Tune in to specialty channels and publications and you’ll get details on Africa’s vibrant economy, political scene and progress. Most of our news on easy accessible media outlets will be rarely see more than headlines of difficulties and dire times. All mainstream media, however, recently carried the announcement of two of Africa’s sons and joining the billionaire club.

Africa now has two bona fide and black billionaires. Aliko Dangote born in Kano, Nigeria and now operating out of Lagos, arrives on the Forbes Magazine annual list at #334 with $3.3 billion. Not too much farther down and no less stellar is Patrice Motsepe of South Africa with $2.4 bil.

Patrice Motsepe

The resource rich continent has produced billionaires before. It likely even created several black billionaires, but most of these were not verifiable. Those wealthy potential list makers’ fortunes were not trackable. Some did not make their fortunes available to scrutiny; others were rich from ill gotten gains and so reduced through distribution to relatives or hid them in banks and safe havens round the world.

According to Forbes magazine, South Africa has the most billionaires in sub-Saharan Africa. Patrice Motsepe, however, is South Africa's first Black billionaire.
Motsepe, a child of the Soweto Township was born into interesting and opportune times. He is a prince by virtue of his mother’s belonging to the royal clan within the Tsawana tribe. His foundation in business comes through his father. The elder Motsepe was banished from Pretoria to muzzle his political voice and activism, but he voiced another kind of power - the economic success and potential displayed by some of the very successful black businessmen, even through the years of Apartheid.
Minding the grocery store for his father, Patrice watched the family’s expansion to a beer hall and restaurant. Destined to secure positions in law school, by 1991 he moved to Richmond, Virginia for a year with a law firm. He was quickly identified as a star. A trade trip accompanying the governor to South Africa crystallized Motsepe’s interest in mines. He continued to study them closely and to represent them in his law practice once back home.
Always outspoken about free market capitalism and able to communicate in six languages, his $2.4 bil fortune was made with the universal language of economics. His understanding that the most successful mining operations were small, lean and with little if any corporate overhead to cover were to set his management style.
Motsepe turned a low level mining services business into the country’s first black – owned mining company. The creative financing of an $8.2 million stake began strategic partnerships, sometimes with the former and white owners of his acquisitions. Many felt his historic first should have been with a more powerful and glamorous buy, but he stayed true to his working principles of lean, efficient operations. For a long time he was known as the suitcase man because he had no office but worked out of his briefcase and was totally mobile.
African Rainbow Minerals or ARM, Motsepe’s flagship company was given a big break, doubling its stock cost from $12 - $24 as a result of the Asian commodities boom. This increased his worth to $2.4 billion. He has gone on to buy other properties and to mine a variety of minerals taking advantage of weakening Rand and strengthening gold and mineral prices. Significant percentages of his mine operations go to improve services and lives of people in the surrounding regions. He knows his future is anchored on the improvement of living conditions for the millions more awaiting their turn in fortunes.Motsepe lives a relatively modest lifestyle. His three sons attend private schools and his wife, a former doctor turned fashion industry promoter together support his vision. They are the power couple and family of South Africa.

Changes in the charter which began after democratic elections in 1994 saw the African National Congress (ANC) are challenged to nationalize South African mines amongst other transformations.

Motsepe is just one player to watch as Africa is expected to experience substantial and speedy progress on the world stage. In an interview for Forbes Magazine billionaire list announcement, Motsepe was philosophic about the speed and permanence of acquiring wealth in his industry. He noted that so much artificiality exists that you can be worth 2.4 billion one day and half a billion the next.

Aliko Dangote fortune is far more diversified. He enters as new comer and #334 on the billionaire’s block with a net worth of $3.3 billion. As Nigeria’s first billionaire he has come by his wealth by both inheritance and astutely managed holdings in resources and refineries.

Dangote’s apprenticeship also began with his family – their rich business background and connections.

At 21 he took a loan from his uncle, Sanusi Dantata and began life as a trader. By 1977 his Dangote Group was founded and active as a conglomerate in sugar, flour milling, salt processing, cement manufacturing, textiles, real estate, freight, and oil and gas.

His Group currently dominates the sugar market in Nigeria, as he is the major sugar supplier to the country's soft drink companies, breweries, and confectioners. Dangote Group has moved from being a trading company to Nigeria's largest Industrial group. His sugar refinery is the most capitalized company on the Nigeria Stock Exchange, valued at over $3 billion with Aliko Dangote's equity topping $2 billion. Initial offerings for his cement and flour stock has been delayed but represents Africa's largest Cement Production Plant: Obajana Cement, Dangote Flour amongst others.

Bhenin, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo are locations of some of his operations. He is a wealthy supporter of President Olusegun Obasanjo and the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). His domination of Nigeria's commodities trade through his corporate and political connections and diversity of industries makes him the second richest black person in the world behind Mohammed Al Amoudi ($9.0 billion), and ahead of Oprah Winfrey ($2.5 billion), Mo Ibrahim ($2.5 billion) and Patrice Motsepe of South Africa ($2.4 billion).

Dangote plans to build a 300,000 bpd refinery in Lagos. The new administration of President Umar Yar'adua. Yar'adua has seized the properties in the belief that refineries are one of the most important assets of the nation and it is unwise to sell them to private sector.

The Dangote Group also imports rice, cement, fertilizer, and fish-just to name a few. Additionally, the group exports cocoa, cotton, sesame seed, and ginger. The group is also a major producer of textiles and has a major stake in one of Nigeria’s largest salt processing companies.

Mr. Dangote maintains a very low profile and media-shy demeanour. He does acknowledge that he made his name in commodity trading especially sugar importation into Nigeria and admits he controls over 60 percent today. Although his import and export products are incredibly varied concentration in each industry creates serious repercussions. For example the heavy demand by Nigeria's soft drink industry, breweries and confectionery industries for sugar, give him a great edge by doing volume business and gaining advantages to undercut competitors.

He says it is an open market but because of his enormous investment in the business and his transport haulage business, he can distribute his sugar faster, cheaper and at a uniform prize nationwide which the competition cannot match. Dangote is reputed to have good investments even in foreign-based sugar refineries that supply him.

His massive rice imports and export moves in December 1996 crashed the local market by almost 80 percent. Right from the 1980s, Dangote decided to move from being just a successful commodity dealer to a more rounded entrepreneur with solid investments in finance and manufacturing his style was acquisition and buying into existing companies.

Motsepe and Dangote are just the tip of the economic iceberg. They signal the trend to growth and the expected increase in the percentage of the world’s billionaires being of African origins. More talent and riches will surface as more and more people of Afric origins increase their economic lot in Africa and all countries around the world doing trade with Africa or having citizens of Afric origins.