Top 10 Richest People in Africa - Ranked by Forbes

Laelia Yang March 22, 2023 | 07:03

The 18 richest people in Africa have a combined net worth of over $73.9 billion, with Aliko Dangote topping the list with a net worth of $12.6 billion. Check the top 10 in this post now!

Top 10 Richest People in Africa Right Now

Wealth in Africa is concentrated in a few countries and, within those, in a few families. Counting the highest numbers of billionaires, South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria are the wealthiest nations, having also the largest gross domestic products (GDPs) in Africa. These countries count the highest number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), which amounts to over 39 thousand in South Africa. Not surprisingly, Johannesburg and Cape Town have the highest concentration of private wealth in Africa. Moreover, South Africa has the highest wealth per capita after Mauritius.

Forbes used stock prices and currency exchange rates from January 19, 2022, to measure the net worth. Billionaires from seven African countries made the list. South Africa and Egypt have the most, with five each, followed by Nigeria with three billionaires.

For the 11th year in a row, Alike Dangote of Nigeria is the continent’s richest person, worth an estimated $13.9 billion, up from $12.1 billion last year following a 30% increase in the stock price of Dangote Cement, his most valuable asset. Jumping into the No. 2 spot – up from No. 4 last year – is luxury goods magnate Johann Rupert of South Africa.

A more than 60% surge in the share price of his luxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont – maker of Cartier watches and Montblanc pens – pushed his fortune to $11 billion, up from $7.2 billion a year ago, making him the biggest gainer on the list. South African Nicky Oppenheimer, who formerly ran diamond mining firm DeBeers before selling it to mining firm Anglo American a decade ago, ranks No. 3, worth an estimated $8.7 billion.

The biggest gainer in percentage terms – up 125% – is Strive Masiyiwa of Zimbabwe, worth $2.7 billion (up from $1.2 billion last year). Shares of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which he founded, rose more than 750% in the past year, helping to drive up the size of his fortune.

Nigerian cement tycoon Abdulsamad Rabiu is $1.5 billion richer after taking yet another of his companies public, following the listing of BUA Cement in January 2020. In early January 2022, Rabiu listed his sugar and food firm BUA Foods on the Nigerian stock exchange with a market capitalization of nearly $2.8 billion. He and his son retained a 96% stake in the company.

Check the list of the top 10 richest people in Africa right now below!

Top 10 Richest People in Africa Right Now

1. Aliko Dangote - $13.9 B

2. Johann Rupert & family - $11 B

3. Nicky Oppenheimer & family - $8.7 B

4. Nassef Sawiris - $8.6 B

5. Abdulsamad Rabiu - $7 B

6. Mike Adenuga - $6.7 B

7. Issad Rebrab & family - $5.1 B

8. Naguib Sawiris - $3.4 B

9. Patrice Motsepe - $3.1 B

10. Koos Bekker - $2.7 B

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Who Are The Richest Persons in Africa Today

1. Aliko Dangote - $13.9 B

Photo: businessinsider

As of April 2022, Aliko Dangote was the richest man in Africa. He had a net worth of nearly 15 billion U.S. dollars and ranked 130th worldwide. From Nigeria, he is the founder and chairman of the Dangote Group, a large conglomerate operating in several sectors including cement and sugar. The South African Johann Rupert and family followed as the second-richest people in Africa, with a net worth of 9.7 billion U.S. dollars.

Founded in 1981, the Dangote Group (Dangote Industries Limited) is among the largest conglomerates in Africa. Its main subsidiary, Dangote Cement Plc, is the main cement manufacturer on the African continent. The business went public in 2010 and represents the largest company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. In addition to the cement industry, the Group also manufactures and processes food products, such as sugar, flour, and salt. With Nigeria being the leading African country for oil production, Dangote expanded his business into the oil industry in recent years. For this purpose, the Group built Africa’s biggest oil refinery near Lagos, Nigeria.

2. Johann Rupert & family - $11 B

Photo: watchesbysjx

Johann Rupert is chairman of Swiss luxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont. The company is best known for the brands Cartier and Montblanc. It was formed in 1998 through a spinoff of assets owned by Rembrandt Group Limited (now Remgro Limited), which his father Anton formed in the 1940s.

