This feature is part of Blavity’s African Spotlight series, which highlights heads of state, as well as other politicians and societal leaders, who are currently in power or influencing change on the continent. African leaders are making significant impacts both in their own countries and internationally. Growing diasporas and increasing interconnectivity make developments on the continent more relevant to Black America and people everywhere than ever before.

The list of Black billionaires is small but growing. A couple of the people in this exclusive club are well-known individuals from the worlds of sports or entertainment, such as Michael Jordan or Oprah Winfrey. Others might name Black businessmen Robert Smith or David Steward. Kanye West, who recently made the list, has sometimes been mistakenly reported as the richest Black man in America. But recently, Nigerian DJ Cuppy went on Twitter to set the record straight concerning who’s at the very top of the Black billionaire list.

“I am a HUGE @KanyeWest fan,” Cuppy wrote on Twitter in January. “However with ALL due respect, I feel the need to remind him that he is not the “richest black man” — it is in fact my Godfather @AlikoDangote.

Cuppy's godfather is 64-year-old Aliko Dangote, a name that most Americans have never heard. Dangote, and the company that bears his name, are much better known in his home country, Nigeria, and across Africa. Over several decades, the Dangote Group has grown to be one of the largest companies on the continent, and it’s made its founder, Aliko Dangote, the richest Black person in the world.