Nigeria’s wealthiest businessmen, Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Abdulsamad Rabiu, and Femi Otedola, have emerged as the only Nigerians on the 2025 ‘Africa’s Billionaires List’ compiled by Forbes, which was released on Saturday.

Once again, Dangote topped the list for the 14th consecutive year, with an estimated net worth of $23.9 billion, up from $13.9 billion a year ago.

The significant jump in his fortune was primarily due to Forbes factoring in the value of his refinery.

The Dangote Group operates in diverse sectors, including cement, sugar, flour, salt, seasoning, pasta, beverages, real estate, and projects in oil & gas and fertiliser.

On the other hand, Adenuga, who ranked fifth on the list, had $6.8 billion in his portfolio during the period under review, while Rabiu was worth $5.1 billion.

Adenuga runs the Pan-African telecommunications company, Globacom, while Rabiu owns the BUA Group, with interests in cement, sugar, oil, and other sectors.

Nigerian business mogul and philanthropist Otedola emerged as the 16th richest person in Africa on the Forbes list, with his wealth surging by over 30 per cent in the last year.

In the newly released list, Forbes stated that Otedola’s wealth reached $1.5 billion during the period, making him one of the fastest-growing billionaires, second only to Johann Rupert of South Africa, whose fortune grew by 39 per cent.

A prominent Nigerian businessman, Otedola has established and led several companies across various sectors, with many notable enterprises associated with his name.

Checks revealed that some of these include Geregu Power Plc, the first electricity-generating company in Nigeria to be listed on the Nigerian Exchange in October 2022, where he serves as Chairman.

Additionally, he is the Chairman of First Holdco Plc, formerly FBN Holdings Plc, a financial holding company that serves as the parent company for a diversified group of financial services businesses, including commercial banking, merchant banking, capital markets, trusteeship, and insurance brokerage, operating across Africa.

A dedicated philanthropist, Otedola has been a significant supporter of Save the Children, donating billions of naira and earning a Vice President role in recognition of his efforts to improve the lives of children in Nigeria.

Save the Children is an organisation that works to support vulnerable children worldwide.

“Another billionaire whose fortune grew by more than 30 per cent was Femi Otedola of Nigeria ($1.5 billion), chairman of listed power generation firm Geregu Power Plc.

Shares of Geregu surged by approximately 40 per cent in the past year following a rise in revenue and profits,” the Forbes report stated.

The Forbes list tracks the wealth of African billionaires who reside in Africa or have their primary business there.

Net worths were calculated using stock prices and currency exchange rates as of the close of business on 7 March 2025.

Forbes noted that net worth changes were measured from its 2024 African billionaires list, published in January 2024. To value privately held businesses, Forbes starts with estimates of revenues or profits and applies prevailing price-to-sales or price-to-earnings ratios for comparable public companies.

Similarly, the report highlighted that the cumulative wealth of Africa’s billionaires surpassed $100 billion for the first time, as the continent’s 22 billionaires saw their combined fortunes rise to $105 billion, up from $82.4 billion and 20 billionaires last year.

South Africa had the highest number of billionaires this year, with seven, followed by Nigeria and Egypt, with four billionaires each.

The House of Representatives has passed a bill to give foreign investors Nigerian Citizenship for second reading.

The proposed legislation titled , “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to include Citizenship by Investment as one of the classes of Citizenship in Nigeria, provide for the Acquisition of Nigerian Citizenship by Qualified Foreign Investors who meet Specified Investment Thresholds and for Related Matters (HB. 2059)” was sponsored by the, Benjamin Kalu, the deputy speaker and some other lawmakers.

Business Day reports that the bill Is among the constitutional amendment bills which the Green Chamber is considering.

In the explanatory memorandum of the Citizenship by Investment Bill, it seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Cap C23 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 to introduce a new class of citizenship known as Citizenship by Investment.

The proposed alteration aims to attract foreign direct investment by granting Nigerian citizenship to individuals who invest in the Nigerian economy above a specified financial threshold or in strategic sectors critical to national development.

The Lagos State Police Command is questioning four officials of the United Bank for Africa (UBA)  for alleged thefts of £138,924 (over N270 million) from international airlines’ accounts.

CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, the command’s public relations officer, disclosed that the suspects conspired to illegally divert funds from domiciliary accounts into personal accounts before redistributing them to multiple destinations.

The fraud was uncovered when the bank detected unauthorized transactions and alerted the police.

The arrested officials include Shuaib Oluwatobiloba Olaleye, 27, who was arrested on March 12, 2025, in Ogun State, with a Toyota Camry 2012/2013 recovered from him. Oladunjoye Adegoke, 33, was arrested on March 13, 2025, in Victoria Island, Lagos, with a Toyota Camry (Pencil Light) recovered.

Austin Alfred, 38, Supervisor of the bank’s Trade Services Department, and Jude Uzobuaku, 36, a processor in the same department, were also arrested for facilitating the illegal transfer of funds to foreign accounts.

Police investigations revealed that the stolen funds were initially funneled into an account belonging to one of the suspects before being distributed to multiple other accounts to evade detection. Authorities are now working to identify additional accomplices and recover the remaining funds.

The suspects are in custody and will face prosecution as the investigation continues.

The police have urged the public to report suspicious financial transactions, reiterating their commitment to tackling economic crimes.