Top 20 Richest Men and Women in Africa

Africa is a human and natural resource endowed continent that significantly drives the world economy. Though the continent is still miles away from development, it has successfully produced some of the richest men and women in the world. Some African businesspersons built their fortunes from a clean slate while others inherited their wealth but increased it significantly.

Africans have speedily climbed the global wealth steps and have appeared in the lists of Forbes Billionaires. This list of the richest men and women in Africa includes Africans that have their businesses established in Africa and other continents. It also consists of those who trade in different sectors of the economy such as financial institutions, manufacturing, telecommunication, oil and gas, and much more.

Who is the Richest Man in Africa?

1. Aliko Dangote

  • Net Worth: $13.4 Billion
  • Age: 66 Years old
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Industry: Manufacturing
  • Other Sources of Income: Shares and Export

Aliko Dangote, the founder, chairman, and CEO of the Dangote Group is the richest man in Africa. He is given the global recognition of the richest black man in the world. The business mogul rakes in much cash through the different sectors the Dangote Group has interests in. This group has interests in sugar refining, cement production, food production, and many more. He also established a fertilizer plant in Nigeria which started operating in 2021.

Aliko owns an 85% stake in Dangote Cement and stakes in other business sectors under the Dangote group. The business mogul is one of the major exporters of cotton, cocoa, cashew, and many more. He has also invested in different sectors of the economy like banking, telecommunication, textile, real estate, oil & gas, etc.

Others That Make Up the Richest Men and Women in Africa List

2. Johann Rupert

  • Net Worth: $10.6 Billion
  • Age: 73 Years old
  • Country: South Africa
  • Industry: Fashion and Retail
  • Other Sources of Income: Sports

Johann Rupert is the Chairman of Compagnie Financiere Richemont, a luxury goods company based in Switzerland, and Remgro, an investment holding company in South Africa. Before he ventured fully into business, he worked in banks in New York. Johann left the banking sector to return to South Africa and join Rembrant, a tobacco and industrial conglomerate founded by his father Anton Rupert in the 1940s. After joining Rembrandt, he expanded the conglomerate’s interest into spirits, wines, banking, mining, and many more.

In the 1980s, he took over the family-owned conglomerate and separated Rembrandt to become a company on its own known as Compagnie Financiere Richemont. The company, which deals in jewelry making, also has subsidiaries like Remgrom, the upgraded version of Rembrandt, and Reinet Investments, a holding company. Johann Rupert has a 7% stake in Remgro and a 25% stake in the Reinet investment. In addition, he owns the Saracene English rugby team and Leopard Creek Golf Club.

3. Nicky Oppenheimer

  • Net Worth: $8.5 Billion
  • Age: 78 Years old
  • Country: South Africa
  • Industry: Metals and Mining
  • Other Sources of Income: Game Reserve

Richest Men and Women in Africa

Nicky Oppenheimer is a South African billionaire who came from a family that made a fortune through diamond mining. The company known as De Beers occupied a significant spot in the diamond trade for 85 years before transferring about 40% ownership rights to Anglo America in August 2012. He also expanded his portfolio by investing in other businesses and establishing his own business.

Nicky has a stake in Temasek Holdings, an investment fund based in Singapore. He owns Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, the largest private-owned reserve in Northern Cape, South Africa. The billionaire established Fireblade Aviation in Johanessburg in 2014, which deals in chartered flights.

4. Abdulsamad Rabiu

  • Net Worth: $7.6 Billion
  • Age: 63 Years old
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Industry: Diversified
  • Other Sources of Income: Shares

Richest Men and Women in Africa

Abdulsamad Rabiu is a Nigerian billionaire and son of Late Khalifah Rabiu, a renowned industrialist. He founded BUA Group, a Nigerian company established in 1988. BUA Group, which owns BUA Cement Plc, emerged from the consolidation of Obu and Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria. Today, the group has interests in real estate, sugar refining, crude oil, raw material importation, cement production, and many more.

