Sigmund Communecci, he joined MRS Oil Nigeria PLC as Group Executive Director and eventually rose to the position of Managing Director.

Peters established the Aiteo group (Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited) in February 2008 as Sigmund Communecci’s replacement. With facilities holding more than 250 million liters of petroleum over more than 100,000 square meters of terrain, the corporation owns one of Nigeria’s largest petroleum tank farms. The Abonnema Storage Terminal is another asset that it holds and runs.

Aiteo purchased a majority stake in Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Oil Mining Lease 29 (OML 29) and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) in the Eastern Niger Delta in 2014.
The enormous block known as OML 29 is situated in the southeast Niger Delta. T are 11 oil and gas fields there. Nigeria’s first-ever commercial finding was made in 1956 at the Oloibiri Oilfield, a 983-square-kilometer area on land in the Niger Delta.

Establishing Aiteo Power, which he is Chairman, is also quickly diversifying. He is also the head of the Aiteo Consortium and the EMA Consortium, which have each won bids to buy three power firms. They also plan to construct a 100,000-barrel refinery in the oil-rich Warri region of Delta.

Emeka Offor

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
The Guardian Nigeria

Emeka Offor is a well-known oil tycoon, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is the founder and Chairman of Abuja-based oil exploration company The Chrome Group. Emeka Offor has a $2.9 billion net worth.

Emeka began working as a transport clerk for Delta-based Rivways Lines Nigeria Ltd, which imports bitumen materials. Then, later, he would make the audacious decision to launch his company.

Emeka Offor began supplying bitumen to significant businesses, including Julius Berger Nigeria Ltd, Guffanti Nigeria Ltd, Fougerolle Nigeria Ltd, and others. Ntmek Investment Ltd., Inland Containers Nigeria Ltd., Blaze 91.5 FM, Kiss 99.9 FM, Starcrest Nigeria, Kingsbury Trading Ltd., Global Scan Systems Limited (GSL), Interstate Electrics Limited, and Kaztec Engineering Ltd. are just a handful of the many subsidiary businesses that make up the Chrome Group.

Emeka Offor was chosen to oversee the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), which was created due to the privatization of the power sector.

Orji Uzor Kalu

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
Channels

A wealthy politician and businessman with a net worth of $3.2 billion are Orji Uzor Kalu. He currently represents the Abia North Senatorial District and serves as the Senate’s Chief Whip in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Additionally, he serves as the CEO of SLOK Holding, a business with media, finance, shipping, manufacturing, and oil trading holdings. He is rumored to own an airline company in the country too.

Cletus Ibeto

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
Businesstoday

Ibeto Group, the largest union in the Eastern region of Nigeria, was founded and is directed by Cletus Ibeto. The intelligent businessman and philanthropist began as an extra parts importer in college. Cletus Ibeto currently has a net worth of $3.8 billion.

Cletus Ibeto, who started as a motor parts trader, climbed to become one of the wealthiest men in Nigeria. He is the owner of The IBETO Group, one of the giant conglomerates. The IBETO Group, whose Chairman is Cletus, engages in real estate, banking, finance, cement manufacturing, automotive coupling, petrochemicals, etc.

Mike Adenuga

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
Globacom

He is the owner of the nation’s mobile phone network, Globacom. It is Nigeria’s third-largest Web operator. He also owns the oil exploration company Conoil Producing.

With 55 million members, his mobile phone provider, Globacom, is Nigeria’s third-largest web connectivity provider.
Conoil Producing, his oil exploration company, manages six oil blocks in the Niger Delta.
At Pace University in New York, Adenuga earned an MBA while supporting himself as a student by driving cabs.
At 26, he sold lace and distributed soft drinks, earning his first million. With a net worth of $5.7 billion, The second-richest individual in Nigeria, Adenuga, made his fortune in the oil and telecommunications industries.

Abdulsamad Rabiu

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
Bua Foods Plc

Abdulsamad Rabiu, with a net worth of $7.9 billion, is the second-richest person in Nigeria. He owns the BUA Group, which produces Cement, refines sugar, and deals in real estate. He established a company in 1988 that imported chemicals, iron, and steel. In addition, he inherited his wealth from his late father, a prosperous businessman, and has done an excellent job with impressive ROIs.

When he first arrived in Nigeria in 1984, at 24, he was obliged to manage his father’s business. After acquiring significant business ideologies, he decided to start his own company, BUA International Limited, which primarily focused on importing steel, iron, rice, and edible oil.

Abdulsamad Rabiu expanded his company over time and overcame numerous obstacles to create the conglomerate now known as BUA Group. Additionally, he serves as the Chairman of BoI (or the Nigerian Bank of Industry.)

Aliko Dangote

The Rich List : Wealthiest Nigerians Of 2023 So Far, Yours Truly, Articles, March 28, 2024
Wikipedia

Aliko Dangote is the richest African. Da gote is the founder and chairmanChairmanote Cement, the largest cement manufacturer in Africa. He is the company’s 85% owner. Dangote has a $12.6 billion net wealth.

Dangote established the Dangote Group in 1977, and 35 years after that, the business expanded incredibly quickly. The Dangote Group generated revenue of just around $21 billion in 2013. With over 11,000 employees, it is the most significant industrial conglomerate in West Africa.

It began as a little trading company with its headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, but today it operates throughout Africa, including in nations like Benin, Ghana, Zambia, and Togo. Its areas of operation include freight, sugar refinement, food processing, cement production, etc. Far from its modest beginnings, the Group now consists of numerous businesses and subsidiaries, including, to name a few, the Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Cement, and Dangote Flour.

The Dangote Group accounts for over 70% of the market in Nigeria. They are the dominant player and the primary supplier to most of the nation’s soft drink producers, breweries, and confectioners. The Dangote Group also owns flour mills, salt factories, and sugar. In addition, they are Nigeria’s leading importer of rice, fish, pasta, Cement, and fertilizer.

On the other hand, they export goods, including cocoa, cotton, cashew, and sesame seeds. They also have telecommunications, finance, oil and gas, textiles, real estate, and transportation investments. Dangote Cement, believed to manufacture 44 million metric tons of Cement annually, accounts for almost 80% of the conglomerate’s earnings.

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