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Despite ongoing macroeconomic reforms, including the devaluation of the Nigerian naira, the country’s equity market and investment landscape continue to evolve, with a notable surge in strategic acquisitions and increased foreign investor participation.
The impact of these developments has propelled the Nigerian Exchange to historic heights, with the NGX all-share index surpassing 60,000 index points for the first time since 2008.
The total share market capitalization on the Nigerian Exchange has experienced a remarkable 17.28 percent surge since the beginning of the year, reaching a historic N32.7 trillion ($43.1 billion) at the time of this report.
This surge has resulted in several Nigerian billionaires and businessmen, including renowned figures such as Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Abdul Samad Rabiu, and Mike Adenuga, witnessing an impressive increase in their fortunes during the same period.
Barring the recent devaluation of the naira, these prominent individuals would have remained in top positions on the Forbes richest list. However, due to the country’s attractive growth opportunities, Nigerian billionaires and leading businessmen with stakes in publicly listed companies are expected to regain their dominance among Africa’s wealthiest.
Given the staggering surge in the shares of various companies on the Nigerian Exchange, there is a growing interest in assessing the ranking of Nigerian billionaires and businessmen based on the valuation of their stakes in the locally listed firms.
In response, Billionaires.Africa has compiled a comprehensive ranking of the wealthiest investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX). The data utilized for this analysis has been sourced from reliable providers such as S&P Global Market Intelligence, alongside publicly available documents and disclosures.
It is pertinent to note that Billionaires.Africa‘s focus lies on individual ownership rather than multi-generational family fortunes. In instances where the distribution of ownership among siblings or couples is unclear, the fortune is attributed to the most prominent and visible member of the family.
Below is a list of the top 25 individuals currently holding the highest stock ownership positions on the Nigerian Exchange, ranked according to the valuation of their shares as of the close of trading on June 26, with valuations converted to U.S. dollars at the prevailing exchange rates:
1. Abdul Samad Rabiu
Net worth on the NGX: $6.01 billion
Holdings: BUA Sugar, BUA Cement
Nigerian billionaire Abdul Samad owns the most valuable portfolio on the Nigerian Exchange. Abdul Samad Rabiu, who founded BUA Group in 1988, owns 96.29 percent of his flagship company, BUA Cement Plc, in his name and through his wholly-owned BUA International. His stake in the company is now valued at $ 3.008 billion. He also owns a 92.6-percent stake in BUA Foods Plc, currently worth $ 3 billion, bringing the total value of his holdings to $6.01 billion.
2. Aliko Dangote
Net worth on the NGX: $5.8 billion
Holdings: Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, NASCON, Jaiz Bank, United Bank for Africa
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote owns 86.81 percent of Dangote Cement, Africa’s biggest cement company, and the second-largest company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. His other holdings on the NGX include a 72.7-percent stake in Dangote Sugar, 66.5 percent in NASCON Allied PLC, and 7.23-percent in Jaiz Bank. Dangote also owns 301,971,608 shares in United Bank for Africa.
3. Femi Otedola
Net worth on the NGX: $851 million
Holdings: Geregu Power Plc, FBN Holdings
Femi Otedola is the beneficial owner of 82 percent of Geregu Power Plc, an electricity generating company. His Geregu PLC stake is currently valued at $806.6 million. He also owns 5.56 percent of FBN Holdings, a leading financial services group.
4. Shravin Bharti Mittal
Net worth on the NGX: $481.9 million
Holdings: Airtel Africa PLC
Shravan Bharti Mittal, the son of Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, owns a
7.7% stake in Airtel Africa. The shares are worth more than $481.9 million.
5. Jim Ovia
Net worth on the NGX: $225.7 million
Holdings: Zenith Bank
Jim Ovia is the founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank PLC, Nigeria’s largest commercial bank by market capitalization. He owns 16.17 percent of the bank.
