In this post, we list the current wealthiest African billionaires, the top 20 richest men in Africa, and their net worth as well as what they do and how they made the journey to the top. We discuss a little about their personal lives, as well as what decisions have aided them to success. Don’t forget to read to the end; we also discuss what we have learned from them, and share an idea or two with you.

Over the years, Africa has maintained a fast-rising pace on the global wealth ladder. Though the continent has not achieved the standard level of technological advancement, many African countries have carved out remarkable paths for themselves especially in business, telecom, and mining.

With respect to Africa’s increasing wealth, four major countries –inclusive of Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco, and Egypt –happen to be the driving forces. Therefore, it isn’t a surprise that most of the richest people in Africa on this list, come from these four countries. 

Top 20 Richest Men In Africa And Their Net Worth | African Billionaires

1. Aliko Dangote

    • Net Worth: $13 Billion
    • Country: Nigerian
    • Industry: Cement, Sugar, Oil/Gas
    • Date Of Birth: April 10th, 1957

#AlikoDangote:  Although Dangote’s net worth has suffered a series of setbacks for about two consecutive years, the reputable Nigerian businessman has maintained the greatest spot as Africa’s richest man and the world’s richest black man. Meanwhile, Dangote, who deals in commodities and conglomerates, is believed to have dominated the first spot among Africa’s richest people for six consecutive years.

Alhaji Aliko Dangote is famous around the world for being the wealthiest man in Africa. He sits at the head of a vast conglomerate of companies which he founded, and which all bear his name; Dangote Group.  Dangote Cement is the largest cement producer on the continent. He owns nearly 85% of the publicly-traded company through his holding company Dangote Group. Dangote Cement produces 45.6 million metric tons of the essential commodity every year and has operations in 10 countries across Africa.

Dangote Group also owns has under its umbrella Dangote Sugar, Dangote Salt, and Dangote Flour. For several years he has held the monopoly of importation of rice, and his Dangote Refinery is set to take oil production in Africa by storm.

Dangote was given seed money by his uncle Dantata who was a successful trader of rice and kola nuts in Kano, Nigeria’s second-largest city. He initially ventured into the distribution of rice, but then diversified first into cement, and then other sectors. Dangote’s current net worth is valued at $13 billion. 

2. Johann Rupert

    • Net Worth: $10.4 Billion
    • Country: South Africa
    • Industry: Luxury Goods
    • Date Of Birth: June 1st, 1950

#JohannRupert: One of the richest men in Africa, Johann Rupert is endowed with a host of business magnates who has transformed the country’s business sector through their business empires. Significantly, Johann Rupert is one of these magnates and he is reportedly the second richest South African. Meanwhile, Johann Rupert is not only a billionaire but also an incredible person who has made a business fortune through his luxury goods outfit.

Johann Rupert lives in South Africa but runs a huge luxury goods business in Switzerland called Compagnie Financiere Richemont. Cartier and Montblanc are some of the most famous brands produced by the company. Compagnie Financiere Richemont was formed in 1998 when Rembrandt Group Limited (now Remgro Limited) diversified. Rembrandt Group Limited was founded by his father Anton Rupert, in the 1940s. 

Johann Rupert still sits on the chairman’s sit at Remgro, even though he now only owns a 7% stake in the company. He also has a sizable investment in Reinet, which is an investment holding company registered in Luxembourg. He also owns part of the Saracens English rugby team and Anthonij Rupert Wines is a company he named after his late brother.

{{Owing to his significant achievements in the business scene, Johann Rupert is the highest shareholder in Shoprite –Africa’s biggest supermarket chain and retail outlet.}} 

3. Nassef Sawiris

    • Net worth: $8.2 billion
    • Country:  Egypt
    • Industry:  Construction, Chemicals
    • Date Of Birth: 1961

Nassef Sawiris is a standalone billionaire in a family of billionaires. He is the head of Egypt’s wealthiest family, and his brother Naguib is also ridiculously wealthy. Nassef Sawiris split the family business Orascom Construction Industries into two entities: OCI and Orascom Construction. He heads OCI which is one of the world’s biggest producers of nitrogen fertilizers. The company has operations in Texas and Iowa and is publicly traded on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange.

The other half of the conglomerate Orascom Construction which is an engineering and building firm is publicly traded on the Cairo exchange and Nasdaq Dubai. Aside from the businesses under his control, he has other assets which include stakes in cement giant Lafarge Holcim and sports kits manufacturer Adidas. Nassef Sawiris, together with some business associates have purchased a controlling stake in Aston Villa Football Club. The Egyptian mogul is currently worth around $8.2 billion.

