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African countries with the highest number of billionaires on Forbes list [See Nigeria’s rank]

At present, there are eighteen (18) billionaires from Africa on Forbes list, a decrease from the 28 listed in 2014. The combined net worth of these richest men on the continent was estimated at $84.9 billion.

The combined net worth is 15 per cent more than twelve months ago and the largest combined tally since 2014 when there were 28 African billionaires.

Forbes used stock prices and currency exchange rates from January 19, 2022, to measure the net worths.

South Africa (5)

South Africa Billionaires’ Total Net worth: $27.2 billionaire

Johann Rupert – $11 billion.

Ranks Number 2 in Africa and 230 globally.

Johann Rupert is chairman of Swiss luxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont. The company is best known for the brands Cartier and Montblanc.

Nicky Oppenheimer – $8.7 billion.

Ranks Number 3 in Africa and 241 globally.

His source of wealth is diamond.

Nicky Oppenheimer is an heir to the DeBeers diamond fortune, sold his 40% of the firm to mining group Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash in 2012.

He was the third generation of his family to run DeBeers and took the company private in 2001.

For 85 years until 2012, the Oppenheimer family occupied a controlling spot in the world’s diamond trade.

Patrice Motsepe – $3.1 billion.

Ranks Number 9 in Africa and 913 globally.

Patrice Motsepe became a billionaire in 2008 and is the first black African on the Forbes list.

In 2016, he launched a private equity firm, African Rainbow Capital, focused on investing in Africa.

In 1994, he became the first black partner at law firm Bowman Gilfillan in Johannesburg and then started mining services contracting business. In 1997, he bought low-producing gold mine shafts and later turned them profitable.

Koos Bekker – $2.7 billion.

Ranks Number 10 in Africa and 1341 globally.

Koos Bekker is revered for transforming South African newspaper publisher Naspers into an e-commerce investor and cable TV powerhouse.

He led Naspers to pay a reported $34 million for a third of Chinese Internet firm Tencent Holdings in 2001–perhaps the greatest venture investment ever.

Michiel Le Roux – $1.7 billion.

Ranks Number 14 in Africa and 1,645 globally.

His main source of wealth is banking.

Michiel Le Roux of South Africa founded Capitec Bank in 2001 and owns about an 11% stake.

Egypt (5)

Egypt Billionaires’ Total Net worth: $17.1 billionaire

Nassef Sawiris – $8.6 billion.

Ranks Number 4 in Africa and 304 globally.

Nassef Sawiris is an investor and a scion of Egypt’s wealthiest family. His most valuable asset is a nearly 6% stake in sportswear maker Adidas.

In December 2020, he acquired a 5% stake in New York-listed firm Madison Square Garden Sports, owner of the NBA Knicks and the NHL Rangers teams.

He runs OCI, one of the world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer producers, with plants in Texas and Iowa; it trades on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange.

Naguib Sawiris – $3.4 billion.

Ranks Number 8 in Africa and 883 globally.

His major source of income is telecom.

Naguib Sawiris is a scion of Egypt’s wealthiest family. His brother Nassef is also a billionaire.

He built a fortune in telecom, selling Orascom Telecom in 2011 to Russian telecom firm VimpelCom (now Veon) in a multibillion-dollar transaction.

Mohamed Mansour – $2.5 billion.

Ranks Number 12 in Africa and 1,238 globally.

Mohamed Mansour oversees the family conglomerate Mansour Group, which was founded by his father Loutfy (D.1976) in 1952 and has 60,000 employees.

Mansour established General Motors dealerships in Egypt in 1975, later becoming one of GM’s biggest distributors worldwide.

Mansour Group also has exclusive distribution rights for Caterpillar equipment in Egypt and seven other African countries.

Youssef Mansour – $1.5 billion.

Ranks Number 15 in Africa and 1,929 globally.

