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Tuesday, 8 October 2013

Africa has 55 billionaires... far more than previously thought

Isabel dos Santos
Isabel dos Santos is the only Angolan listed as a billionaire

 
Africa has 55 billionaires, far more than previously thought, Nigeria-based Ventures financial magazine says.

They include three women - the mother of Kenya's president, a daughter of Angola's president and a Nigerian oil tycoon and fashion designer.

The richest man is Nigeria's Aliko Dangote, with a fortune of $20.2bn (£12.5bn), Ventures said.

The list is likely to reignite debate about inequality between rich and poor people in Africa, correspondents say.

In April, the World Bank said the number of people living in extreme poverty in Africa had risen in the past three decades from 205 million to 414 million.
'Conservative estimate'
A report earlier this month by research group Afrobarometer suggested that economic growth in Africa was primarily benefiting a small elite.

This is the first time the respected Ventures magazine has published a list of rich Africans, reports the BBC's Tomi Oladipo reports from Nigeria's main city Lagos.

The 55 billionaires it has identified are more numerous than the 16 listed by US financial magazine Forbes last year.

It was able to identify dozens more billionaires by using "on-the-ground knowledge" to overcome hurdles that may have "hampered" other researchers, Ventures said.

The magazine estimated the 55 billionaires' combined fortunes at $143.88bn, an average of a $2.6bn per person.

Of the 55, 20 are Nigerian, nine are South African and eight are Egyptian, Ventures said.

The richest woman is Nigeria's Folorunsho Alakija, who made her $7.3bn fortune mainly in the country's oil industry, it added.

She also studied fashion in London and made dresses for Maryam Babangida, the late wife of Nigerian military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, Ventures said.

Isabel Dos Santos, an Angolan investor and the eldest daughter of Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, together with Ngina Kenyatta, the mother of Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta, also made the cut, it added.

Ventures listed Harvard-trained businessman Allan Gray as South Africa's richest man, with a fortune of $8.5bn.

"This media-shy South African moneyman controls two investment companies that collectively manage over $50bn in assets," Ventures said.

Nathan Kirsh, a property tycoon in the tiny kingdom of Swaziland, also made it on the list.

He is worth $3.6bn, and has business interests in London and New York, Ventures said.

Ventures editor-in-chief Oozo Eewala told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme that its estimate of 50 billionaires was probably conservative.

"There is this culture of you don't necessarily want to show your wealth, considering the gap between rich and poor," he said.

"If you have a lot of money, there are a lot of people that you have to support so we think people may be a little reluctant to be all splashy about what they have and what their assets are."

#bbc

 

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Kokori women, who protested nude over the weekend, form shield around Igban shrine to prevent soldiers from destroying it

WOMEN in Kokori, the country home of arrested suspected Delta State kingpin, Kelvin Oniarah, who protested nude, weekend, over alleged desecration of the community’s ‘Igban’ shrine by soldiers, formed a human shield around the shrine, yesterday, to stop military men from destroying it.



It was gathered that the women, who alleged that they saw soldiers with motor-saws, yesterday morning, formed a wall around the shrine and dared the soldiers to shoot them.
The women said they would rather die than allow soldiers to despoil the community shrine, which is a symbol of their tradition.At 12noon, the women were still in a running battle with soldiers, who they prevented from entering the shrine.
The irate women had on Saturday evening marched round the community, reigning curses on soldiers for coming back to destroy the shrine after the first attempt.The angry women were joined, Sunday morning, by youths, who also deposited a coffin at the palace of their embattled monarch, Ogurime-Rime, Ukori 1, which they broke into and vandalized.It was gathered that Sunday protest by women and youths was to show their anger over the disquieting silence of the monarch, his chiefs and leaders of Kokori in the face of the siege to the community by security agents.

However, Kokori Elites, who met in Warri, Sunday, decried the invasion of the community by soldiers, destruction of Kokori shrine and arrest of the Ose Egba, who is only the chief priest of the shrine, belonging to the entire community.The elites urged government to withdraw soldiers from the community, as they were causing tension and aggravating the already bad situation with their actions.
A committee, which included Chief Efe Akpofure, SAN, Chief Peter Igho, Roselinne Eshalomi , Chief William Onakpome as members was set up to liaise with the government on one hand, the women and youths on the other, on how to resolve the problem.
The elites also frowned at the role of a vigilance group leader from Ughelli, who was alleged to have led soldiers to the shrine, saying tthat he destruction of the shrine was at the root of the problem.While they condemned criminality by any of their children, the leaders said the issue of non-development of Kokori should not be swept aside and called for understanding of government for the plight of the people. They called for the release of the chief priest, Michael Omonigho.

#vaguard

Monday, 7 October 2013

Mutilated body of missing female lawyer found in her chambers




Police in Abuja are investigating the suspected murder of a female lawyer, Mrs. Ijeoma Micah, whose lifeless body was found mutilated, yesterday, in her chambers in the highbrow Maitama area of Abuja.

Ijeoma, the owner of Micah and Micah Chambers, was found dead in her office three days after she was said to have gone missing.

Her husband, who it was learnt, arrived from London on Sunday morning, rushed to her office, as it was gathered that he had not heard from her for three days, only to discover her lifeless body.

He reported the matter to Area Command of the police in Maitama.

Contacted on the development, Commissioner of Police FCT, Femi Ogunbayode, said that from investigations, it was discovered that some men had called Ijeoma to her office for some business, which she went for and afterwards, nothing was heard from her.

Ogunbayode told Vanguard that as a result of the killing, a security detail that was attached to Ifeoma was arrested and was being interrogated for alleged complicity.

He said that since the security detail did not report the case to the police until her husband came back from abroad and discovered her body, he was therefore a suspect.

He added that the Forensic Investigation Unit at the FCT Command was already at the office, where she was allegedly killed and had commenced investigation into the matter.

Sympathisers in the area said that the Ifeoma’s husband broke the door of her office and on seeing the lifeless body of his wife, almost killed himself while crying.

It was also gathered that Ijeoma’s car had been missing from the usual parking spot in front of her office building.


#vanguard

Sunday, 6 October 2013

Halle Berry and husband Olivier Martinez welcome their new baby boy!


The Oscar winning actress, Halle Berry, gave birth to a baby boy in Los Angeles on Saturday. This is the first child for Halle and husband Olivier Martinez, but the second child for 47-year-old Halle who has a five-year-old daughter, Nahla, with ex-fiancé Gabriel Aubry.




Proud parents: Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez (pictured here at the Cloud Atlas premiere in October 2012) welcomed their first child together in Los Angeles on Saturday


E! Online reported that Berry had delivered her baby at Cedars Sinai Hospital, where countless celebrity children have been born over the years.




Bulging bump: Berry was out in West Hollywood just the day before giving birth in a sheer shirt that showed off her huge belly






#dailymail