4. Nicky Oppenheimer & Family

    • Net Worth: $8 Billion
    • Country: South African
    • Industry: Diamond, Airline
    • Date Of Birth: June 8th, 1945

Nicky Oppenheimer is not only an influential businessman but also the second richest person in Africa. Over the years, he has remained consistent with his thriving diamond business. 

Nicky Oppenheimer is the head of one of South Africa’s richest families. His family held a 40% stake in diamond firm DeBeers until 2012 when Nicky Oppenheimer sold off this stake to mining group Anglo American for $5.1 billion. His family has been in the mining business for three generations, and it is said that they controlled the diamond trade all around the world from their palace in South Africa. Together with his family, Nicky Oppenheimer’s worth is valued at 7.5 billion. As a diamond magnate, Nicky Oppenheimer has built a massive business empire for himself and this clearly distinguishes him as the second wealthiest person on the entire African continent.

In 2014, Oppenheimer founded Fireblade Aviation in Johannesburg, which operates a fleet of small planes and helicopters for chartered flights. He is one of the country’s biggest landlords with 720 square miles of conservation land across South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.

5. Mike Adenuga

    • Net Worth: $6.6 Billion
    • Country: Nigerian
    • Industry: Telecom, Oil
    • Date Of Birth: April 29th, 1953

Otunba Mike Adenuga, Nigeria’s telecommunications mogul is the second richest man in Nigeria, and one of the richest African billionaires. Apart from being the second richest Nigerian, Mike Adenuga happens to be the richest Nigerian of Yoruba descent.

For many years, he has continually amassed the business fortune as the owner of Globacom –one of the biggest telecom companies operating across the lengths and breadths of Nigeria. He has built his empire on telecom and oil production. His mobile phone network, Globacom, is the third-largest operator in Nigeria and has operations in several African countries. They are also a major supplier of internet data bundle packages, and the company has its own undersea fibre optic cable.

Besides his thriving Globacom business, Mike Adenuga has great tastes for the Oil & Gas sector where he runs his own oil company. His oil company Conoil Producing, operates six oil blocks in the Niger Delta and has a wide chain of retail distribution franchises.

Year after year, Mike Adenuga has been favoured by significant increases which currently place his worth around $6.6 billion. 

6. Issad Rebrab & Family

    • Net Worth: $4.8 Billion
    • Country: Algeria
    • Industry: Food
    • Date Of Birth: May 27th, 1944

Issad Rebrab is an Algerian billionaire and the main factor behind the establishment of Cevital –the biggest private conglomerate in Algeria. Cevital is a holding company with diversified interests. Cevital is prominent for being in control of one of the world’s biggest sugar refineries and has the capacity to produce 2 million tons of refined sugar every year.

Cevital also owns companies operating in the European markets; including French home appliances maker Groupe Brandt, a German water purification and distribution company, and also an Italian steel mill.

Besides sugar refining, Cevital is concerned with agriculture, mining, port terminals, and the distribution of automobiles. Through his thriving Cevital, Issad Rebrab has made a great business fortune. 

7. Abdulsamad Rabiu

    • Net worth: $4.3 billion
    • Country: Nigeria
    • Industry:  Cement, sugar
    • Date Of Birth: August 4th, 1960

Abdulsamad Rabiu is the ninth richest man in Africa and the number 8 on this list. He is the founder and chairman of BUA Group, which is a Nigerian conglomerate that has huge operations in cement production, real estate as well as sugar refining. In early January 2020, Abdulsamad Rabiu merged his privately-owned Obu Cement Company with the larger Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria. That merger gave birth to BUA Cement Plc, which now trades on the Nigerian stock exchange. Abdulsamad Rabiu retains control of the company with ownership of 98.5% of the company shares.

8. Naguib Sawiris

    • Net Worth: $3.1 Billion
    • Country: Egypt
    • Industry: Telecom
    • Date Of Birth: June 17th, 1955

Here is another business giant from the Sawiris family –the wealthiest Egyptian descents. Naguib Sawiris is the brother of Nassef Sawiris and the two brothers are well known as the reputable sons of Onsi Sawiris. Together they are not just the most powerful family in Egypt, but perhaps the continent at large.

Naguib Sawiris runs the telecom sector of a voluminous parent company –Orascom –and significantly, he happens to be one of the biggest telecom moguls in Egypt. 

Naguib Sawiris has built his empire in telecommunications. He sold Orascom Telecom to VimpelCom (now Veon) from Russia in 2011 for a fee calculated in billions of dollars. Naguib Sawiris is the chairman of Orascom TMT Investments, which sells the internet in Egypt and Italy. Naguib Sawiris is the majority owner of Euronews. He has also privately built a luxury resort called Silversands in Grenada, and his family holding company La Mancha has stakes in Endeavour Mining, Evolution Mining, and Golden Star Resources, which have gold mining operations in Africa and Australia.

