Find Out 6 Nigerians In Forbes’ 2025 World’s Black Billionaires’ List

 Find Out 6 Nigerians In Forbes’ 2025 World’s Black Billionaires’ List

The Richest Six

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo, and four other Nigerians, have been named among the World’s Black Billionaires for 2025 by Forbes Magazine. All six hail from Southwest and Northwest geo-political zones of Nigeria leaving the other four zones with none in the top rank. 

The World’s Billionaires list by Forbes in its annual report released recently, said out of 3,028 billionaires around the world, only 23 are Blacks.

“Twenty-three of them are Black—just 0.8% of the list—but they’re a wealthy and impressive bunch,” the report said.

“Overall, these 23 have amassed $96.2 billion in wealth, mainly from the finance, energy, and technology sectors.”

Forbes said out of the 23 billionaires, only six of them are Nigerians.

Here is a list of the Nigerian billionaires in order of Forbes’ ranking.

No1: ALIKO DANGOTE

Based on the magazine’s ranking, Kano-born Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Group, topped the list with a net worth of $23.9 billion.

Forbes said the billionaire’s fortune skyrocketed after the Dangote refinery finally began operating in early 2024, boosting the businessman’s fortune by $10.5 billion since last year’s list.

No2: MIKE ADENUGA 

With $6.8 billion net worth, Forbes said Ogun State-born Mike Adenuga, the owner of Globacom, a telecommunications firm, is the second Nigerian, ranking fifth on the list.

No3: ABDULSAMAD RABIU

Kano State-born Abdulsamad Rabiu, founder of BUA Group, is ranked sixth on the publication’s world Black billionaires list. With $5.1 billion net worth, the billionaire is the third Nigerian on the list.

No4: ADEBAYO OGUNLESI

Another Nigerian on the list is Adebayo Ogunlesi, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), holding a net worth of $2.2 billion.

No5: FEMI OTEDOLA

Following closely in the 12th position, Lagos State-born Femi Otedola, chairman of Geregu, boast of a net worth of $1.5 billion.

Forbes said the billionaire “made his first fortune in commodities before selling his shares in Forte Oil to invest in the energy business”.

Today, he is the chairman and majority owner of Geregu Power, a power generation business whose other investors include the Nigerian government and the State Grid Corporation of China,” the magazine said.

No6: TOPE AWOTONA

The last Nigerian on the World’s Black Billionaires 2025 list is Ogun State-born Tope Awotona. 

Forbes said Awotona, in 2013, founded Calendly, a scheduling software startup, which private investors valued at $3 billion in 2021.

The media company said Awotona, ranking 14th on the list, has a net worth of $1.4 billion