The billionaire owns 98.5% profit from the sales of the BUA Cement Plc, which trades on the Nigerian stock exchange.

5. Nassef Sawiris

  • Net Worth: $7.5 Billion
  • Age: 63 Years old
  • Country: Egypt
  • Industry: Construction and Engineering
  • Other Sources of Income: Shares

Nassef Sawiris, who comes from one of the richest families in Egypt, is the richest in the country, with an $8.4 billion net worth. The billionaire is the CEO of Orascom construction company founded by his father, Onsi Sawiris. Orascom is one of the most prestigious public traded companies with shares in Brazil, the United States, and many more.

The billionaire has also extended his portfolio to other sectors of business. Nassef owns a share in Lafarge Holcim cement, 6% share in Adidas sportswear, 5% shares in Madison Square Garden Sports, a New York-listed firm. He also owns a 30% stake in OCI, a public traded fertilizer group, and Texas Instruments.

6. Mike Adenuga

  • Net Worth: $6.2 Billion
  • Age: 70 Years old
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Industry: Diversified
  • Other Sources of Income: Shares

Despite having a humble beginning, Mike Adenuga has carved a spot for himself on the list of the richest men and women in Africa with a $6.9 billion net worth. The Nigerian guru, known for his telecommunication network Globacom, also delved into other sectors like oil production and banking. His telecommunication company Globacom is the third-largest with operations in Nigeria and the Republic of Benin. In addition, he holds a stake in Conoil, his oil exploration company.

The billionaire also founded Devcom Bank and Equitorial Trust Bank, which later merged with Sterling Bank Plc. Today, he holds the highest shares in the bank.

7. Issad Rebrab

  • Net Worth: $5.1 Billion
  • Age: 79 Years old
  • Country: Algeria
  • Industry: Food
  • Other Sources of Income: Partnership

The founder and the CEO of Cevital, a company with interests in food processing, electronics distribution, automobile, media, iron, and steel industry among other things, is Issad Rebrab – the 7th richest man in Africa. The company rakes a massive amount with its sugar refinery and is one of the biggest in the world. The company’s growth gave rise to many European subsidiaries such as the German water purification industry, Group Brandt (a French home appliance maker), and an Italian steel mill. He also owns stakes in these subsidiary companies.

8. Naguib Sawiris

  • Net Worth: $3.4 Billion
  • Age: 69 Years old
  • Country: Egypt
  • Industry: Telecommunication
  • Other Sources of Income: Politics

Richest Men and Women in Africa

Naguib Sawiris is an adept Egyptian businessman and politician who has gained the 8th spot among Africa’s richest men and women. He worked with Orascom in 1979, one of the most renowned private enterprises in Egypt. The company was prominent for its prowess in the construction of expensive projects. He took over Orascom Telecommunication Holding (OTH) after the company split into various companies.

OTH was later merged with the Russian Telecom firm VimpelCom, recently known as Veon, in 2011. Naguib Sawiris is the chairman of Orascom TMT Investment, a telecom company with subsidiaries in GSM, media, technology, energy, brokerage, transport, logistics, and many more. In 2005, Sawiris established a holding company known as the Whether Investment, later renamed WIND Telecom. The holding company has now operated under Veon as a subsidiary since 2011.

In addition, he holds a 88% share of Euronews through his Media Globe Holdings. Aside from his telecom investments, he diversified into mining and bought La Mancha, a Canadian mining company. In addition, he owns a luxury resort in the Caribbean island of Grenada known as Silversands. Naguib Sawiris is also active in Egyptian politics though he hasn’t held any notable post.

9. Patrice Motsepe 

  • Net Worth: $3 Billion
  • Age: 62 Years old
  • Country: South Africa
  • Industry: Metals and Mining, Sports
  • Other Sources of Income: Shares

Patrice Motsepe, who started his career as a lawyer, is the founder and executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), one of South Africa’s biggest mining operators. ARM deals in a broad range of minerals, including nickel, gold, platinum, coal, iron, manganese, chrome, and many more. He increased his assets by venturing into sports. Patrice owns Mamelodi Sundowns, an ABSA league club, and equally owns a 37% share in South African rugby outfits Blue Ball. Patrice Motsepe established Ubuntu-Botho Investments Pty Limited (UBI), an investment holding company, in 2014.

