Today, you will see the names of the top best/richest entrepreneurs in Nigeria that impact the business industry.
Yes, I know that all of us will say “Dangote.” Let me shock you by saying that there are other successful Nigerian entrepreneurs that you are yet to discover.
Before we start the name listing, I would like us to look at what we mean by the term entrepreneur?
Who is an Entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit. This person can be either a man or a woman, and that’s why we have the “Businessman and Businesswoman title.”
An entrepreneur will always have a mindset of how to invest his/her money properly to get good returns (profit).
Entrepreneurial forces are relatively strong in this country, as the lack of jobs and a rise in poverty leave few other options for the Nigerian people. Although difficult due to a lack of resources, there are non-profit organizations such as the Fate Foundation in Nigeria dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship.
In Nigeria, there is an increase in entrepreneurial activity, which is speedily fueling the African continent’s economic momentum.
Top 10 Successful Entrepreneurs in Nigeria
In Nigeria, there are many outstanding entrepreneurs. But, this article will provide information about the Top 10 Entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
- Aliko Dangote
- Mike Adenuga Jr
- Jim Ovia
- Femi Otedola
- Orji Uzor Kalu
- Folorunso Alakija
- Abdul Samad Rabiu
- Tony Elumelu
- Oba Otudeko
- Theophilus Danjuma
Brief Biography of the Top 10 Entrepreneurs in Nigeria
1. Aliko Dangote
A link Dangote is unarguably the number 1 successful entrepreneur that we have in Nigeria. This man is a Nigerian businessman who was born on April 10 1957.
Besides being the richest person in Nigeria, Dangote is the richest personality in Africa.
Aliko Dangote is the Chairman/President/CEO/Founder of Dangote Group Plc, with its head office at Union Marble House 1 Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi Lagos, PMB 40032, Nigeria.
Dangote group started as a small buying-and-selling business in 1977. He moved to Lagos to expand the services of the company. Dangote group is currently one of Africa’s largest companies with a revenue of close to 5 billion dollars yearly. The conglomerate also has a strong presence in other African countries like Ghana, Benin, Togo and Zambia. Dangote Cement and Sugar dominate the Nigerian market. It is no more a trading company but an industrial giant.
Dangote Sugar is currently the largest sugar refinery in Africa and one of the largest in the world. The company also has huge investments in banking, oil and gas, textiles, transport sector.
Presently, Dangote has an average net worth of over $ 12 billion.
2. Mike Adenuga Jr
Chief Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga Jr CSG GCON is a Nigerian billionaire businessman who is also the third richest person in Africa.
He is the owner of one of Nigeria’s largest telecommunication service-providing companies, which has a presence in Ghana and Benin with 37 million subscribers.
Mike also owns an oil exploration outfit, Conoil Producing, that operates six oil blocks in the Niger Delta.
Adenuga started as a young millionaire at less than 30 years of age. He started a business trading textile materials and supplying soft drinks. In the early 90s, he got his first drilling license and began exploring oil in South-West Nigeria. In 1999, he received a GSM license to operate in Nigeria. His telecommunication company, Globacom, became increasingly popular with the Nigerian populace, causing a headache for the MTN group. Globacoms services have now expanded to reach other neighbouring West African countries of Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
Presently, Adenuga has an estimated net worth of $5.7 billion.
3. Jim Ovia
Jim James Ovia is a Nigerian banking businessman, a native of Agbor in Delta State. He is the founder of the prestigious Zenith Bank, which was established in 1990.
Zenith is currently one of Nigeria’s biggest and most successful banks, with more than 500 branches across the country. The bank currently makes close to a billion dollars as revenue and is being traded on the Nigeria Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.
Jim is the owner of prime real estate across Nigeria, and he was the former owner of Visafone Communications Limited, which has since been taken over by MTN.
According to Forbes, Ovia has an estimated net worth of $980 million.
4. Femi Otedola
Femi Otedola is the father of one of the Nigerian best female Disco Jocker (Dj) named Dj Cuppy. He is the son of the former Lagos State Governor, Michael Otedola.
This man is a businessman, philanthropist, and former chairman of Forte Oil PLC, an importer of fuel products. Otedola is the founder of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd and several other shipping, real estate, and finance businesses.
Regarding what Forbes says, Femi Otedla has an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion (in 2016).
