#Nigerian Tycoons Lead Africa's 50 Richest To Gains In 2014, Orji Kalu, Tony Elumelu Joins The List Of World Billionaires!

There are three new billionaires on the list: Orji Uzor Kalu of Nigeria, Tony Elumelu of Nigeria and King Mohammed VI of Morocco.  Three billionaires on last year’s list are no longer members of the 10-figure club: Vimal Shah of Kenya is off the list, replaced by his father Bhimji Depar Shah at a lower net worth. Abdulsamad Rabiu of Nigeria dropped below $1 billion due to ceased operations at his floating cement terminal in Nigeria. And South African mining mogul Desmond Sacco dropped to a net worth of $680 million, down from $1.4 billion last year, because of a sharp decline in the share price of his mining firm Assore Group.

Tony O. Elumelu has become at least $123 million richer between November 1 and November 21 as shares of Transcorp PLC, a Nigerian-Stock Exchange-listed conglomerate, surged 186% in that period.

Orji Uzor Kalu is new to Forbes list of Africa's 50 Richest this year. He is the founder of Slok Holding, a $2.5 billion (annual revenues) West African conglomerate with interests in shipping, banking, oil trading, manufacturing and the media. He got his start in business at age 19 after being expelled from a Nigerian university for spearheading a series of student riots. He then took a $35 loan from his mother and started trading commodities like palm oil, rice, sugar, salt and flour. He diversified into furniture manufacturing and transportation and became a millionaire by the time he was 20. He hit the big time in the early 80s when the Nigerian military government awarded him lucrative contracts to import and supply arms and ammunition to Nigeria's military and defense forces. He was previously a governor of Abia state in Nigeria's southeast.  

The net result: the number of billionaires on the list stayed steady with 2013 at 27. Africa’s 50 richest are, as a whole, wealthier than a year ago. Their combined net worth of $110.7 billion is 6.7% more than in November 2013. The minimum net worth needed to join this elite group rose to $510 million, up from $400 million a year ago.

Behind Aliko Dangote at number one with a fortune of $21.6 billion, comes South African luxury goods magnate Johann Rupert, number two for the second year in a row, worth an estimated $7.3 billion. His Compagnie Financiere Richemont has a stable of luxury brands including Cartier, Montblanc and fashion house Azzedine Alaia.

To View The Full List; www.forbes.com/africa-billionaires

Six newcomers join the list of richest Africans, including the above mentioned new billionaires, as well as Ali Wakrim of Morocco and Ahmed Ezz of Egypt. Mohamed Bensalah of Morocco rejoins the list after dropping off in 2013. Seven members of the 2013 list fell off: Vimal Shah of Kenya (as mentioned earlier, his father Bhimji replaced him), Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Raymond Ackerman of South Africa, Sani Bello of Nigeria, Adrian Gore of South Africa, Shafik Gabr of Egypt, and Alami Lazraq of Morocco, said www.forbes.com