At the moment, Naguib Sawiris is currently the eighth richest man in Africa.

9. Patrice Motsepe

    • Net Worth: $2.7 Billion
    • Country: South Africa
    • Industry: Mining
    • Date Of Birth: January 28th, 1962

Patrice Motsepe claims a reputable feat of not only as one of the richest men in Africa, but also the first and only South African billionaire of black descent. He has a brilliant mind and is trained as a lawyer. He became the first black partner at law firm Bowman Gilfillan in Johannesburg. He was assigned to draft contracts for partnerships and ventures between miners. In 1994, he ventured into mining by buying low-producing gold mine shafts and turning them profitable. Apart from his mineral mining ventures he also owns a private equity firm, African Rainbow Capital, which he launched in 2016, and which focuses on investing in Africa. He has contributed massively to South Africa’s expansive business sector –particularly through his company (ARM). ARM –African Rainbow Minerals –is one of South Africa’s biggest mining companies and it specializes in iron, platinum, gold, chrome, nickel, copper, coal, and manganese.

Besides his dignified business involvement, Patrice Motsepe has drawn his investment attention to Sports where he owns and presides over Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club. At the moment and based on estimates, his net worth hangs around $2 billion. 

 Motsepe also has investments in Sanlam, a listed financial services firm, and he has diversified his money into sports by buying Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club. 

10. Strive Masiyiwa

    • Net Worth: $2.6 Billion
    • Country: Zimbabwe

11. Mohamed Mansour

    • Net Worth: $2.5 Billion
    • Country: Egypt
    • Industry: Diversified
    • Date Of Birth: 1948

Mohammed Mansour, the second Egyptian on this list, sits at the helm of the family conglomerate; the Mansour Group. This famous company was established by his father Loutfy Mansour in 1952. This is a true giant of industry, with over 60,000 full-time employees.

Mohammed Mansour established General Motors dealerships in Egypt in 1975 and then grew to become one of General Motor’s biggest distributors worldwide. Having acquired a taste for vehicle sales, he went on to partner with heavy-duty machinery company Caterpillar, getting the sole distribution rights to their equipment in Egypt and seven other African countries. He has taken care of his family; his brothers Yasseen and Youssef are also billionaires; his son Loutfy Mansour heads the financial services firm Man Capital, which is part of the Mansour Group.

12. Koos Bekker

    • Net Worth: $2.4 Billion
    • Country: South Africa

Jacobus Petrus Koos Bekker is a wealthy person and the Chairman of Naspers –one of the giant media companies in Africa. Naspers is a well-known enterprise with business operations across 130 countries.

In 1985, Koos Bekker headed the group which established M-Net. Meanwhile, this resulted in the present-day pay-TV services across a total of 48 African countries. Koos Bekker has remained a vibrant member of Naspers for many years and currently, he serves as the chairman of the group’s board with the estimated net worth of $2.4 billion. 

13. King Mohammed VI

    • Net Worth: $2.1 Billion
    • Country: Morocco

Since he succeeded his deceased father and former Moroccan King –King Hassan II –in 1999, King Mohammed VI has remained Morocco’s leader. King Mohammed VI is a reputable leader and in Morocco, his birthday is usually specified for everyone to be on holiday. His father and former Moroccan king –King Hassan II –had a large share portion accounting for 40% of the entire shareholding in (SNI) Societe Nationale d’Investissement. Meanwhile, King Mohammed VI’s wealth is believed to have stemmed from his inheritance of this share portion. As it stands, he is worth $2.1 billion.

SNI is one of the biggest investment companies in Morocco and it was previously under the ownership of the state government. Significantly, SNI has sufficient shares in top companies such as Consumar [a sugar-producing firm], Attijariwafa [Morocco’s largest bank], Managem Group [a mining firm], and a few others.

14. Aziz Akhannouch & Family

    • Net Worth: $2 Billion
    • Country: Morocco

#AzizAkhannouch doubles up his business involvement as Morocco’s incumbent Minister for Agriculture. Significantly, Aziz Akhannouch gathers massive business returns as the largest shareholder of Akwa Group –one of Morocco’s biggest conglomerates dealing in chemicals, gas, and petroleum. Besides this, several other businesses –pertaining to hotels, real estate, and media –are managed by Akwa Group.

