Have you ever imagined a set of billionaires sipping from their cups of coffee together under the same sky? Well, we just wanted to evoke your mental spirit before getting into one of the much-awaited articles today. So, who are Africa’s wealthiest people?
The African continent is known to be home to more than 40 billionaires and that ain’t a corny joke, but a reality that somehow we didn’t discuss earlier. The number of affluent individuals in America is growing every year as they seem to have literally understood the assignment.
Now let’s take you to another interesting fact the richest person in Africa is also the richest black man in the world.
Maybe this might have slipped out of your mind, but it is mandatory for you to know that Africa has grown beyond its limits in the past few decades, and to take a wild guess, it could also be one of the richest continents in the world.
Because its richest people shed a combined $ 3 billion over the last year, ultimately leading the global market to decline in 2022.
With such a capacity as such, it’s not a matter of astonishment that Africa is blessed with a bunch of billionaires and millionaires. So let;’s look into it in detail.
List Of Top 10 Richest People In Africa In 2023
- Aliko Dangote – $13.5 billion – Nigeria
- Johan Rupert- $10.7 billion – South Africa
- Nicky Oppenheimer – $8.4 billion – South Africa
- Abdulsamad Rabiu- $7.6 billion – Nigeria
- Nassef Sawiris – $7.3 billion – Egypt
- Mike Adenuga – $ 6.3 billion – Nigeria
- Issad Rebrab – $4.6 billion – Algeria
- Naguib Sawiris – $3.3 billion – Egypt
- Patrice Motsepe- $3.2 billion – South Africa
- Mohammed Mansour – $2.9 billion – Egypt
Only four out of the 54 African countries made it to the list of Africa’s richest people, and among them, Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt equally appeared thrice. However, these countries are more than enough to represent Africa’s economy. However, let’s get into our business without hanging on anymore.
1. Aliko Dangote – $13.5 billion – Nigeria
Aliko Dangote is the richest African man as well as the richest black man in the world with an astounding fortune of $13.5 billion that is mostly earned from Cement production.
To specifically interpret, Dangote is the behemoth in the Cement business and therefore is the largest cement producer in Africa. With a title as such, it is understandable that the 65-year-old is the number one richest man in South Africa.
Via a holding company, Dangote owns nearly 85% of publicly traded cement. Most importantly, Dangote Cements has branches in 3 different countries across Africa and to meet the requirements of their thousands of clients, the company produces 48.6 million metric tons a year, which is undeniably huge.
Apart from Dangote Cements, he owns the Dangote fertilizer plant and Dangote Refinery. The former started its operations in March 2022 after long years of wait and the latter is still under construction.it is said that once the Dangote Refinery opens, it would be one of the largest oil refineries in the world.
By now it’s clear like water why Dangote is the richest African.
2. Johann Rupert – $10.7 billion – South Africa
Hailing from Cape Town, South Africa, the 75-year-old Johann Rupert is the second richest black man in the world. He founded the Swiss-based luxury goods holding company, Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA, aka Richemont in 1988, and ever since, his pockets were never emptied.
Although you might not know about the company before, there are slim chances for you to be unaware of its products, Cartier, and Montblanc. So, now you might have understood why Ruperst is the second-richest African.
The luxury goods firm was formed with the spin-off assets from the former version of the current investment holding company, Remgro Limited, which his father, Anton, founded sometime in the 1940s. Other than chairing Remgro, he owns 7% of its assets and is also linked to 26% of Reinet, another investment holding company.
For a long time, Rupert has strongly opposed freeing Karoo, a South African region from fracking as he owns a piece of land there. But it can be guessed that apart from Karoo, Rupert must also be owning lands in different parts of the world.
3. Nicky Oppenheimer – $8.4 billion – South Africa
77-year-old Nicki Oppenheimer is next on our list of the top 10 richest people in Africa. Luckily, Oppenheimer was born as an heir to the DeBeers diamond fortune.
He sold nearly half of his shares to a mining group called Anglo-American in 2012 for a whopping sum of $5.1 billion. Imagine how worth would DeBeers be to generate billions in its third generation.
