Hakainde Hichilema Net Worth
So much attention has been on Hakainde Hichilema ever since he appeared on Forbes‘ list of richest people in the world as 2nd richest billionaire in Africa with the whopping net worth of $7.7 billion. HH of course, has featured Number 1 on the list of Zambia’s richest people for several years now. Zambian politicians were not indifferent to this as well but the burning questions remain on every mind:
How much is Hakainde Hichilema really worth?
Is HH worth that many billions of kwacha?
We’ll try to answer all these questions and more in this article but first, let’s see who is really Hakainde Hichilema?
Hakainde Hichilema‘s Biography
According to Wikipedia, Hakainde Hichilema (born 4 June 1962) is a Zambian businessman and politician who has been President of the United Party for National Development, an opposition political party, since 2006.
He is a perennial presidential candidate, having contested five times and lost all: in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2016.
- Early life and career
Hichilema was born in a village in Monze District in present-day Zambia. He received a scholarship to study at the University of Zambia and graduated in 1986 with a BA in Economics and Business Administration. He thereafter pursued an MBA in Finance and Business Strategy at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.
He served as the chief executive officer of both Coopers and Lybrand Zambia (1994–1998) and Grant Thornton Zambia (1998–2006).
- Political career
He is a member of the opposition United Party for National Development, a liberal political party. Following the death of Anderson Mazoka in 2006, he was elected as the party’s new President. He also served as the leader of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), an alliance of three opposition political parties.
In the 2006 election, Hichilema was the candidate of the UDA and ran against incumbent president Levy Mwanawasa of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy and Patriotic Front candidate Michael Sata. He received the endorsement of former President Kenneth Kaunda. The election was held on 28 September 2006 and Hichilema took third place with about 25% of the vote.
Hichilema ran as the UPND candidate in the 2008 election, which was called following the death of President Levy Mwanawasa. He came 3rd with 19.7% of the vote. In June 2009, Hichilema’s party, the UPND, formed a pact with Michael Sata‘s Patriotic Front (PF) to contest the 2011 election together. However, indecision on the pact candidate, deep mistrust and accusations of tribalism from both sides resulted in the collapse of the pact in March 2011.
He was one of the two main candidates in the January 2015 presidential election, which he lost by a narrow margin of just 27,757 votes (1.66%) against the ruling party’s candidate, Edgar Lungu. Hichilema denounced the election as a sham and urged his supporters to remain calm. He again faced Lungu as the main opposition candidate in the August 2016 presidential election, and was again narrowly defeated.
In April 2017, he was arrested on suspicion of treason and charged with attempting to overthrow the government. He was in prison for 4 months before being given a Nolle prosequi.
Hakainde Hichilema Net Worth
On 2018 Forbes Billionaires, Hakainde Hichilema Hits 2nd In Africa
Meanwhile, African Billionaire Fortunes Rise On Forbes 2018 List Of Continent’s Richest
Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, the richest person in Africa for the seventh year in a row.
Buoyed by rising stock markets and commodity prices, Africa’s billionaires are collectively wealthier than a year ago. The 23 billionaires that Forbes found in Africa – up from 21 billionaires last year — are worth a combined $75.4 billion, compared to $70 billion in January 2017.
The richest African, for the seventh year in a row, is Nigerian cement and commodities tycoon Aliko Dangote, with a net worth that Forbes pegs at $12.2 billion. That’s up $100 million from a year ago. Dangote is looking beyond cement –his most valuable asset – and has been investing in a fertilizer production company and a large oil refinery. Dangote Fertilizer started operations in the second quarter this year.
Number two on the list is diamond mining heir Nicky Oppenheimer of South Africa, with a net worth of $7.7 billion, up $700 million from last year and African biggest Cattle rancher and corporate businessman [Shipping, Shopping Malls, Butchery, Farm crops, Stocks, modern education institutions,tourism etc ] of Zambia Hakainde Hichilema with the net of 7.7 billion up $890 Million from last year .
Hakainde is one of the major taxpayers in Zambia of about 17.9% of the national reserves and major local employers second to the government.
Between 2016 and 2018 Hakainde Hichilema continued performing some corporate social responsibilities by supplementing the efforts of the Zambian government in many socio-economic projects. He built three different schools with staff housing units and a clinic with a children ward, male ward, and staff housing facilities.
He also sponsors hundreds of students at the University of Zambia, Copperbelt University, Cavendish university with some in primary, and secondary level.
January 2018 he gave scholarships to 11 [ including his two sisters and a niece ] students in UK, Australia, and Russia.
Hakainde Hichilema is the president for the biggest opposition party United Party for National Development [UPND] in Zambia with the country support of 51.8% of Zambia’s total population of approximately 16 million people.
With such minds in government, Zambia shall surely be a haven, a place to proudly call home once again.
Also Read:
Richest Black Person in the World – 2019
Top 10 Richest Men in Zambia 2019