From BBC News

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 $20.2 billion (£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 super rich Africans 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.

Read more at BBC News.