Forbes Magazine’s world’s richest list that estimates Globacom Chairman, Mike Adenuga’s networth at $2billion has been described as a gross under-estimation, financial experts close to Adenuga’s business empire have revealed.
“Conoil Producing alone, operator of six oil blocks and holder of 25 per cent stake in Joint Development Zone Block 4, with proven reserves of more than one billion barrels of crude and 7 trillion cubic feet of gas, is worth more than $2 billion”, said the financial expert in an interview with P.M. News this morning.
He indeed estimated that Conoil Producing, without factoring in Conoil, the downstream firm involved in the retail sale of refined petroleum products, is worth more than $10 billion.
It appears that Forbes evaluated Adenuga’s wealth on his Globacom holdings alone, as the reports dwelled mostly on the network’s subscription, the company’s $1 billion investment in fiber optics, Glo-1, to link Africa with the rest of the world and Globacom’s operations in West African nations such as Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Senegal and Gambia.
“Whatever criteria they use are faulty”, said the expert. “Globacom West African operation is worth more than $5 billion, when the huge investments in Ghana, Togo and Benin are put in the picture”.
P.M News also learnt that Adenuga has huge investments in real estate in Nigeria and Europe. Three years ago, his interests were estimated at about $3 billion. And of course, he owns majority shares in Equitorial Trust Bank.
On Wednesday, Forbes magazine released its list of the world’s richest.
The magazine listed 1210 individuals across the globe, with Aliko Dangote, listed as Nigeria’s and Africa’s richest man with networth of $13.8 billion.
According to Forbes, the combined wealth of these 1,210 individuals is $4.5 trillion (£2.78 trillion) – which is slightly more than the UK’s total debt which stands at £2.34 trillion.
Since Forbes listed Dangote in 2008, there has always been controversy among Nigerians on whether the magazine’s goggles is not afflicted with some sight disorders, as most Nigerians wondered why Adenuga’s name was left out.
The controversy is even now going to deepen, on who is richer between Aliko and Adenuga, the magazine having now recognized Adenuga’s deep pockets, after several years of omission.
According to reports, in the past year Aliko Dangote’s fortune surged 557% to $13.8 billion, up from $2.1 billion, after he consolidated all his public and private cement holdings throughout Africa into the continent’s largest cement manufacturer and took it public on the Nigerian stock exchange in October. Dangote Cement now has a market value in excess of $13 billion, and accounts for a quarter of the Nigeria Stock Exchange’s total market capitalization. Dangote also has interests in flour, pasta and sugar manufacturing.
According to Forbes, Dangote is richer than longtime white South African billionaires Nicky Oppenheimer of Debeers and Johann Rupert of luxury goods group Richemont, which owns Cartier, Dunhill and other premium brands. He is also richer than Chelsea Football Club owner, Roman Abramovich.
But the jury may not have a word yet on the richest African, between Aliko and Adenuga.
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