Youssef Mansour is chairman of family-owned conglomerate Mansour Group, which was founded by his father Loutfy (d.1976) in 1952.

Mansour Group is the exclusive distributor of GM vehicles and Caterpillar equipment in Egypt and several other countries.

Yasseen Mansour – $1.1 billion.

Ranks Number 18 in Nigeria and 2,448 globally.

Yasseen Mansour is a shareholder in family-owned conglomerate Mansour Group, which was founded by his father Loutfy (d.1976) in 1952.

Mansour Group is the exclusive distributor of GM vehicles and Caterpillar equipment in Egypt and several other countries.

Nigeria (3)

Nigeria Billionaires’ Total Net worth: $21.1 billionaire

Aliko Dangote – $13.4 billion.

Ranks Number 1 in Africa and 130 globally.

He is the chairman of Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer. Dangote owns 85% of publicly-traded Dangote Cement through a holding company. The company has the capacity to produce 48.6 million metric tons annually and has operations in 10 countries across Africa.

Abdulsamad Rabiu – $7 billion.

Ranks Number 5 in Africa and 350 globally.

His source of wealth is cement and sugar.

Abdulsamad Rabiu is the founder of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate active in cement production, sugar refining and real estate.

His company BUA Cement Plc trades on the Nigerian stock exchange; Rabiu owns 98.5% of it.

Mike Adenuga – $6.7 billion

Ranks Number 6 in Africa and 324 globally.

His main source of wealth includes telecom and oil.

built his fortune in telecom and oil production.

His mobile phone network, Globacom, is the third largest operator in Nigeria, with 55 million subscribers.

His oil exploration outfit, Conoil Producing, operates 6 oil blocks in the Niger Delta.

Morocco (2)

Morocco Billionaires’ Total Net worth: $3.7 billionaire

Aziz Akhannouch – $2.2 billion.

Ranks Number 13 in Africa and 1,513 globally.

Aziz Akhannouch is the majority owner of Akwa Group, a multibillion-dollar conglomerate founded by his father and a partner, Ahmed Wakrim, in 1932.

Othman Benjelloun – $1.5 billion.

Ranks Number 15 in Africa and 2,190 globally.

Othman Benjelloun is CEO of BMCE Bank of Africa, which has a presence in more than 20 African countries.
His father was a shareholder in RMA, a Moroccan insurance company; Benjelloun built it into a leading insurer.

Algeria (1)

Algeria Billionaires’ Total Net worth: $5.1 billionaire

Issad Rebrab – $5.1 billion.

Ranks Number 7 in Africa and 536 globally.

Issad Rebrab is the founder and CEO of Cevital, Algeria’s biggest privately-held company. Cevital owns one of the largest sugar refineries in the world, with the capacity to produce 2 million tons a year.

Cevital owns European companies, including French home appliances maker Groupe Brandt, an Italian steel mill and a German water purification company.

Zimbabwe (1)

Zimbabwe Billionaires’ Total Net worth: $2.7 billionaire

Strive Masiyiwa – $2.7 billion.

Ranks Number 10 in Africa and 1012 globally.

Strive Masiyiwa overcame protracted government opposition to launch the mobile phone network Econet Wireless Zimbabwe in his country of birth in 1998.

He owns just over 50% of the publicly-traded Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which is one part of his larger Econet Group. Masiyiwa also owns just over half of the private company Liquid Telecom, which provides fiber optic and satellite services to telecom firms across Africa.

Tanzania (1)

Tanzania Billionaires’ Total Net worth: $1.5 billionaire

Mohammed Dewji – $1.5 billion.

He is Tanzania’s only billionaire. He ranks Number 15 in Africa and 1,929 globally.

Mohammed Dewji is the CEO of METL, a Tanzanian conglomerate founded by his father in the 1970s.

METL is active in textile manufacturing, flour milling, beverages and edible oils in eastern, southern and central Africa.
The company operates in at least six African countries and has ambitions to expand to several more.


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