15. Mohamed Al Fayed

    • Net Worth: $1.8 Billion
    • Country: Egypt

Mohamed Al Fayed is well known for having sold some of his notable assets. He formerly owned Fulham Football Club before eventually selling it to Shahid Khan. According to reports, Shahid Khan acquired the football club for a sum worth $300 million. Also in 2010, Mohammed Al Fayed engaged in a deal with Qatar Holding and eventually sold his UK-based Harrod’s department chain to the latter. As contained in the contracts of the deal, Qatar Holding acquired the asset for a sum worth $2.4 billion.

Currently, Mohamed Al Fayed owns various assets including a website (known as Cocosa) and Hotel Ritz –a renowned hotel in the capital city of France. Based on current estimates, Mohamed Al Fayed is worth $1.8 billion. 

16. Michiel Le Roux

    • Net Worth: $1.7 Billion
    • Country: South Africa

17. Mohammed Dewji

    • Net Worth: $1.6 Billion
    • Country: Tanzania

As a vibrant business tycoon, Mohammed Dewji happens to be the reputable owner of METL (Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited). Significantly, METL has business operations that span transportation, agriculture, textile making, and real estate.

Besides his enormous business contributions which signify Tanzania as one of the largest economies in East Africa, Mohammed Dewji has boosted his reputation through several philanthropic efforts. In Mohammed Dewji’s mission, the young billionaire –also regarded as Tanzania’s only billionaire –aims to alleviate the incidence of poverty ravaging some Tanzanian Regions.

Though the largest portion of his wealth came as an inheritance from his dead father, Mohammed Dewji adopted his own business strategy in expanding the enterprise. Currently one of the largest employers of workers in Tanzania.

18. Youssef Mansour

    • Net Worth: $1.5 Billion
    • Country: Egypt

Youssef Mansour is a sibling of two other Egyptian billionaires –Yasseen and Mohammed. Each of the three brothers has a share portion in the Mansour Group –an Egyptian conglomerate with high Caterpillar dealerships in several African countries and in Russia. Within the Mansour Group, Youssef Mansour takes charge of the division that specializes in consumer goods. Meanwhile, this division encompasses Egypt’s tobacco companies, Egypt’s biggest supermarket chain, and McDonald’s restaurants.

19. Stephen Saad

    • Net Worth: $1.4 Billion
    • Country: South Africa

Stephen Saad is a self-made billionaire and the originator of Africa’s biggest pharmaceutical producer –Aspen. Following a large number of acquisitions in 2013, Aspen was able to broaden its operational scope and now, the pharmaceutical producer deals in generic drugs across 150 global countries. Since 1999, Stephen Saad has maintained his dignified role as the Executive Director of Aspen.

As a learned person, Stephen Saad has a B.Com degree which he obtained from the University of Natal. Likewise, the business tycoon holds a CA as an alumnus of the South Africa Institute of CAs. Currently, Stephen Saad is worth $1.4 billion.

20. Othman Benjelloun

    • Net Worth: $1.3 Billion
    • Country: Moroccan

Othman Benjelloun is a wealthy Moroccan whose wealth stems from Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur (BMCE) –the banking business at which he takes an official role as the CEO. Believed to be worth around $2.1 billion, Othman Benjelloun has amassed his great fortune through BMCE –regarded as one of the biggest banks in Morocco.

BMCE spans its banking operations across many African countries and over 40% of its overall income comes from its international operations.

21. Desmond Sacco

    • Net Worth: $1.15 Billion
    • Country: South Africa

22. Yasseen Mansour

    • Net Worth: $1.1 Billion
    • Country: Egypt

Yasseen Mansour happens to be one of the reputable stakeholders in the Mansour Group –a large company that controls many Caterpillar dealerships across a number of countries in Africa. Alongside his siblings –Mohammed and Youssef –Yasseen Mansour is an Egyptian billionaire valued at $2.3 billion.

Although the immense portion of his business wealth stems from the Mansour Group, Yassen Mansour features among the largest stakeholders in Palm Hills Developments. 

 

Africa is the continent most associated with suffering on a frighteningly large scale. Images of starving African children, suffering from disease, against a backdrop of war and famine continue to saturate the public domain. Granted those images are largely true and they reflect the ordeal that Africa as a whole has had to pass through. However, the future is as bright as anywhere else, and this is boldly demonstrated by the fact that Africa too has within its shores some brilliant businessmen and women who stand as captains of the African economic ship. 

So you ask :

  • Who Is The Richest Man In Africa?

The information above brings about the question who is Africa’s richest men and what are the reasons behind their surging wealth? By the way, remain focused on this post and hope to find out the

There you have it on List of The Richest Men In Africa Net Worth, African Billionaires, and Country Of Origin.

Related:

Reference: Forbes

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