Nigeria has the highest number of legitimate dollar-billionaires in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a recent wealth report by Ventures Africa.

Ventures Africa (www.ventures-africa.com), a leading African business magazine published its inaugural ranking of the richest people in Africa on Monday at richlist.ventures-africa.com. The full magazine is available as an App in the Apple and Google apps store.

Of the 55 Africans who made the entry point of $1 billion, 20 of them are Nigerians. The Nigerians featured on the list include Aliko Dangote, who is listed as Africa’s wealthiest man with a $20.2 billion fortune and Globacom boss Mike Adenuga, who is listed as the 3rd richest man in Africa with an $8 billion fortune. Others include Folorunsho Alakija, the richest woman in Africa who is worth $7.3billion and the CEO of Taleveras Group, Igho Sanomi, who at 38 years old is listed as the youngest billionaire in Africa with a net worth of $1 billion.

Commenting on the rich list, Ventures Africa’s Publisher, Chi-Chi Okonjo, said: “That Nigeria has so many dollar billionaires says something positive about our economy. As the saying goes, if you’re not doing business in Nigeria, then you’re not doing business in Africa.”

The combined fortune of Africa’s 55 billionaires is $143.88 billion. Two other women apart from Folorunsho Alakija make the list. They include Isabel Dos Santos, an Angolan investor who is also the daughter of Angola’s President, Eduardo Dos Santos, and Mama Ngina Kenyatta, the widow of Kenya’s first President.

The average net worth of the members of this exclusive club is $2.6 billion while the median age of the richest people in Africa is 65 years.

After Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt lead the pack with the second and third highest number of billionaires at 9 and 8 respectively. Algeria, Angola, Zimbabwe and Swaziland only have one billionaire each. In all, there are 10 African countries represented on the list.

Ventures Africa is Africa’s leading business magazine and news service. Founded and published by Chi-Chi Okonjo, the bi-monthly magazine is distributed across Africa.