Africa's Top 10 Billionaires And How They Made Their Fortune

Of the 54 countries in Africa, only seven African nations have billionaires, all men, according to the list of richest persons in Africa 2021 by Forbes.

According to the Forbes list, South Africa and Egypt each have five billionaires, Nigeria has three while Morocco has two. Collectively, the 18 billionaires from Africa are worth $73.8 billion, a little more than the $73.4 billion aggregate worth of the 20 billionaires on last year’s list of Africa’s richest people.

In this article, we look at the list of African billionaires for 2021 and how they made their fortune.

10. Koos Bekker

With networth of $2.8 billion, Koos Bekker is the 10th richest in Africa and his wealth comes from media and investment. Bekker is revered for transforming South African newspaper publisher Naspers into an e-commerce investor and cable TV powerhouse.

9. Patrice Motsepe

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

He is worth $3 billion on the 2021 Africa billionaire net worth. In 2016, he launched a new 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 1994, he became the first Black partner at law firm Bowman Gilfillan in Johannesburg and then started a mining services contracting business. In 1997, he bought low-producing gold mine shafts and later turned them profitable.

8. Naguib Sawiris

Naguib Sawiris is the brother of Nassef Sawiris, the second richest person in Africa. He is worth $3.2 billion, according to Forbes. Naguib built his fortune in telecom, selling Orascom Telecom in 2011 to Russian telecom firm VimpelCom (now Veon) in a multibillion-dollar transaction.

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

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

7. Issad Rebrab & family

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

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

6. Abdulsamad Rabiu

Abdulsamad Rabiu has a net worth of $5.5 billion and ranks 6th on the Forbes Africa billionaire list. He is the founder of BUA Group, which is mainly into cement production, sugar refining and real estate. His first business line was in importing iron, steel and chemicals.

5. Mike Adenuga

Mike Adenuga is the second richest person in Nigeria and fifth in Africa. He made his worth through telecom and oil production. His net worth, per Forbes, is $6.3 billion.

He operates the third largest telecom network in Nigerian known as Globacom, which has an estimated 55 million subscribers.

In addition, Adenuga is to oil exploration. His firm, Conoil Producing, operates 6 oil blocks in the Niger Delta. He made his first million at age 26 selling lace and distributing soft drinks.

4. Johann Rupert & family

Johann Rupert, per the 2021 Africa billionaire list, has a net worth of $7.2 billion and is ranked as the fourth richest person in Africa. He is chairman of Swiss luxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont. Rupert also owns a 7% stake in diversified investment firm Remgro, which he chairs, as well as 25% of Reinet, an investment holding co. based in Luxembourg.

3. Nicky Oppenheimer & family

Nicky Oppenheimer is the third richest person in Africa with a net worth of $7.9 billion. Oppenheimer in 2014 started Fireblade Aviation in Johannesburg, which operates chartered flights with its fleet of 3 planes and 2 helicopters

He also owns at least 720 square miles of conservation land across South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

According to Forbes, Oppenheimer sold his 40% stake in diamond firm DeBeers 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.

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

2. Nassef Sawiris

Nassef Sawiris is an investor and owns nearly 6% of renowned sportswear brand Adidas and he sits on the supervisory board of Adidas.

He also has a 5% stake in New York-listed firm Madison Square Garden Sports, owner of the NBA Knicks and the NHL Rangers teams.

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

The Egyptian also has stakes in cement giant Lafarge Holcim and Orascom Construction, an engineering and building firm; trades on the Cairo exchange and Nasdaq Dubai.

Nassef ranks as the second richest person in Africa with a net worth of $8.5 billion.

Aliko Dangote

Forbes names Aliko Dangote as the richest person in Africa with a net worth of $12.1 billion. Dangote founded and chairs Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer. The businessman owns 85% of publicly-traded Dangote Cement through a holding company.

Dangote Cement produces 45.6 million metric tons annually and has operations in 10 countries across Africa, according to Forbes. In addition, Dangote owns stakes in publicly-traded salt and sugar manufacturing companies.

Dangote Refinery has been under construction since 2016 and is expected to be one of the world’s largest oil refineries once complete.