Top 10 Nigerian richest people in 2021
Three well-known Nigerian billionaires are on the top of the 10 richest people in Nigeria. The first three names are ranked as the wealthiest by Forbes, and the number 1 is also the richest black person on the planet; a spot he has held on to for some years now.
Though several African billionaires are added to the list of the richest people in the world by Forbes and other magazines every year, and Nigerians are also present in this selection.
Find out the top 10 richest people in Nigeria this year. Some of them are in the Forbes ranking, and others are not, but they are all wealthy and successful.
Of course, worldwide rankings created by different organizations might not include all the richest people from every country. Every year, the ranking of the richest people changes. Some make more money, while others lose money due to different reasons.
Below are the top ten richest people in Nigeria, their net worth and source of income;
1. Aliko Dangote ($12.1 billion)
This name is famous not only in Nigeria but all over the globe.
Aliko Dangote was born on the 10th of April 1957 from Kano State, Nigeria, to a wealthy Muslim family of Mohammed Dangote and Mariya Sanusi Dantata, the daughter of Sanusi Dantata.
He is also the great-grandson of late Alhaji Alhassan Dantata, the richest West African man before he died in 1955.
Aliko Dangote has earned so much money through his business which has helped him become the richest man in Nigeria at 63 years.
Aliko Dangote is a world-renowned cement and sugar tycoon; he is the chairman of Dangote Group.
Dangote is a philanthropist and a close friend of the world-known philanthropist and former richest man in the world, Bill Gates.
Dangote is on the top of our list because he is the world’s richest black man in 2021 and the richest man in Nigeria. The tycoon’s net worth is currently $12.1 billion according to Wikipedia.
2. Mike Adenuga ($7.7 billion)
Mike Adenuga is well known outside Nigeria thanks to his Globacom company.
Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga was born on the 29th of April 1953 to Oloye Michael Agbolade Adenuga Snr and Omoba Juliana Oyindamola Adenuga, in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Mike Adenuga is fondly known as John bull by close associates.
The Nigerian billionaire is married to Titi Joyce Adenuga. Mike Adenuga is blessed with seven children.
Being one of the most successful businessmen in Nigeria, Mike Adenuga has earned so much wealth increasing his net worth to become the second richest man in Nigeria.
Mike Adenuga became a millionaire at the early age of 26.
Mike Adenuga acquired his wealth through telecommunication and oil production.
Mike Adenuga is the founder of Globacom, the 2nd largest telecommunication network in Nigerian.
He won the ‘Companion of the Star of Ghana’ which is prestigious and amazing.
He was awarded this title because of his large investments in the West African country.
Adenuga’s current net worth according to Wikipedia is $7.7 billion.
3. Femi Otedola ($5.9 billion )
Femi is the controlling shareholder in a company known as Forte Oil.
Femi Otedola is a Nigerian businessman that was born on 4th November 1962.
The Former Chairman of forte oil, Femi Otedola, is a known businessman and philanthropist.
He has over 500 gas stations in Nigeria.
Femi Otedola is the founder of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd.
Generally, Otedola has so many other businesses that fetch him huge money, which has helped him rank as the fourth richest man in Nigeria.
Femi Otedola was named among the richest men in Africa in 2015 by the popular ranking website Forbes.
Femi Otedola has divested his interest from Oil to power generation
Femi’s net worth is estimated to be $5.9 billion according to Wikipedia.
4. Abdul Samad Isyaku Rabiu ($4.5 billion)
Isyaku Rabiu is a Nigerian billionaire businessman and philanthropist.
Abdulsamad Rabiu was born on the 4th of August, 1960, in Kano State. Just like Aliko Dangote, Rabiu was also born into a wealthy family.
Rabiu’s father, the late Khalifah Isyaku Rabiu, was an early Nigerian industrialist and did acquire a significant amount of wealth.
Abdul Samad is the founder and chairman of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate concentrating on manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture and producing revenue in excess of $2.5 billion. He is also the chairman of the Nigerian Bank of Industry (BOI).
Forbes estimated Abdul Samad’s wealth at $4.5 billion, putting him 716th in the global billionaire’s club.
5. Orji Uzor Kalu ($3.2 billion)
Orji Uzor Kalu is a Nigerian politician and businessperson. He is the chairman of SLOK Holding and the Daily Sun and New Telegraph newspapers in Nigeria.
He served as the Governor of Abia State, Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007.
Prior to his election, he served as the chairman of the Borno Water Board and the chairman of the Cooperative and Commerce Bank Limited.
Kalu was also a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) and the chairman of the PPA Board of Trustees. He was the party’s presidential candidate in the April 2007 general election.