The UBI company launched investment management services in the insurance, pension, and banking sectors. The company also has subsidiaries like the African Rainbow Capital (founded by Patrice Motsepe), with stakes in over 40 companies. The billionaire holds a stake in his various businesses and their subsidiaries. He also serves on the board of many companies. Patrice Motsepe was the first black man to get a spot on the Forbes list in 2008 and has been on the list to date, ranking 9th.

10. Strive Masiyawa

  • Net Worth: $2.8 Billion
  • Age: 63 Years old
  • Country: Zimbabwe
  • Industry: Telecom
  • Other Sources of Income: Shares

Strive Masiyawa is a Zimbabwean billionaire who started on a clean slate. He worked at ZPTC, a Zimabawen phone company, before founding Econet Wireless Zimbabwe in 1998. The billionaire is known to have a 50% stake in the company. He also established a holding company known as Eco Global that has subsidiaries in tech, mobile banking, internet services, and renewable energy sectors.

Asides from his telecom business, he has served as a director in various reputable companies like Netflix, Unilever, and many more. He gained a spot on the Forbes list of African billionaires in 2018 and is currently 10th on the list with a net worth of $2.8 billion.

11. Koos Bekker

  • Net Worth: $2.6 Billion
  • Age: 71 Years old
  • Country: South Africa
  • Industry: Media, Investments, Internet
  • Other Sources of Income: Shares
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Kroos Bekker is the founder of the television company M-Net which became a subsidiary of Naspers when he became the CEO in 1997. Naspers is a South African world internet group with subsidiaries like M-Net, Multichoice, MTN, and many more. He helped develop the company into a media powerhouse with operations in over 130 countries. Naspers also has stakes in the Russian internet company Mail.ru, the Brazillian magazine Abril, and Tencent Holdings (China’s internet and instant messaging service). He is also a founding director of MTN, an African mobile telecommunication firm operating in Africa.

12. Mohamed Mansour

  • Net Worth: $2.5 Billion
  • Age: 76 Years Old
  • Country: Egypt
  • Industry: Diversified
  • Other Sources of Income: Politics

Richest Men and Women in Africa

Mohamed Mansour has been on the list of the richest men and women in Africa since 2012 and is currently 12th on the list. He is one of the Egyptian conglomerates, the Monsour Group. The billionaire took over the group in 1976 and ran it with his two billionaire brothers, who also own a stake in the group. Mohamed Mansour is the founder and chairman of Man Capital (a subsidiary of the Monsour Group), a private investment firm founded in 2010.

Mohamed also founded the Monsour Automotive Company, which deals in General Motors distribution, caterpillar machine, Mantrac, and Untrac. The group has extended its services beyond Africa and has become business associates with McDonald’s franchise, Philip Morris, Red Bull, and many more. The other sources of income for the Monsour Group include Al Mansour Holding Company (a financial investment company), discount stores chain, Metro Markets, chains of supermarkets, and many more. He has also held high-profile positions in Egyptian politics.

13. Aziz Akhannouch

  • Net Worth: $2.2 Billion
  • Age: 63 Years old
  • Country: Morocco
  • Industry: Petroleum, Diversified
  • Other Sources of Income: Politics

Aziz Akhannouch is a Moroccan billionaire businessman and the AKWA Group CEO and chairman. It is a multi-billion dollar Moroccan conglomerate with its headquarters in Casablanca. The group, founded by his father Ahmed Wakrim and a partner in 1932, deals extensively in petroleum, gas, and chemicals via public-traded Afriquia Gaz and the Maghreb Oxygene. The AKWA Group is also in tourism, media, real estate, telecommunication, and hotels.