6. Samuel Dossou-Aworet
Net worth on the NGX: $148.3 million
Holdings: Seplat Petroleum
Gabonese oil billionaire Samuel Dossou-Aworet wholly owns Petrolin Group. Through the company, he holds a 13.77 percent shareholding in Seplat Petroleum, an oil exploration and production company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
7. Tony Elumelu
Net worth on the NGX: $131.2 million
Holdings: United Bank for Africa, Transcorp, Africa Prudential, United Capital
Famed philanthropist Tony Elumelu owns 7.19 percent of United Bank of Africa (UBA) in his name and through a number of companies such as his family office Heirs Holdings Limited, Heirs Alliance Limited, and HH Capital. In May, he acquired a total of 76,768,546 new shares in the bank, bringing his total number of shares in the bank to 2,457,372,28 units. Outside UBA, Elumelu also owns 30.16 percent of Transcorp, a conglomerate with interests in power generation, energy, and hospitality. His other assets include a 25.95-percent stake in Africa Prudential and 26 percent in United Capital.
8. John Coumantaros
Net worth on the NGX: $115.8 million
Holdings: Flour Mills of Nigeria
Through Excelsior Shipping Company Limited, Coumantaros, a Nigeria-based Greek businessman and chairman of Flour Mills Group, controls 63.3 percent of the agro-allied group. His stake is worth $115.8 million.
9. Mike Adenuga
Net worth on the NGX: $108,711,417
Holdings: Sterling Financial Holding, Julius Berger, Conoil PLC, Transcorp
Nigeria’s 3rd richest man Mike Adenuga controls 74.4 percent of Conoil PLC, a company that markets refined petroleum products. It is his biggest asset on the Nigerian bourse and is currently worth $55.3 million. Adenuga also owns 30.63 percent of Sterling Financial Holding – 5.63 percent in his name and 25 percent through Silverlake Investment Limited. His stake in the bank is worth $ 35.2 million. His other holdings include 25.1 percent of construction giant Julius Berger which he owns through an investment vehicle called Goldstones Estates Limited. Those shares are worth $16.4 million. He also holds a 0.86-percent stake in Transcorp.
*Adenuga is believed to own significant shares in FBN Holding but Billionaires.Africa could not confirm his shareholding in the company, so it is not included in our calculations.
10. Jite Okoloko
Net worth on the NGX: $100.8 million
Holdings: Notore Chemical Industries
Notore Chemical Industries Plc manufactures and sells nitrogenous fertilizers and substances to enhance soil fertility. Even though Notore is unprofitable, its stock is highly illiquid, and losses have increased over the past five years at 54.8 percent per year; the company still has a market cap of $133.5 million. Jite Okoloko, the company’s CEO, owns a 76.55-percent stake through Notore Chemical Industries (Mauritius). The stake is worth $100,843,631.
11. Augustine Avuru
Net worth on the NGX: $87.7 million
Holdings: Seplat
Austin Avuru, a co-founder of Seplat, a Nigerian oil and gas exploration and production company, owns 8.2 percent.
12. Isiyaku Rabiu (Jnr) owns a 2.631-percent stake in BUA Foods worth
Net worth on the NGX: $ 84 million
Holdings: BUA Foods
Isiyaku Rabiu (Jnr) owns 2.63 percent of BUA Foods. His stake is worth $84 million.
13. Hebert Wigwe
Net worth on the NGX: $63.9 million
Holdings: Access Holdings PLC
Hebert Wigwe, the CEO of Access Holdings, controls an 8.7-percent stake (3,094,789,014 shares) in the financial services group through his name and his family office, Tengen Holdings. While Tengen Holdings is ultimately owned by Wigwe and former CEO of Access Bank, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, due to a lack of clarity on the shareholding structure of Tengen, Billionaires.Africa attributes ownership to Wigwe. Tengen has been aggressively acquiring Access Holding shares over the past few weeks. Between May and June alone, Tengen acquired 1,387,172,774 additional shares.