He is currently a member of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) after he officially announced his resignation as the PPA BOT chair.
Orji Uzor Kalu contested in the 2019 Nigerian general election to represent the people of Abia North in the senate, running under the banner of All Progressives Congress. He defeated the incumbent senator Mao Ohuabunwa with over 10,000 votes.
Kalu’s net worth is estimated to be $3.2 billion according to Wikipedia.
6. Folorunsho Alakija ($1.9 billion)
Alakija is a Nigerian billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist.
She is involved in the fashion, oil, real estate and printing industries.
She is the Group Managing Director of The Rose of Sharon Group which consists of The Rose of Sharon Prints & Promotions Limited, Digital Reality Prints Limited and the executive vice-chairman of Famfa Oil Limited.
Folorunsho Alakija also has a majority stake in DaySpring Property Development Company.
Folorunsho Alakija is ranked by Forbes as the richest woman in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion according to Wikipedia.
As of 2015, Folorunsho Alakija is listed as the second most powerful woman in Africa after Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the 87th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
She is the world’s eighth wealthiest black person on the globe in 2021.
7. Jimoh Ibrahim ($1.1 billion)
Jimoh Ibrahim is a Nigerian Lawyer and businessman born on the 24th of February 1967 in Okitipupa in Ondo State, Nigeria, to Alhaji Yakubu and Omofemiwa. His father was a bricklayer who married about seven wives, while his mother was a fish seller.
Jimoh Ibrahim is the CEO of Global Fleet Group who made his fortune in oil and gas, insurance, real estate, hospitality, and other industries.
He is well known in Nigeria and outside the country.
Ibrahim’s net worth is about $1.1 billion.
8. Pascal Uzoma Dozie ($1.1 billion)
This is the business brain behind different successful Nigerian entities such as Diamond Bank, Kunoch Limited and others.
Uzoma Dozie Paschal has worked as an economist in the UK and a consulting economist in Uganda.
After working as the chairman of the defunct progress bank, Uzoma Dozie Paschal founded Diamond bank in 1991 and served as CEO until 2006.
Uzoma Dozie handed the Diamond bank over to one of his sons in 2006.
Uzoma Dozie Paschal owned shares in the MTN group and was chairman of the company.
The famous businessman is also the CEO and founder of Sparkle, a business account the helps you manage your small and larger business to increasing more diversity in your business. The business has helped him earn a lot to become one of the richest men in Nigeria.
He is also the chairman at MTN Nigeria. His net worth is currently estimated to be $1.1 billion.
9. Jim James Ovia ($980 million)
Jim James Ovia is a Nigerian businessman born on the 4th of November, 1951, to a large family in Agbor, Delta State.
He is the second son of Obi Olihe of Agbor-Obi, one of the most revered Chiefs in the Agbor Kingdom.
Jim Ovia has two degrees to his name.
The billionaire attended Southern University and A&M College in 1977 and the University of Louisiana, Monroe, USA, in 1979.
Jim Ovia founded Zenith Bank with other investors in 1990 under the military regime of Ibrahim Babaginda. Jim Ovia currently has about a 9% stake in Zenith Bank.
He is also the owner of mobile telecom operator Visafone, a business that has earned him money to become the 9th richest person among the top ten men and women in Nigeria.
Visafone company was later acquired by MTN, a leading telecommunications company in Africa, in 2015. Before the acquisition, Visafone had more than 3million subscribers.
He is also a member of numerous interesting organizations (both governmental and NGOs).
Ovia’s current net worth is estimated to be $980 million.
Forbes named Jim Ovia the 37th richest man in Africa around 2015.
10. Hajia Bola Shagaya ($950 million)
Nigeria has many incredible women who earn millions of dollars and develop different industries and spheres of life.
Haija Bola Shagaya loves fashion and supports art; she is a wife, mother and business tycoon.
She has been a member of the board of Unity Bank for many years in a row.
Hajia Bola Shagaya is the 10th richest person in Nigeria and the second richest woman in Nigeria in 2021.
She was born on 10th October 1959 in Kwara, Nigeria, to the family of Emenike Mobo and Adut Makur (a Sudanese seamstress).
Bola Shagaya worked as an auditor in CBN before leaving to start up her company in 1983.
She started the company Bolmus International (Nigeria) Limited with an interest in importing photographic materials.
The business became a successful one and earned her so much that it increased her net worth to become the 10th richest person in Nigeria.
Bola Shagaya also founded Practoil Limited, a company with a vast portfolio of oil importation and distribution.
Under Babaginda’s administration, Bola Shagaya found another oil company called Voyage oil and gas limited, which was approved in 2012.
Bola’s net worth is $950 million.