In 2022, Africa’s richest men made a combined fortune of $84.9 billion. The figure declined by $3.1 billion in 2023 to hit $81.8 billion. However, per Forbes‘ latest report on Africa’s wealthiest, their fortunes have rebounded slightly in the past 12 months, recording a combined net worth of $82.4 billion.
Forbes attributed the gain to the return of Nigeria’s Femi Otedola, who last appeared on the Forbes Africa list in 2017 when he held a controlling stake in fuel distributor Forte Oil. A chunk of his fortune comes from his 73% stake in Geregu, which is worth more than $850 million.
Of the 20 wealthiest Africans profiled, Aliko Dangote maintained his position as Africa’s richest man, adding $400 million to $13.9 billion. He has ranked number one for the 13th year in a row. South African luxury goods magnate Johann Rupert came in second with a net worth of $10.1 billion, down from $10.7 billion in 2023. The number three spot was occupied by South African Nicky Oppenheimer (net worth $9.4 billion), who formerly ran diamond mining firm DeBeers.
After rejoining in 2023, South Africa’s Christoffel Wiese with an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion, saw his net worth grow to $1.2 billion. Forbes attributed the rise in his net worth to rising shares of his largest holding, Shoprite, and the spinoff of food business Premiere Group from Brait PLC. Wiese also cashed out on $50 million worth of Shoprite stock in October, reducing his stake in the supermarket chain, according to Forbes.
Explaining its methodology, Forbes Africa explained that it excluded Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim because he is a U.K. citizen. The platform also excluded South African Natie Kirsh, who operates out of London.
“Net worths were calculated using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of business on Jan. 8, 2024,” Forbes explained. “To value privately held businesses, we start with estimates of revenues or profits and apply prevailing price-to-sale or price-to-earnings ratios for similar public companies. Some list members grow richer or poorer within weeks-or days-of our measurement date.”
Below are the top 10 richest Africans
ALIKO DANGOTE
Aliko Dangote is not only Africa’s richest man but the wealthiest black man in the world. The story of how he started his company from scratch will always inspire many entrepreneurs. He borrowed $3,000 from his uncle shortly after receiving his college degree at 21 to import and sell food products in Nigeria.
He was successful and able to pay back the debt in full within three months of operations. But Dangote did not just settle for selling local commodities; he had his eyes set on something bigger – building a global corporation, and he has carried on to become one of the greatest African success stories of today’s generation.
He has a net worth of $13.9 billion.
JOHANN RUPERT AND FAMILY
Johann Rupert has a net worth of $10.1 billion. He is chairman of the Swiss luxury goods firm, Compagnie Financiere Richemont. He 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.
NICKY OPPENHEIMER & FAMILY
Nicky Oppenheimer is worth $9.4 billion. In 2014, he 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.
NASSEF SAWIRIS
Nassef Sawiris runs Orascom Construction Industries – one of the largest nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing firms in the world. His net worth is $8.7 Billion. One of his most valuable assets is a 6% stake in Adidas.
He acquired a 5% stake in the New York-listed firm, Madison Square Garden Sports, and owns a stake in Lafarge Cement. He partnered with Fortress Investment Group to purchase Aston Villa FC.
MIKE ADENUGA
Mike Adenuga made his wealth through telecom and oil production. His net worth highlighted by Forbes is $6.9 billion. He operates the second largest telecom operator in Nigeria known as Globacom
In addition, Adenuga is into 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.
ABDULSAMAD RABIU
Abdulsamad Rabiu has a net worth of $5.9 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 iron, steel, and chemical imports.
NAGUIB SAWIRIS
Naguib Sawiris ($3.8 billion) is the brother of Nassef Sawiris. Naguib built his fortune in telecommunications by 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 also developed a luxury resort called Silversands on the Caribbean island of Grenada, Forbes reported.
MOHAMED MANSOUR
Mohamed Mansour oversees his family’s conglomerate, Mansour Group, which was founded by his father Loutfy (D.1976) in 1952, and has 60,000 employees. Mansour took over the Mansour Group in 1976. From early 2006 until October 2009, he was appointed as the Minister of Transport in Egypt, one of the largest service ministries employing more than 250,000 people.
Mansour is the Founder and Chairman of Mansour Automotive Company (General Motors’ distributor in the world outside of China), Mantrac Group and Unatrac (Caterpillar’s distributor), as well as the former Chairman of Crédit Agricole Egypt – the country’s second-largest bank.
He has a net worth of $3.2 billion.
KOOS BEKKER
As per Forbes, Bekker is revered for transforming South African newspaper publisher Naspers into an e-commerce investor and cable TV powerhouse. He retired as the CEO of Naspers in March 2014 and returned as chairman in April 2015. He has a net worth of $2.7 billion.
PATRICE MOTSEPE
Patrice Motsepe has a net worth of $2.7 billion. In 2008, he became the first Black African to be featured on the Forbes list of world billionaires at the age of 46. He is also the first South African industrialist and billionaire.
In a CNN interview, Motsepe said his first passion was entrepreneurship. “Growing up in a business environment within a family standing behind conflicts at a young age, I wanted to pursue my first passion which was entrepreneurship,” said the founder and chairman of African Rainbow Minerals.
