Forbes list of African Billionaires reveals that Globacom Group Chairman, Mike Adenuga Jnr is shy of $800 million from Dangote Group President, Aliko Dangote whose wealth plunged to $10 million from $12 million. This makes him the second richest person in the continent while Dangote retains the first position for the 8th time in a row.

The Nigerian business tycoon owns the second-largest telecom operator, Globacom which is also present in Ghana and Benin alongside an oil exploration firm, Conoil Producing and extensive real estate holdings in Nigeria. Adenuga Jnr is worth $9.2 billion giving a close gap to Dangote. His net worth skyrocketed from $5.3 billion in January 2018 after he provided thorough information about his assets.

Nigeria produced a total of 4 billionaires. Alongside Aliko Dangote and Mike Adenuga Jnr who made the first and second position respectively, Abdulsamad Rabiu, chairman of BUA Group with a total net worth of $1.6 billion was ranked 16th and Folorunsho Alakija who is the vice chairman of Famfa Oil with a net worth of $1.1 billion was ranked 19th on the list.

Forbes blames the plunge in stock prices and weaker currencies for the reduction in the number of billionaires in Africa. Particularly in Nigeria, due to capital flight caused by election uncertainty making investors scared, the stock prices fell from the second quarter to the end of the year.

This may also have contributed to four people falling off the annual list.“Buffeted by plunging stock prices and weaker currencies, the number of African billionaires has shrunk to just 20, down from 23 a year ago,” the statement read.

The total net worth of all 20 billionaires fell to $68.7 billion from $75.4 billion in 2018. However, the average net worth for each individual on the list rose by $3.4 billion from $3.3 early 2018.