6. Orji Uzor Kalu
Net Worth: $ 1 Billion
Rank In Nigeria: #5
Rank In Africa: #26 (Newcomer)
Orji Uzor Kalu is new to Forbes list of Africa’s 50 Richest this year.
He got his start in business at age 19 after being expelled from a Nigerian university for spearheading a series of student riots.
He then took a $35 loan from his mother and started trading commodities like palm oil, rice, sugar, salt and flour.
He diversified into furniture manufacturing and transportation and became a millionaire by the time he was 20.
He hit the big time in the early 80s when the Nigerian military government awarded him lucrative contracts to import and supply arms and ammunition to Nigeria’s military and defense forces.
He is the founder of Slok Holding, a $2.5 billion (annual revenues) West African conglomerate with interests in shipping, banking, oil trading, manufacturing and the media.
He was previously a governor of Abia state.
