Nigerian oil and telecom tycoon Mike Adenuga has been named the continent’s biggest gainer by Forbes — in both dollar and percentage terms – with a net worth increase of $2.7 billion to $5.8 billion since December 31, 2015. The magazine further stated no other African billionaire added more than $1 billion to his or her net worth in the past year.
The increase in Adenuga’s net worth is largely due to new information FORBES obtained in 2016 about the value of his assets. Adenuga owns Nigerian telecom company Globacom and Nigerian oil company Conoil Producing. While Adenuga’s net worth has increased since the beginning of 2016, it has dropped significantly since March 2016, when FORBES valued his fortune at $10 billion on the 2016 Billionaires List. Since then, his net worth has dropped $4.2 billion, due to the devaluation of the Nigerian Naira and the country’s struggling oil sector. Adenuga was the only Nigerian billionaires whose net worth increased this year. (Aliko Dangote, the richest Nigerian and Africa’s richest man, saw his fortune drop nearly 28% to $12.4 billion over the course of 2016.)