In addition to being immensely wealthy, African billionaires also have years of experience making money, which now serves as rules they abide by. These rules have contributed to both the maintenance and growth of their wealth.
With a net worth of $19 billion, Aliko Dangote has maintained his position as the richest person in Africa, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire index. Like many others, he saw a gain in wealth despite the various economic headwinds that the world market was experiencing, such as inflation.
Here are some African billionaires that share their money rules that serve as their business principles.
Invest instead of saving in banks – Aliko Dangote
Aliko Dangote is the richest man in Nigeria and Africa. He earned this position by making wise financial decisions.
By upholding his financial principles, he kept the top spot on the list of African billionaires. He believes in investing his money back into his businesses, which has been his driving force. As a result, he is now worth billions of naira, and the brand is still dominant.
- One of the pieces of money advice he shared was that ‘‘Dangote Group are not doing like other Africans who keep most of their money in the bank. We do not keep money in the bank. We fully invest whatever we have, and we keep investing”.
- He also has two money principles that he never violates when investing. He said, “First, I only enter a business that I can fully understand. I never enter a business that is not clear to me.”
The second principle is that I have to be able to become number one or, at worst, number two in that business”.
Have a saving culture – Tony Elumelu
Nigerian businessman, economist, and philanthropist Tony Elumelu supports entrepreneurship in Nigeria and around Africa. Elumelu’s saving culture is one of the things that has helped him succeed in his quest to build money.
This inspired one of his famous sayings, “If I didn’t save from earning one dollar, I would not save even if I earned $1bn”. This money rule shaped him into having a disciplined mindset of not spending all but saving more.”
Save and be frugal with your spending – Strive Masiyiwa
According to the Zimbabwean billionaire, all thanks to his mother, he learnt the best things that helped shape his perspective about money, which includes learning to save and be frugal with his spending habits.
- He said, “My mother would be quick to rebuke me if I did anything that was “showy”, or an attempt to impress others”.
Not because they lacked money, but because it was the best money rule to develop. He said, “Years later, I discovered that the old lady could easily have bought herself a Mercedes anytime; she was just frugal!”.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