After two generations, Oppenheimer privatized the company in 2001. Until 2012, Oppenheimer as well as his entire family occupied the world diamond trade.
But eventually, he shared his focus with other ventures including real estate as he owns more than 700 square miles across Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
In 2014, Oppenheimer launched Fireblade Aviation in his homeland, Johannesburg. So, when combined, he will have several billion in his pocket and that is exactly why Nicky Oppenheimer is added to the richest black men in the world.
4. Abdulsamad Rabiu- $7.6 billion – Nigeria
Ranking number three on the list is Abdulsamad Rabiu. The Nigerian native is the founder of BUA Group. He is also a conglomerate in sugar production, cement production, and real estate.
In early 2020, Rabiu merged his privately owned Obu Cement Company with Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria, which is a listed one, eventually naming them BUA Cement Plc. The current version focuses on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and he owns a sumptuous 98.2% of it.
Rabiu was born into a business-promoting family as a result of which he inherited enough land from his father. Also, starting his own business was not a big deal for Rabiu as he had enough funds to introduce business capital. So he immediately set up a business in 1988 by instantly importing chemicals, steel, and iron.
When you ask how he managed to add to his already existing billions, it becomes mandatory to mention Arabia’s role in manufacturing, agriculture, and infrastructure.
In addition to being a Nigerian billionaire, Rabiu is also a philanthropist. He donated millions for the construction of the Islamic Study Center at Bayero University Kano and constructed a 7,000-square-metre pediatric ward at Aminu Kano Hospital.
5. Nassef Sawiris – $7.3 billion – Egypt
The fortune of Egypt’s pride, Nassef Sawiris falls to $7.3 billion from $8.6 billion in 2023. Although he is one of the richest black men in the world, it is still noteworthy that he lost a few billion last year. Maybe he must have shot himself in the leg as in the thought of increasing the wealth, he lost a few out of carelessness.
However, the Egyptian investor has a green card in his hand, and that is his 6% stake in sportswear maker Adidas. He also serves on the supervisory board of Adidas. Other than Adidas, he also has stakes in cement giant Lafarge Holcim.
In late 2020, he acquired a nearly 5% stake in Madison Square Garden Sports which is a New-York based listed firm.
Sawiris, who is now 62, runs several businesses including nitrogen fertilizer production, Orascom Construction, and Nasdaq Dubai as well as trades on the Cairo Exchange.
Very recently, he went to partner with Wes Edens of Fortress Investment Group to make one of the biggest deals in his career, which was to purchase Premier League’s Aston Villa.
The Egyptian billionaire businessman is today labeled the fourth richest black man in the world as well as the richest Arab.
6. Mike Adenuga – $ 6.3 billion – Nigeria
Mike Adeniga is the third richest Nigerian and the sixth richest black man in the world. The 69-year-old Lagos Native pulled out his best by giving his hundred percent in telecom and oil production.
Boasting over 55 million subscribers, his own mobile phone network called Globacom is the third largest operator in Nigeria. Currently, he owns stakes in Conoil, an oil exploration firm, and in the Equitorial Trust Bank.
Adenuga made his first million at the age of 26 by distributing soft drinks and thereafter the journey was worthwhile. Little more than a decade later, he was handed a drilling license. In 1999, he was issued a conditional license which was revoked in 2003.
When the African Telecom Awards were introduced in 2007, Mike Adenuga was honored with an award for African Entrepreneur of the Year. He seems like he has a Midas touch, if not, how could he succeed in any venture he steps in?
Must Read:- The Richest Entrepreneurs In Kenya Under 40 Years Of Age
7. Issad Rebrab – $4.6 billion – Algeria
Issad Rebrab is the foremost Algerian businessman on the list of the top 10 richest people in Africa. Apart from being active in agribusiness, food, steel, and electronics, Rebrab is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Cevital Industrial Group.
The industrialist kickstarted his career in 1971 after one of his clients proposed endless opportunities in the metallurgical construction company. He immediately went on to take 20% of eth share and shortly after that, Rebrab created his own steel industries, Prolifer and Metal Sider in 1975, and 1988 respectively.