The billionaire also ventured into politics in 2013 and has served in several high-profile positions. Aziz has been on the list since 2013 and currently ranks 13th.

14. Mohamed Al-Fayed

  • Net Worth: $1.8 Billion
  • Age: 95 Years old
  • Country: Egypt
  • Industry: Fashion and Retail
  • Other Sources of Income: Real Estate, Construction, Oil Exploration

Despite being born and raised in Egypt, Mohamed Al-Fayed established most of his businesses in Europe. He relocated to Europe in the 1960s, where he started making a fortune for himself. The billionaire started his career in business by establishing a shipping company with his brother in Egypt, which has its headquarters in Italy. He once owned Harrod, a departmental store in London that was later sold off for a considerable amount in 2010 to Qatar.

Mohamed Al-Fayed also expanded his business to hospitality and owned the Ritz Paris Hotel in France. A sports lover, the businessman once owned Fulham Football Club but sold it to Shahid Khan in 2013. In addition, he has ventured into other business sectors, including mining, oil exploration in Haiti, construction in UAE, and real estate in Scotland.

15. Michiel Le Roux

  • Net Worth: $1.7 Billion
  • Age: 74 Years Old
  • Country: South Africa
  • Industry: Banking
  • Other Sources of Income: Shares

Michiel Le Roux made it to the list of richest men and women in Africa with his achievements in the banking sector. Though a lawyer by profession, Michiel started with Distillers Corp and worked for several years before venturing into the banking field. He also worked in various banks before founding Capitec Bank on March 1, 2001. Le Roux owns about an 11% stake in the bank and currently serves as a non-executive director on the company’s board.

16. Othman Benjelloun

  • Net Worth: $1.6 Billion
  • Age: 93 Years old
  • Country: Morocco
  • Industry: Banking and Insurance
  • Other Sources of Income: Farm

Richest Men and Women in Africa

Othman Benjelloun, a Moroccan businessman and the 16th on the list of richest men and women in Africa, has a net worth of $1.6 billion. Born in the city of Beni-Mellal in Morocco to a father who was an insurance company executive, he worked his way up to the corporate ladder. He took over the reins of RMA, his father’s insurance company, in 1988 and upgraded it to become one of the prestigious insurance companies in Morocco today.

Othman Benjelloun co-founded the BMCE (Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur) in 1956 and held the highest shares, which was about 72.70 percent, in the Bank of Africa. Currently, he is the CEO of BMCE and Bank Of Africa, which has its activities in over 20 countries in Africa. He also runs the FiananceCom, a holding company set up to develop the multibillion-dollar tech city in Tangiers, Morocco.

In addition, he has been able to get a stake in Orange, a Moroccan arm of a French telecom firm, through his holding company FinanceCom. Finally, Benjelloun co-owns one of the largest cattle breeders in Africa known as Ranch Adarouch.

17. Mohammed Dewji

  • Net Worth: $1.5 Billion
  • Age: 48 Years old
  • Country: Tanzania
  • Industry: Diversified
  • Other Sources of Income: Politics

Mohammed Dewji is a Tanzanian billionaire and the president of Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania, Limited (MeTL). The company deals in flour milling, textile manufacturing, financial services, mobile phones, real estate, beverages, and consumable oil. The company base its operation in Southern, Eastern, and Central Africa. The company, founded by his father in the 1970s, was turned into a Pan African conglomerate by Mohammed.

Mohammed also served a two-year tenure in the Tanzanian parliament, retiring in 2015. He is the youngest billionaire who has been on the list of the richest men and women in Africa for some years and today holds the 17th position.