5. Orji Uzor Kalu
Orji Uzor Kalu, one of Abia State, Nigeria’s ex-governors, whose tenure started from May 29 1999, to May 29 2007.
Sir Kalu is a politician and businessperson. He is the chairman of SLOK Holding and the Daily Sun and New Telegraph newspapers in Nigeria.
ESTIMATED NETWORTH: $330 million (2015)
6. Folorunso Alakija
In the list of every successful man, there must be a woman. Folorunso Alakija is a Nigerian billionaire businesswoman who deals in the fashion, oil, real estate, and printing industries.
We can recall that in 2014, this fellow temporarily unseated Oprah Winfrey as the world’s richest woman of African descent.
In 1974, Folorunsho Alakija began her career as a secretary at Sijuade Enterprises, Lagos. She later worked in the banking sector. She also established her tailoring and fashion designing firm a few years later. She delved into the murky waters of petroleum exploration and production. The name of the company is Famfa limited. The company makes as much as 10 million dollars.
ESTIMATED NETWORTH: $1 billion (in 2020)
7. Abdul Samad Rabiu
According to Wikipedia, Abdul Samad Isyaku Rabiu CON is a Nigerian businessman. His late father, Khalifah Isyaku Rabiu, was one of Nigeria’s foremost industrialists in the 1970s and 1980s.
He owns several companies, including:
- BUA SUGAR, which processes and refines as much as 3,000 metric tonnes of sugar daily.
- BUA OILS, located in Lagos, produces more than 700 tonnes of oil per day.
- BUA PORTS & TERMINALS.
- BUA CEMENT
- BUA ESTATES
He is a Nigerian businessman and the founder of BUA Group, a Nigerian sugar refining, cement production, real estate, logistics, and port operations company.
ESTIMATED NETWORTH: $3.2 billion
8. Tony Elumelu
Being the chairman of Heirs Holdings, the United Bank for Africa, Transcorp, and founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, Tony Elumelu is a Nigerian economist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist with an estimated net worth of $0.7 billion.
He is the founder of Heirs Holding, which he established in 2010. Heirs Holding is a holding company with subsidiaries and companies in various sectors ranging from hospitality and agribusiness to healthcare and energy. He is one of the most influential persons in Africa.
9. Oba Otudeko
With an estimated net worth of $550 million, Oba Otudeko is a Nigerian entrepreneur and the founder of one of Nigeria’s biggest companies that deal with oil and gas, flour milling, real estate, and marine transportation called “HONEYWELL GROUP.”
However, another piece of Otudeko fortune is in the oceanfront Radisson Blu in Lagos, Nigeria.
10. Theophilus Danjuma
Born on December 9 1938, General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma GCON FSS psc is a Nigerian general and politician who has played a key role in Nigeria’s history. He is a former Nigerian defence minister and the founder of the oil exploration company South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO).
Danjuma also owns Real estate plus a stake in Notore Chemical Industries, a urea fertilizer manufacturer, and he has a stake in one of Nigeria’s largest shipping companies called NALComet.
With all this, Danjuma has an estimated net worth of $0.75 billion.
Top 3 Nigerian techprenuers
These Nigerian entrepreneurs have successfully used technology to address challenges nationally and overseas. More crucially, the work they have done and continue to do is opening doors for numerous young Nigerians to change the world as well.
Funke Opeke
Funke Opeke is a Nigerian electronics engineer, owner of Main Street Technologies and Chief Executive Officer of Main One Cable Company, a communication systems solutions firm based in Lagos State, south-western Nigeria.
Her business, MainOne, is West Africa’s top communications and network provider.
Olugbenga Agboola
Olugbenga Agboola is a Nigerian systems engineer and businessman who was born around 1984 and 1985. He is Flutterwave’s co-founder and Exec.
Mark Anthony Essien
Mark Anthony Essien, a Nigerian businessman, computer programmer, and venture capitalist, was born on December 18, 1980, in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State. He is the CEO and Founder of Hotels.ng, an online hotel booking platform in Nigeria.
Before launching Hotels.ng in 2013, Essien had developed a file-sharing application called Gnumm (purchased by Snoopstar.com), followed by an online learning tech company called Ingolingo.
Conclusion
The above-listed names are the names of the top 10 entrepreneurs in Nigeria. However, if you want to read more about their biographies, kindly visit their Wikipedia page by searching their google name.