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Saturday, March 9, 2013

More facts on Africa

Tallest mountain - Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania: 19,340 feet / 5895 meters.

Lowest point in Africa - Lake Assal in Djibouti which lies at 515 feet (155m) below sea level.

Largest desert in Africa is - The Sahara Desert which spans almost 3.5 million square miles (9,000,000 square kilometers). It stretches across North Africa and makes up a large part of a dozen countries.

Longest river in Africa - The Nile which is also the longest river in the world. It runs from Uganda all the way to Egypt for 4,132 miles (6650 km).

Largest lake in Africa - Lake Victoria in East Africa, bordering Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. The Lake is the second largest in the world, at 26,560 square miles (68,800 square kilometres). It is the main source of the Nile River.
Largest island in Africa - Madagascar off the East coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean is the largest island in Africa and the 4th largest island in the world. Madagascar is just over 1000 miles (1580 km) long and 350 miles (570 km) wide.

Largest waterfall in Africa - The Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Victoria Falls are just over 1 mile wide (1.7 km) and 355 feet (108 m) high. During the wet season over 500 million liters (19 million cubic feet) of water plummets over the edge into the Zambezi River. The spray can be seen from over 30 miles away.

The Equator - In Africa, the equator runs along for almost 2500 miles, passing through 6 countries: Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Somalia.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Number of Countries in Africa

Did you know? 
Number of Countries in Africa - 54 and a couple of disputed territories (Western Sahara and Somaliland). South Sudan is Africa's newest country, officially born on July 9, 2011.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Richest People In Africa 2012


This 26th year of tracking global wealth was one to remember, with an all-time high . The 2012 Forbes Billionaires List breaks two records: total number of listees (1,226) and combined wealth ($4.6 trillion). This horde surpasses the gross domestic product of Germany, one of only six nations to have fewer billionaires this year.
Below is the 40 Richest People In Africa:

No.1 Aliko Dangote

Net Worth:$11.2 billion – As of March. 2012
Source of wealth: sugar, flour, cement , self-made
Age:54 ,Citizenship: Nigeria , Residence: Lagos, Nigeria
Marital Status: Married, Children:3
Aliko Dangote is Africa’s and Nigeria’s Richest Man as of 2012 according to Forbes Magazine with a net worth of $11.2 billion.

No.2 Nicky Oppenheimer & family

Net Worth:$6.8 billion – As of March 2012
Source of wealth: De Beers, inherited
South Africa’s Richest Person: #1
Age:66 , Citizenship : South Africa , Residence: Johannesburg, South Africa
Marital Status: Married, Children:1
Nicky Oppenheimer is worth $6.8 billion. He is the richest person in South Africa and is the 139th richest person in the world. How did he get rich? He is the chairman of De Beers diamonds, of course, and also has a significant interest in Anglo-American plc, the gold mining company. He also owns Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, the largest private game reserve in South Africa.

No.3 Nassef Sawiris (tie)

Net Worth:$5.1 billion – As of March 2012
Egypt’s Richest Person: #1
Source: construction, inherited and growing
Age:51 , Citizenship: Egypt , Residence: Cairo, Egypt
Nassef Sawiris is Onsi’s youngest son and is worth $5.5 billion. He is the richest person in Egypt, and the 199th richest person in the world. He took over leadership of Orascom’s construction and fertiliser division in the late nineties and sold its cement business to Lafarge in 2007, although he still owns a stake and sits on the French company’s board. He is also the largest shareholder in Texas Industries.

No.3 Johann Rupert & family (tie)

Net Worth:$5.1 billion - As of March 2012
Source: Luxury goods, inherited and growing
Age: 61 , Citizenship: South Africa, Residence: Stellenbosch, South Africa
Marital Status: Married, Children:3
Johann Rupert is the second-richest person in South Africa, being worth $5.1 billion. He is the 199th richest person in the world, and made his money from Richemont, the Swiss luxury group that owns Cartier, Dunhill, Chloe bags and MontBlanc pens. The company purchased online fashion portal Net-a-Porter. Remgro, his South African holding company purchased VenFin earlier in 2010. He also owns Rupert & Rothschild and L’Ormarins wine estates, and one of South Africa’s most exclusive golf clubs.

No.5 Mike Adenuga

Net Worth:$4.3 Billion – As of March 2012
Source of wealth: Telcom, banking, oil, self-made
Age:58 , Citizenship: Nigeria , Residence:Lagos, Nigeria
Marital Status: Married
Mike Adenuga is the second-richest person in Nigeria with a fortune of $4.3 Billion. He is the 248th richest person in the world and made his money in telecommunications with Globacom, a carrier that has recently launched its 4G network. The company has also invested in the submarine cable connecting Nigeria to the world. His beginnings were small, as he started selling lace and Coca-Cola, but then he finally won a contract to build military barracks in the late 1980s. Adenuga also has a stake in the Equitorial Trust Bank, and is the chair of Conoil.

