Much has been written about the challenges he currently faces with Citigroup, but this year our judges felt Prince Alwaleed deserved the top slot again largely because of his work in Africa, which in an interview with Arabian Business last year he described as a continent that is “still sleeping” but reveals that last year he made a staggering 120% return on his investments there.

The prince is making a threefold attack on Africa – firstly through Kingdom Hotel Investments (based in Dubai) which now has more than 10 hotels in the continent. Then there is the Kingdom Zeyphyr fund, which invests in non-hotel fields, usually no more than US$100m per deal. Thirdly, and probably most significantly, is Kingdom Holding – what he describes as a fund for big projects, of absolutely any size. Through this come his many charity ventures, including funding for schools, clinics, hospitals and immunisation programmes. He says: “In Africa some countries need assistance. There is a proverb in China which says you don’t teach a man just how to eat a fish. You have to teach him how to fish then eat the fish. Some countries can’t afford to teach everyone. My strategy is to feed them the fish until they are able to fish, and then they go fishing.”

He adds: “I went to Niger a few years ago. They had famine. I gave a contribution for two years and we saved the lives of two million people. And most of them were women and children. And that was for small amounts, I’m talking about US$7m. Now the famine is over and we are going in with our investments. It’s a perfect example of giving them the fish and then teaching them how to fish.”