He owns 7% of diversified investment firm Remgro, which he chairs, as well as 25% of Reinet, an investment holding company based in Luxembourg. In recent years, Rupert has been a vocal opponent of plans to allow fracking in the Karoo, a region of South Africa where he owns land.

3. Nicky Oppenheimer & family - $8.7 B

Photo: celebritynetworth

Ranked #3 on the list, Nicky Oppenheimer is South Africa’s second-richest person with a net worth of $8.7billion. In 2012, Oppenheimer sold his family's 40% stake in De Beers, the world's biggest diamond producer, to mining company Anglo American for $5.2 billion in cash. He maintains private equity investments in Africa, Asia, the U.S. and Europe through London-based Stockdale Street and Johannesburg-based Tana Africa Capital.

4. Nassef Sawiris - $8.6 B

Photo: birminghammail

Ranked #4 on the list is Egypt's richest person, Nassef Sawiris, who owns 30% of OCI, a Geleen, Netherlands-based fertilizer producer formed out of a demerger from his family's original business, Orascom Construction. His other assets include 6% of the sportswear company Adidas and a stake in LafargeHolcim, the world's biggest cement maker.

5. Abdulsamad Rabiu - $7 B

Photo: marcopolis

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

In early January 2020, Rabiu merged his privately-owned Obu Cement company with listed firm Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria, which he controlled. The combined firm, called BUA Cement Plc, trades on the Nigerian stock exchange; Rabiu owns 98.5% of it. Rabiu, the son of a businessman, inherited land from his father. He set up his own business in 1988 importing iron, steel and chemicals.

6. Mike Adenuga - $6.7 B

Photo: wealthresult

Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga Jr is a Nigerian business tycoon, and the second richest person in Nigeria. His company Globacom is Nigeria's second-largest telecom operator, and also has a presence in Ghana and Benin. He also owns stakes in the Equitorial Trust Bank and the oil exploration firm Conoil (formerly Consolidated Oil Company).

In June 2016 it was revealed that Adenuga was being pursued for a combined debt of USD $140.5 million, after his company ConOil failed to pay debts owed to, among others, the French oil giant Total. Bellbop, another company owned by Adenuga, has an interim injunction placed on it by the High Court in Lagos, after failed to pay USD $9.4 million it owed to the US oil and gas firm Baker Hughes.

7. Issad Rebrab & family - $5.1 B

Photo: africaintelligence

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.

After serving 8 months in jail on charges of corruption, Rebrab was released on January 1, 2020. He denies any wrongdoing.

8. Naguib Sawiris - $3.4 B

Photo: africaintelligence

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 chairman of Orascom TMT Investments, which has stakes in an asset manager in Egypt and Italian internet company Italiaonline, among others.

Through his Media Globe Holdings, Sawiris owns 88% of pan-European pay TV and video news network Euronews. He also developed a luxury resort called Silversands on the Caribbean island of Grenada.

9. Patrice Motsepe - $3.1 B

Photo: bloomberg

Patrice Motsepe, the founder and chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, became a billionaire in 2008 – the first black African on the Forbes list.

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

Motsepe also has a stake in Sanlam, a listed financial services firm, and is the president and owner of the Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club.

In March 2021, Motsepe was elected president of the Confederation of African Football, the sport’s governing body on the continent.

In 1994, he became the first black partner at the law firm Bowman Gilfillan in Johannesburg and then started a mining service contracting business.

In 1997, he bought low-producing gold mine shafts and later turned them profitable.

10. Koos Bekker - $2.7 B

Photo: Yahoo

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.

In 2019, Naspers put some assets into two publicly-traded companies, entertainment firm MultiChoice Group and Prosus, which contains the Tencent stake.

Naspers sold a 2% stake in Tencent in 2018; in April 2021 Prosus sold nearly $15 billion worth of Tencent, taking its stake to 29%.

Bekker, who retired as the CEO of Naspers in March 2014, returned as chairman in April 2015.