No.6 Naguib Sawiris (tie)

Net Worth:$3.1 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Telecom, inherited and growing
Age:57 ,Citizenship: Egypt ,Residence: Cairo, Egypt
Marital Status: Married, Children: 4
Naguib Sawiris, Onsi’s eldest son, is the second-richest person in Egypt – he is worth $2.9 billion, which makes him the 367th richest person in the world. He is the head of Wind Telecom, which is a mobile service provider for Africa, South Asia, Europe, Canada and the Middle East. Naguib attempted to sell his service provider to MTN group previously, but failed.

No.6 Christoffel Wiese (tie)

Net Worth: $2.7 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Consumer retail, self-made
Age:70 , Citizenship: South Africa
Marital Status: Married, Children: 3
Christoffel, or Christo as he’s more commonly known, is the fourth-richest person in South Africa. He is worth $2.7 billion and made his money as CEO of Shoprite. He also owns a stake in Pepkor, a discount clothes, shoes and textiles store in South Africa, and is known for restoring a South African farm estate and remodelling it into a five-star hotel. Other assets include Lourensford Estate, the wine producer, and a private game reserve in the Kalahari. He is the 782nd richest person in the world.

No.8 Onsi Sawiris

Net Worth:$2.9 billion – As of March 2012
Source: construction, self-made
Age:82 , Citizenship: Egypt, Residence: Cairo, Egypt
Marital Status: Married, Children: 3
Onsi Sawiris is the third-richest person in Egypt, and the #401 in the world. He is worth $2.9 billion and made his millions as the founder of the business dynasty that includes Orascom telecom, hotels and construction. He was encouraged to study agriculture when he was younger, but found it boring and opened up his own contracting firm, which had to be rebuilt after it was nationalised in the 1960s.

No. 8 Miloud Chaabi

Net Worth: $2.9 Billion – As of March 2012
Morocco’s Richest Person: #1
Source of wealth: Real estate
Age: 83 , Citizenship: Morocco
Marital Status: Married
Morocco’s richest man got his start in 1948 developing housing, then expanded through Ynna Holding into hotels, supermarkets, and renewable energy. Chaabi was a member of Parliament, where he was dubbed the “red capitalist,” when he allied himself with the socialist party.

No.10 Patrice Motsepe

Net Worth:$2.7 Billion – As of March 2012
Source: Mining, self-made
Age:50 ,Citizenship: South Africa , Residence: Johannesburg, South Africa
Marital Status: Married, Children:3
Patrice Motsepe is South Africa’s third-richest person, worth $2.7 billion. He made his money in mining and is the 442nd richest person in the world. His money is the result of the purchasing of low-producing gold mine shafts in 1994, which he made profitable. Since then, he has built African Rainbow Minerals, benefiting as a result of South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) laws. He also owns a stake in Sanlam.

No. 11 Othman Benjelloun

Net Worth: $2.3 Billion – As of March 2012
Morocco’s Richest Person: #2
Source: Banking, Insurance
Age:79 , Citizenship: Morocco
Marital Status: Married, Children:2
Othman Benjelloun’s father was a large shareholder in a small Moroccan insurance company. Benjelloun took over in 1988, and built it into RMA Watanya, a leading insurance company. He then used it to expand into banking. His publicly traded BMCE Bank is present in more than a dozen African countries (due to an acquisition of Bank of Africa), and has a market capitalization of $4 billion.

No.12 Mohamed Mansour

Net Worth: $1.7 Billion - As of March 2012
Source: Diversified, self-made
Age:64 ,Citizenship: Egypt , Residence:Cairo, Egypt
Marital Status: Married, Children:2
Mohamed Mansour is the older brother of Youssef and Yasseen, and is worth $1.7 billion, he made through his fortune through various ventures. He is the fourth-richest person in Egypt, and the 595th richest person in the world. His family is the biggest seller of GM vehicles around the world, and the Mansour group has interests in diverse industries, such as supermarkets and real estate.

No.13 Yasseen Mansour (tie)

Net Worth: $1.6 Billion – As of March 2012
Source: Diversified, self-made
Age:50 ,Citizenship: Egypt ,Residence:Cairo, Egypt
Marital Status:Married, Children:4
Yasseen Mansour is worth $1.6 billion and is the fifth-richest person in Egypt. He is the youngest brother of Mohamed and Youssef Mansour, and is the head of Egypt’s second-largest retail estate developer Palm Hills Developments. He is the 692nd richest person in the world but is facing allegations of corruption after his cousin, who was ousted Egyptian president Mubarak’s housing minister, was found to be a shareholder in that company and other Mansour holdings.