18. Youssef Mansour

  • Net Worth: $1.5 Billion
  • Age: 84 Years old
  • Country: Egypt
  • Industry: Diversified
  • Other Sources of Income: Founding Member Of American Egyptian Chamber of Commerce

Youssef Mansour is the CEO of the Mansour Group and the oldest of the three Mansour brothers who are also billionaires. The industrialist made his first appearance on the Forbes African Billionaires list in 2012, ranking 14th. He, however, currently ranks 18th on the list. He owns a massive stake in the family-owned company with his two younger brothers. The billionaire is in charge of the consumer goods sector that comprises Metro at Egypt’s largest supermarket chain. The business also has the right to be the only distributor of the beauty product L’Oreal in Egypt.

19. Yassen Mansour

  • Net Worth: $1.1 Billion
  • Age: 63 Years old
  • Country: Egypt
  • Industry: Diversified
  • Other Sources of Income: Shares

Richest Men and Women in Africa

Yassen Mansour has been on the list of the richest men and women in Africa for quite some time and currently sits in the 19th position. His success originated from joining his family-owned conglomerate Monsour Group founded by his father Loutfy in 1952. The group deals extensively on the distribution of GM vehicles and caterpillar equipment in Egypt and many countries across the globe.

Yassen is the chairman of Palm Hills Development, one of the largest real estate developing companies in Egypt and a subsidiary of the Monsour Group. In addition to his projects, he is the distributor of Gauloises cigarettes and the only franchise of McDonald’s in Egypt.

20. Mohammed Ibrahim 

  • Net Worth: $1.1 Billion
  • Age: 77 Years old
  • Country: Sudan
  • Industry: Telecom
  • Other Sources of Income: Shares

Mohammed Ibrahim is a Sudanese-born British businessman and the 20th on the compiled list of richest men and women in Africa. In 1998, the businessman established Celtel, one of the first telecom companies that served Africa and the Middle East. In 2005, he sold out the telecom company to Kuwait’s Mobile telecommunications company. He is a significant stakeholder in Satya Capital, a privately-owned equity fund, and also makes a fortune through his stakes from other companies.

Who is the Richest Woman in Africa?

Though men dominate the list of the 20 richest men and women in Africa, some women have also proven that the list isn’t for men alone. These women have succeeded in getting a spot for themselves on the Forbes list, though they currently do not make the cut. Amongst them is the Nigerian billionaire woman and oil mogul Folorunsho Alakija.

Folorunsho Alakija

  • Net Worth: $1 Billion
  • Age: 72 Years old
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Industry: Energy
  • Other Sources of Income: Shares

Richest Men and Women in Africa

Folorunsho Alakija is a Nigerian businesswoman who became a billionaire after venturing into oil exploration. Before venturing into the oil business, she established herself in fashion. The billionaire is the vice-chairman of Famfa Oil, a Nigerian oil exploration company with Chevron and Petrobras as partners. The company has shares in one of the prestigious offshore assets, Agbami oil.

Folorunsho also owns Rose of Sharon Group, a printing company, and has invested in real estate companies. Her net worth will increase significantly over time as Agbami oil will still operate until 2024.

Rundown of the 20 Richest Men and Women in Africa and their Net Worth

  1. Aliko Dangote – $13.4 billion
  2. Johann Ruper – $10.6 billion
  3. Nicky Oppenheimer – $8.5 billion
  4. Abdulsamad Rabiu – $7.6 billion
  5. Nassef Sawiris – $7.5 billion
  6. Mike Adenuga – $6.9 billion
  7. Issad Rebrad – $5.1 billion
  8. Naguib Sawiris – $3.4 billion
  9. Patrice Motsepe – $3 billion
  10. Strive Masiyawa – $2.8 billion
  11. Koos Bekker – $2.6 billion
  12. Mohamad Mansour – $2.5 billion
  13. Aziz Akhannouch – $2.2 billion
  14. Mohamed Al-Fayed – $1.8 billion
  15. Michiel Le Roux – $1.7 billion
  16. Othman Benjelloun – $1.6 billion
  17. Mohammed Dewji – $1.5 billion
  18. Youssef Mansour – $1.5 billion
  19. Yassen Mansour – $1.1 billion
  20. Mohammed Ibrahim – $1.1 billion

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