According to Forbes, Africa's first 20 richest people are worth $73.8 billion. The continent’s billionaires are worth an average of $4.1 billion.
The top 20 billionaires on the continent are from seven different countries. South Africa and Egypt each have five billionaires, followed by Nigeria with three and Morocco with two.
Altogether they are worth $73.8 billion, slightly more than the $73.4 billion aggregate worth of the 20 billionaires on last year’s list of Africa’s richest people.
The wealth of these billionaires are calculated using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of business on Friday, January 8, 2021.
- Aliko Dangote
He is Africa’s richest person, founded and chairs Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer. Dangote is 63-years-old. He is Nigerian. He is worth $12.1 billion.
2.Nassef Sawiris
He is a scion of Egypt’s wealthiest family. His brother Naguib is also a billionaire. Sawiris split Orascom Construction Industries into two entities in 2015. Nassef is worth $8.5 billion. He is 59-year-old from Egypt.
3.Nicky Oppenheimer & family
Oppenheimer, heir to his family’s fortune, sold his 40% stake in diamond firm De Beers to mining group Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash in 2012. The 75-year-old is worth $8 billion.
4. Johann Rupert & family
Johann Rupert is chairman of Swiss luxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont. The company is best known for the brands Cartier and Montblanc. He is 70-years-old. He is worth $7.2 billion
4. Mike Adenuga
Adenuga, Nigeria’s second richest man, built his fortune in telecom and oil production. His mobile phone network, Globacom, is the third largest operator in Nigeria. He is worth $6.3 billion. He is 67-years-old.
6. Abdulsamad Rabiu
Another Nigerian on the list. Abdulsamad Rabiu is the founder of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate active in cement production. The 60-year-old is worth $5.5 billion.
7. Issad Rebrab & family
Issad Rebrab is the founder and CEO of Cevital, Algeria’s biggest privately-held company. He is Algerian and is worth $4.8 billion.
8. Naguib Sawiris
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. He is worth $3.2 billion.
9. Patrice Motsepe
Patrice Motsepe, the founder and chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, became a billionaire in 2008 – the first black African on the Forbes list. The South African is worth $3 billion.
10. Koos Bekker
Koos Bekker is revered for transforming South African newspaper publisher Naspers into an eCommerce investor & cable TV powerhouse. He is worth $2.8 billion.
11. Mohamed Mansour
Mohamed Mansour oversees family conglomerate Mansour Group, which was founded by his father Loutfy (D.1976) in 1952 and has 60,000 employees. The 72-year-old Egyptian is worth $2.5 billion.
12. Aziz Akhannouch & family
Aziz Akhannouch is the majority owner of Akwa Group, a multibillion-dollar conglomerate founded by his father and a partner, Ahmed Wakrim, in 1932. Aziz is Moroccan and he is worth $2 billion.
13. Mohammed Dewji
Mohammed Dewji is the CEO of MeTL, a Tanzanian conglomerate founded by his father in the 1970s. The 45-year-old Tanzanian is worth $1.6 billion.
14. Youssef Mansour
Youssef Mansour is chairman of family-owned conglomerate Mansour Group, which was founded by his father Loutfy (d.1976) in 1952. He is Egyptian. He is worth $1.5 billion.
15. Othman Benjelloun & family
Othman Benjelloun is CEO of BMCE Bank of Africa, which has a presence in more than 20 African countries. He is 88-year-old and is worth $1.3 billion.
16. Michiel Le Roux
Michiel Le Roux of South Africa founded Capitec Bank in 2001 and owns about an 11% stake. He is from South Africa. He is 71 and worth $1.2 billion.
16. Strive Masiyiwa
Strive Masiyiwa overcame protracted government opposition to launch mobile phone network Econet Wireless Zimbabwe in his country of birth in 1998. The Zimbabwean is 59-years-old and worth $1.2 billion.
18. Yasseen Mansour
Yasseen Mansour is a shareholder in family-owned conglomerate Mansour Group, which was founded by his father Loutfy (d.1976) in 1952. He is 59-years-old and worth $1.1 billion.