No. 13 Anas Sefrioui (tie)

Net Worth: $1.6 Billion – As of March 2012
Source: Real estate
Age: 55 , Citizenship: Morocco
Marital Status: Married, Children: 3
Moroccan entrepreneur Anas Sefrioui formed a real estate development group in 1988, but his big break came nearly ten years later when he won a contract to build a chunk of government-subsidized housing under the patronage of Morocco’s late King Hassan II. He won another $1 billion state contract in 2005 to build more housing units.

No.15 Youssef Mansour

Net Worth: $1.5 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Diversified, self-made
Age:66 ,Citizenship: Egypt , Residence:Cairo, Egypt
Marital Status:Married,Children:5
Youssef Mansour is the older brother of Mohamed Mansour. He is worth $1.5 billion and is the sixth-richest person in Egypt. He is the 864th richest person in the world and was behind the construction of the largest supermarket chain in Egypt, called Metro. He apparently enjoys collecting furniture that King Louis XIV of France was fond of, and Renaissance paintings.

No.16 Mohamed Al Fayed & family

Net Worth: $1.3 Billion – As of March 2012
Source: Retail, self-made
Age:79 ,Citizenship: Egypt
Marital Status: Married, Children:5
Mohamed Al Fayed is worth $1.3 billion, making him the 960th richest person in the world and the eighth richest person in Egypt. His business interests include ownership of Fulham Football Club in England, Hotel Ritz Paris and formerly Harrods Department Store in Knightsbridge.

List of African Millionaires Of 211 According to Forbes:

#17 Jim Ovia

Net Worth: $775 Million, Source: Banking
Citizenship: Nigeria , Age: 57

#18 Lauritz (Laurie) Dippenaar

Net Worth: $750 Million, Source: Banking, Insurance
Citizenship: South Africa , Age: 63

#19 Shafik Gabr

Net Worth: $730 Million, Source: Diversified
Citizenship: Egypt , Age: 59

#20 Stephen Saad

Net Worth: $640 Million, Source: Pharmaceuticals
Citizenship: South Africa , Age: 47

#21 Theophilus Danjuma

Net Worth: $600 Million, Source: Oil
Citizenship: Nigeria , Age: 72

#22 Alami Lazraq

Net Worth: $575 Million, Source: Real estate
Citizenship: Morocco , Age: 61

#23 Samih Sawiris

Net Worth: $560 Million, Source: Real estate, Hotel
Citizenship: Egypt , Age: 54

#24 Oba Otudeko

Net Worth: $550 Million , Source: Manufacturing, Telecom
Citizenship: Nigeria , Age: 67

#25 Raymond Ackerman

Net Worth: $545 Million, Source: Retailing
Citizenship: South Africa , Age: 80

#26 Uhuru Kenyatta & family

Net Worth: $500 Million, Source: Land
Citizenship: Kenya , Age: 50

#27 Gerrit Thomas (GT) Ferreira

Net Worth: $460 Million, Source: Banking, Insurance
Citizenship: South Africa , Age: 63

#28 Hakeem Belo-Osagie

Net Worth: $450 Million, Source: Telecom
Citizenship: Nigeria , Age: 56

#29 Abdulsamad Rabiu

Net Worth: $400 Million, Source: Sugar, Flour, Cement
Citizenship: Nigeria , Age: NA

#30 Mohammed Indimi

Net Worth: $330 Million, Source: Oil
Citizenship: Nigeria , Age: 63

#31 Chris Kirubi

Net Worth: $300 Million, Source: Real estate
Citizenship: Kenya , Age: 70

#31 Jannie Mouton

Net Worth: $300 Million, Source: Financial services
Citizenship: South Africa , Age: 64

#33 Michiel Le Roux

Net Worth: $290 Million, Source: Banking
Citizenship: South Africa , Age: 62

#34 Adrian Gore

Net Worth: $280 Million, Source: Financial services
Citizenship: South Africa , Age: 47

#34 Strive Masiyiwa

Net Worth: $280 Million, Source: Telecom
Citizenship: Zimbabwe , Age: 51

#36 Cyril Ramaphosa

Net Worth: $275 Million, Source: Investments
Citizenship: South Africa , Age: 59

#36 Giovanni Ravazzotti

Net Worth: $275 Million, Source: Ceramics, Tile
Citizenship: South Africa , Age: 68

#38 Mohamed Bensalah

Net Worth: $270 Million, Source: Financial services
Citizenship: Morocco , Age: 41

#39 Markus Jooste

Net Worth: $260 Million, Source: Furniture retailing
Citizenship: South Africa , Age: 50

#40 Paul Harris

Net Worth: $250 Million, Source: Banking
Citizenship: South Africa , Age: 61

[See full list on Forbes.com]

The Source