14. Wale Tinubu
Net worth on the NGX: $34.2 million
Holdings: Oando Plc
Wale Tinubu indirectly owns a 38.25-percent stake in Oando Plc, the energy company he co-founded and serves as CEO. His stake is valued at $34.2 million. Ocean and Oil Development Partners Limited (OODP) owns 7,131,736,673 shares (representing 57.37 percent of the total shares) in Oando. OODP is ultimately owned 66.67% by Wale Tinubu and 33.33% by Omamofe Boyo, Oando’s deputy CEO.
15. Kessington Adebutu
Net worth on the NGX: $23.7 million
Holdings: Wema Bank
Nigerian lotto magnate Kessington Adebutu is the beneficial owner of Neemtree Investments, which controls 28.09 percent of Wema Bank. The shares are worth $23.7 million.
16. Ambrosie Bryant Orjiako
Net worth on the NGX: $23 million
Holdings: Seplat
Ambrosie Bryant Orjiako, a co-founder of Seplat, a Nigerian oil and gas exploration and production company, owns a 2.16-percent stake in the company worth $23 million.
17. Sayyu Dantata
Net worth on the NGX: $21.2 million
Holdings: MRS Africa Holdings
Sayyu Dantata, a cousin to Aliko Dangote, owns 60 percent of MRS Africa Holdings Limited, a Nigerian oil marketing company. Dantata is a former chairman of the company. His shareholding is worth $21.2 million.
18. Theophilus ‘TY’ Danjuma
Net worth on the NGX: $19.2-million
Holdings: Industrial and Medical Gases, Notore Industries, May & Baker
TY Danjuma owns 8.04 percent in Notore Industries, worth $10.5 million; He also holds a 72-percent stake in Industrial and Medical Gases in Nigeria, worth $3.6 million, and a 43.28-percent stake in May & Baker, worth $5.1 million.
19. Muhammadu Indimi
Net worth on the NGX: $18.1 million
Holdings: Jaiz Bank
The Nigerian oil tycoon is the largest shareholder in Jaiz Bank, a financial services institution that operates under Islamic banking principles. He owns a 24.06-percent stake worth $18.1 million.
20. Omamofe Boyo
Net worth on the NGX: $17.1 million
Holdings: Oando Plc
Omamofe Boyo, the Deputy CEO of Oando, owns an indirect 19.1-percent stake in the company valued at $17.1 million.
21. Wole Oshin
Net worth on the NGX: $15.4 million
Holdings: Custodian Investment Plc
Wole Oshin founded Custodian Investment Plc in 1991. The company has active operations in the Nigerian financial services sector, mainly through its insurance subsidiaries and investments in the country’s real estate sector. Oshin owns a 26.81-percent stake in Custodian Insurance worth $15.4 million.
22. Aminu Alhassan Dantata
Net worth on the NGX: $13.2 million
Holdings: Jaiz Bank
Aminu Dantata, a revered Nigerian industrialist, owns 17.5 percent of Jaiz Bank, a stake worth $13.2 million.
23. Fidelis Ayebae
Net worth on the NGX: $13 million
Holdings: Fidson Healthcare Plc
Fidelis Ayebae founded Fidson Healthcare Plc, a leading pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Nigeria, and one of only three pharma companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Ayebae founded the company in 1995 and is the CEO and managing director. He is the company’s largest shareholder. The 33.05-percent stake he owns in the company is worth $13 million.
24. Gbenga Oyebode
Net worth on the NGX: $10.5 million
Holdings: Okomu Oil Palm Company
Nigerian lawyer and investor Gbenga Oyebode’s 3.77-percent stake in Okomu Oil Palm Company is worth $10.5 million. Okomu cultivates oil palm, processes fresh fruit bunches into crude palm oil for resale, has a rubber plantation, and processes rubber lumps into rubber cake for export.
25. Atedo Peterside
Net worth on the NGX: $10.3 million
Holdings: Stanbic IBTC Plc
Nigerian banker Atedo Peterside owns 1.16 percent of Stanbic IBTC, a Nigerian financial holding firm with subsidiaries in banking, stock brokerage, investment advisory, asset management, investor services, pension management, trustee insurance brokerage, and life insurance. His stake is currently worth $10.3 million.
