Chidi Okereke
Forbes has released its latest ranking of the richest people in Africa and despite being the Poverty Capital of The World, Nigerians have basically topped the list again. Although Dangote lost about $3 billion, he retained the top spot, while Mike Adenuga, the CEO of Globacom – who is arguably the biggest gainer – leaped spaces to claim the second spot. Other Nigerians include Abdulsamad Rabiu and the former richest African woman, Mrs Folurunsho Alakija.
See the full list below.
- Aliko Dangote – $10.3b | Nigeria | Cement, Sugar, Flour, Oil and Gas
Aliko Dangote GCON is the owner of Dangote Group, which has interests in commodities like Cement, Sugar, Flour, etc., in Nigeria and other African countries. As of March 2018, he had an estimated net worth of US$14.1 billion, but he is now worth $10.3 Billion. He is still the richest black man in the world though, a position he has held for a couple years now.
- Mike Adenuga – $9.2b | Nigeria | Telecomms, Oil and Gas
Michael Adenuga Jr, GCON is the founder and CEO of Globacom, Nigeria’s second-largest telecom operator. He owned stakes in the defunct Equitorial Trust Bank (acquired by Sterling Bank) and the oil exploration firm Conoil (formerly Consolidated Oil Company). As at 2017, Forbes estimated his net worth at $5.8 billion, but now he is worth $9.2 billion
- Nicky Oppenheimer – $7.3b | South Africa | Diamonds
Nicholas F. Oppenheimer is a South African billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He was formerly the chairman of De Beers diamond mining company and of its subsidiary, the Diamond Trading Company, and former deputy chairman of Anglo American. He is the second richest African
- Nassef Sawiris – $6.3b | Egypt | Construction, Chemicals
Nassef Onsi Sawiris is the last son of Egyptian billionaire and industrialist, Onsi Sawiris. His older brothers – Naguib and Samih are billionaires too, making them one of the richest families in Africa.
- Johann Rupert – $5.3b | South Africa | Luxury goods
Johann Peter Rupert is a South African-born entrepreneur, who is the eldest son of business tycoon Anton Rupert and his wife Huberte. He is the chairman of the Swiss-based luxury-goods company Richemont as well as of the South Africa-based company Remgro.
- Issad Rebrab – $3.7b | Algeria | Steel, Food, Agribusiness
Issad Rebrab is an Algerian businessman, and CEO of the Cevital industrial group, the largest private company in Algeria. He has interests in steel, food, agribusiness and electronics. His industrial career started in 1971, when one of his clients proposed he take shares in a metallurgical construction company. He took 20% of the shares in Sotecom. After that, he created other companies in the steel industry: Profilor in 1975 and Metal Sider in 1988.
- Naguib Sawiris – $2.9b | Egypt | Telecoms
Naguib Onsi Sawiris is the older brother of Nassef, number 4 on this list. He is the chairman of Weather Investments’s parent company, and chairman of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding S.A.E.
5 people have a net worth of 2.3 billion dollars, so they are all number 8. They are:
- Koos Bekker – $2.3b | South Africa | Media, Investments
Jacobus Petrus “Koos” Bekker is chairman of leading emerging markets media group Naspers. The company operates in 130 countries and has the largest market capitalization of any media company outside the US and China. They also own majority shares in Tencent – the world’s largest gaming and one of the world’s most valuable technology companies.
- Isabel dos Santos – $2.3b | Angola | Telecomms, Media, Finance, Investments
Isabel dos Santos is a Russian-Angolan businesswoman, Africa’s richest woman and the eldest child of Angola’s former President – José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country from 1979 to 2017.
- Mohamed Mansour – $2.3b | Egypt | Diversified
Mohamed Mansour is an Egyptian businessman and former politician. He is the chairman of Mansour Group, a US$6 billion conglomerate that is the second largest company in Egypt by revenue. His brothers are also billionaires, and two of them are on this list.
- Strive Masiyiwa – $2.3b | Zimbabwe | Telecoms, Media
Strive Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is the founder and executive chairman of diversified international Telecommunications, Media and Technology group Econet Wireless and Econet Media (Kwesé).
- Patrice Motsepe – $2.3 | South Africa | Mining
Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe is a South African billionaire mining businessman. He is the founder and executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, which has interests in gold, ferrous metals, base metals, and platinum. He sits on several company boards including being the non-executive chairman of Harmony Gold, the world’s 12th largest gold mining company, and the deputy chairman of Sanlam. In 2012, Motsepe was named South Africa’s richest man, topping the Sunday Times’ annual Rich List with an estimated fortune of R20.07 billion ($1 billion). In 2003, he became the owner of football club Mamelodi Sundowns.
- Aziz Akhannouch – $2.1b | Morocco | Petroleum, Diversified
Aziz Akhannouch a Moroccan businessman and current Minister of Agriculture, a position he has held since 2007. He is the CEO of Akwa Group, a Moroccan conglomerate particularly active in the oil and gas sector
- Mohammed Dewji – $1.9b | Tanzania | Diversified
Mohammed “Mo” Gulamabbas Dewji is a Tanzanian businessman and former politician. He is owner of MeTL Group, a Tanzanian conglomerate founded by his father in the 1970s. Dewji served as Member of the Tanzanian Parliament for Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) from 2005 to 2015 for his home town of Singida. At 43 years old, he is the youngest on the list.
- Othman Benjelloun – $1.7b | Morocco | Banking, Insurance
Benjelloun’s father was a large shareholder in an insurance company that Othman later took over in 1988. He turned this into RMA Watanya and soon expanded the business venture into the banking industry. His banking enterprise, the BMCE Bank has its presence felt in at least 12 countries in Africa and is worth $4 billion based solely on its market capitalization profits.
- Abdulsamad Rabiu – $1.6b | Cement, Sugar
Abdul Samad is the founder and chairman of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate with interests in manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture with a revenue in excess of $2.5 billion. He is the son of Khalifah Isyaku Rabiu one of Nigeria’s foremost industrialists in the 1970s and 1980s. He is also the chairman of Nigerian Bank of Industry.
- Yasseen Mansour – $1.5b | Egypt | Diversified
Yasseen Mansour is an Egyptian billionaire businessman, part owner of the Mansour Group and one of the Mansour brothers.
- Youssef Mansour – $1.2b | Egypt | Diversified
Youssef Mansour is an Egyptian billionaire businessman, part owner of the Mansour Group and one of the Mansour brothers.
Two people have a net worth of $1.1b, so it’s tie. They are:
- Folorunsho Alakija – $1.1b | Oil and Gas
In 2014, Folorunso Alakija temporarily unseated Oprah Winfrey as the richest woman of African descent in the world. She is involved in the fashion, oil and printing industries. She is the group managing director of The Rose of Sharon Group which consists of The Rose of Sharon Prints & Promotions Limited and Digital Reality Prints Limited and the executive vice-chairman of Famfa Oil Limited.
- Michiel Le Roux – $1.1b | Banking
Michiel Le Roux is the founder of Capitec Bank and owns an 11% stake in it. The bank, which trades on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, targets South Africa’s emerging middle class.
