Top 10 wealthiest people in Africa in 2023
Africa’s wealthiest people shed a combined $3.1 billion in the past 12 months, following a global decline for markets in 2022. As a group, the continent’s 19 billionaires are worth an estimated $81.8 billion – down from the $84.9 billion that 18 African billionaires had 12 months ago. The 3.6% dip on the 2023 Forbes ranking follows a jump of 15% last year on the back of soaring stock prices from Nigeria to Zimbabwe. Their fortunes faded in sync with equity values around the world, with the S&P All Africa index dropping more than 20% in the first nine months of 2022, before starting a late-year rally that left the index down just 3% over the past 12 months.
Top 10 wealthiest people in Africa in 2023
1. ALIKO DANGOTE
Net worth: $13.5 billion
Rank in 2022: 1
Net worth in 2022: $13.9 billion
Origin of wealth: Cement and Sugar Self-made
Age: 65
Country: Nigeria
Residence: Lagos
* Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, founded and chairs Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer.
* He owns 85% of publicly-traded Dangote Cement through a holding company.
* Dangote Cement has the capacity to produce 48.6 million metric tons annually and has operations in 10 countries across Africa.
* After many years in development, Dangote’s fertilizer plant in Nigeria began operations in March 2022.
* Dangote Refinery has been under construction since 2016 and is expected to be one of the world’s largest oil refineries once complete.
2. JOHANN RUPERT AND FAMILY
Net worth: $10.7 billion
Rank in 2022: 2
Net worth in 2022: $11 billion
Origin of wealth: Luxury goods Inherited and growing
Age: 72
Country: South Africa
Residence: Cape Town
* JohannRupertischairmanofSwissluxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont.
* Thecompanyisbestknownforthebrands Cartier and Montblanc.
* Itwasformedin1998throughaspinoffof assets owned by Rembrandt Group Limited (now Remgro Limited), which his father Anton formed in the 1940s.
* Heowns7%ofdiversifiedinvestmentfirm Remgro, which he chairs, as well as 26% of Reinet, an investment holding company based in Luxembourg.
* Ruperthasbeenavocalopponentofplansto allow fracking in the Karoo, a region of South Africa where he owns land.
3. NICKY OPPENHEIMER & FAMILY
Net worth: $8.4 billion
Rank in 2022: 3
Net worth in 2022: $8.7 billion
Origin of wealth: Diamonds Inherited
Age: 77
Country: South Africa
Residence: Johannesburg
* Nicky Oppenheimer, heir to the DeBeers diamond fortune, sold his 40% of the firm 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.
* For 85 years until 2012, the Oppenheimer family occupied a controlling spot in the world’s diamond trade.
* In 2014, Oppenheimer started Fireblade Aviation in Johannesburg, which operates chartered flights.
* He owns at least 720 square miles of conservation land across South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.
4. ABDULSAMAD RABIU
Net worth: $7.6 billion
Rank in 2022: 5
Net worth in 2022: $7 billion
Origin of wealth: Cement and Sugar Inherited and growing
Age: 62
Country: Nigeria
Residence: Lagos
* 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 98.2% 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.
5. NASSEF SAWIRIS
Net worth: $7.2 billion
Rank in 2022: 4
Net worth in 2022: $8.6 billion
Origin of wealth: Construction and Investments
Inherited and growing
Age: 62
Country: Egypt
Residence: Cairo
* Nassef Sawiris is an investor and a scion of Egypt’s wealthiest family. His most valuable asset is a nearly 6% stake in sportswear maker Adidas.
* In December 2020, he acquired a 5% stake in New York-listed firm Madison Square Garden Sports, owner of the NBA Knicks and the NHL Rangers teams.
* He runs OCI, one of the world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer producers, with plants in Texas and Iowa; it trades on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange.
* Orascom Construction, an engineering and building firm, trades on the Cairo exchange and Nasdaq Dubai.
* His holdings include stakes in cement giant Lafarge Holcim and Adidas; he sits on the supervisory board of Adidas.
* Nassef Sawiris teamed up with Fortress Investment Group’s Wes Edens to purchase the Premier League’s Aston Villa Football Club.
6. MIKE ADENUGA
Net worth: $5.6 billion
Rank in 2022: 6
Net worth in 2022: $6.7 billion
Origin of wealth: Telecom and Oil Self-made
Age: 69
Country: Nigeria
Residence: Lagos
* Adenuga, Nigeria’s third richest man, built his fortune in telecom and oil production.
* Hismobilephonenetwork,Globacom, is the third largest operator in Nigeria, with 55 million subscribers.
* Hisoilexplorationoutfit, Conoil Producing,operates6 oil blocks in the Niger Delta.
* Adenuga got an MBA at Pace University in NewYork, supporting himself as a student by working as a taxi driver.
* He made his first million at age 26 selling lace and distributing soft drinks.
7. ISSAD REBRAB & FAMILY
Net worth: $4.6 billion
Rank in 2022: 7
Net worth in 2022: $5.1 billion
Origin of wealth: Food Self-made
Age: 79
Country: Algeria
Residence: Algiers
* Rebrab founded Cevital and served as it’s CEO for more than 50 years; He named his son, Malik, CEO in July 2022.
* Cevital,Algeria’s biggest privately-heldcompany, 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 jailon charges of corruption, Rebrab was released on January 1, 2020. He denies any wrongdoing.
8. NAGUIB SAWIRIS
Net worth: $3.3 billion
Rank in 2022: 8
Net worth in 2022: $3.4 billion
Origin of wealth: Telecom Inherited and growing
Age: 68
Country: Egypt
Residence: Cairo
* 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’s 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
Net worth: $3.1 billion
Rank in 2022: 9
Net worth in 2022: $3.1 billion
Origin of wealth: Mining Self-made
Age: 60
Country: South Africa Residence: Johannesburg
* 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 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.
10. MOHAMED MANSOUR
Net worth: $2.8 billion
Rank in 2022: 12
Net worth in 2022: $2.5 billion
Origin of wealth: Diversified Self-made
Age: 75
Country: Egypt
Residence: Cairo
* Mohamed Mansour oversees family conglomerate Mansour Group, which was founded by his father Loutfy (d. 1976) in 1952 and has 60,000 employees.
* Mansour established General Motors dealerships in Egypt in 1975, later becoming one of GM’s biggest distributors worldwide.
* Mansour Group also has exclusive distribution rights for Caterpillar equipment in Egypt and seven other African countries.
* Mansour, who has both Egyptian and U.K. citizenship, served as Egypt’s minister of transportation from 2006 to 2009 under the Hosni Mubarak regime.
* His brothers Yasseen and Youssef, who share ownership in the family group, are also billionaires.