Unfortunately, his major business collapsed in a terrorist attack in 1995, following which he flew from Alegria. By the time he came back, Rebrab was already the owner of an empire named Cevital, the massive agricultural business group.
After a few years, Rebrab’s Cevital became the biggest private Algerian company. Apart from national titles, Cevital also owns a global label as it owns one of the largest sugar refineries in the entire world.
In 2016, Rebrab acquired the media group, El Khabar for a staggering $45 million making it his second media ownership as the billionaire baron previously owned a French-Algerian everyday paper, Liberte. However, he closed printing for Liberte in early 2022.
8. Naguib Sawiris – $3.3 billion – Egypt
The CEO of Orascom Investment Holding SAE and Orascom Telecom Holding, Naguib Sawaris is spotted in the eighth position in the list of the top 10 richest people in Africa.
The chairman of Weather Invstestment’s parent company is a scion of Egypt’s opulent family. He is the second Sawiris we are mentioning in this article as we already had a discussion on his brother Nassef earlier in this post.
Mostly, Naguib is engaged in multibillion-dollar transactions as he has grown to a business tycoon in telecom. Although began by selling Orascom Telecom in 2011, slowly he began his business to sell VimpelCom, a Russian telecom firm, which was more lucrative.
Apart from being the chairman of Orascom TMT Investments, he is also a chairman at Italiaonline, an Italian internet company. Through his Media Globe Holdings, the 68-year-old owns around 88% of video news network Euronews and pan-European pay TV.
With the massive amount he has, Naguib developed a luxury resort on the Caribbean island of Grenada.
9. Patrice Motsepe – $3.2 billion – South Africa
As one of the richest black men in the world, Patrice Motsepe is attracting much global attention. He became the first black partner at Bowman Gilfillan, a law firm in Johannesburg in 1994, eventually pivoting to mining services contracting businesses. In 1997, he bought enough gold mine shafts with the aim to make a profit from them later.
Finally, he became a billionaire in 2008 after being the founder and chairman of the mining company, African Rainbow Minerals.
In 2016, Motsepe launched a privately owned equity firm, African Rainbow Capital, which deals with investments in Africa. The multifaceted is also the owner and president of the Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club. He further has a stake in a listed financial firm, Sanlam.
In early 2021, Mostepe was elected as the president of the African sport’s governing body, or specifically, the president of the Confederation of African Football.
In the middle of his achievements, Motsepe became the first black African on the Forbes list.
Also Read:- Top 10 Richest People In Zambia 2023 By Net Worth
10. Mohammed Mansour – $2.9 billion – Egypt
Last, but not least is the Egyptian business mogul, Mohammed Mansour, who has amassed a whopping net worth of 2.9 million. He earned the jaw-dropping sum after taking over the family business, Mansour Group, which was founded by Loufty, his father, in 1952.
The company is still running well with nearly 60,000 employees serving in seven other African countries.
In 1975, Mansour realized the importance of having multiple businesses and established a General Motors dealership in Egypt. In no time, Mansour became one of GM’s biggest worldwide distributors.
For the next three years from 2006, he served as Egypt’s minister of transportation under the Hosni Mubarak regime. As many people say, riches always turn out to be the luckiest, Mansour has showcased before the world that whoever said that, wasn’t wrong.
Besides Egyptian citizenship, Mansour has UK citizenship as well. Indeed, Mansour is not the only one who is rich in his family, but also his brothers.
Conclusion: Richest People In Africa In 2023
As a group, the continent’s 10 billionaires are worth an estimated 67.8 billion, which is certainly a fact that is why the world should look upon Africans for encouragement.
This year’s list of richest black men in the world didn’t perplex many as the names mentioned were already expected to have been included in it.
Africa has even more billionaires waiting in queue to dethrone these wealthiest men, however, they are showing no signs of stopping. They seem to like their goal is to achieve endless things until their last breaths.
Nevertheless, the brief summary of these richest people in Africa has influenced hundreds of fellows as they realized that not only taking care of the family assets but also rising as riches from the rags is also possible in this world.
