Top 10 richest Africans

For the richest people in Africa, 2018 has proven to be a year of growth. Thanks in part to rising stock markets and an upswing in commodity prices, the richest Africans saw their combined wealth soar over the last 12 months to a combined total of $75.4bn. We look at the ten richest people in Africa, according to the Forbes 2018 rich list.

9) Mohamed Mansour – Net worth: USD$2.7bn

Born into one of the most prominent business families in Alexandria, Egypt, the Mansour Group (TMG), Mohamed Mansour took over TMG in 1976. Over the course of his career, Mansour was the founder and chairman of Mansour Automotive Company (one of the biggest distributors of General Motors in the world) and Unatrac (Caterpillar’s Egypt distributor) as well as former Chairman of Credit Agricole Egypt – the second largest bank in Egypt.

https://www.mansourgroup.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/mansour-group-inc-/

9) Isabel dos Santos – Net worth: $2.7bn

The daughter of the long-time former president of Angola, Jose Eduardo dos Santos is the richest woman in Africa. With a career spanning 20- years, dos Santos built most of her fortune from a number of foreign investments while situated in Luanda. These include a 29% stake in Netherlands-based telecom company ZON Multimedia, as well as being a member of the board of the Angolan bank Banco BIC Português. Most recently, dos Santos helped bring Sonae into Angola. The biggest retailer in Portugal has since opened five food hypermarkets across the country. Sehe is currently the CEO of Angola diamonds,

https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabel-dos-santos-a67a65100/?originalSubdomain=za

8) Koos Becker – Net Worth - $2.8bn

Jacobus Petrus "Koos" Becker is the Chairperson of Naspers, a global internet and entertainment group and one of the largest technology investors in the world. With a presence in more than 130 countries all around the world, the company has a market cap of $112.8bn. In 2001, he played a key role in the company’s $32mn injection in then start-up company, Tencent. Tencent has since become the first Asian company to cross a market valuation of $500bn.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/nasperslimited/

6) Naguib Sawiris – Net worth - $4bn

The Egyptian businessman built his fortune in the telecom industry, having founded Global Telecom Holding back in 1998 with 200,000 subscribers which has since grown exponentially to more than 102 million subscribers today. He also founded Orascom Telecom Holding OTH and then stepped down as CEO following the $6.6bn merger with Vimpelcom Ltd (now VEON), creating the world’s sixth largest mobile telecommunications provider in April 2011. Sawiris also has interests in Evolution Mining and Endeavor Mining, with a 20% stake in each company respectively.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/naguib-sawiris-21646a44/

6) Issad Rebrab & family – Net Worth $4bn

The founder and CEP of Cevital, the largest privately held-conglomerate in Algeria, Issad Rebrab owns and operates one of the largest sugar refineries in the world with a capacity to produce two million tons a year. The company operates in food processing, automotive and services, industry, and distribution sectors and in May 2018, the company signed a deal with JSW Steel to sell the second largest steel firm in Italy (owned by Cevital) in a deal worth Rs 6 bn ($83mn).

https://www.cevital.com/en/

5) Mike Adenuga – Net worth - $5.3bn

The second richest man in Nigeria, Mike Adenuga built his fortune in the telecom industry and oil production. He is the founder of Globacom, which is now known as Glo, one of the biggest telecommunications network providers in Africa. Since its creation in 2003, Glo has recorded a profit of just over $4bn. Adenuga is also the founder and CEO of Conoil, the leading Nigerian independent oil and gas exploration and production company. Over recent years, Conoil has experienced exponential year-on-year growth and recorded a profit of N809bn ($2.2mn) in 2018.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-adeniyi-adenuga-9b187b120/

4) Nassef Sawiris – Net worth - $6.8bn

Nassef Sawiris is the youngest son of Onsi Sawiris, the father of the wealthiest family in Egypt. Serving as CEO of Orascom Construction, one of the largest engineering and construction contractor companies in the world, Sawiris split Orascom Construction into two entities back in 2015; OCI and Orascom Construction. He now serves as CEO of OCI, which is one of the largest nitrogen fertiliser producers in the world. He also has holdings in Larfarge Holcim and Adidas.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nassef-sawiris-13b3a1106/

3) Johann Rupert – Net worth - $7.2bn

Johann Rupert is the chairman of Richemont, the Switzerland-based luxury goods company. As founder and CEO, Rupert has overseen incredible growth in acquiring some of the world’s leading fashion brands. These include Azzedine Alaïa, Chloé, and Dunhill, as well as Van Cleef & Arpels, Vacheron Constantin and Cartier. In 2010, Richemont invested $550mn to acquire 100% of the world's premier online luxury fashion Net-a-Porter. Rupert is also part of a 50/50 joint venture partnership with Polo Ralph Lauren, which operates the Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry Company.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/richemont/

2) Nicky Oppenheimer – Net worth - $7.7bn

Nicky Oppenheimer served as Chairman of De Beers Group, the world’s leading diamond company, for over a decade before retiring in 2012 following the company’s acquisition by Anglo American which saw Oppenheimer sell his 40% stake for $5.1bn in cash in 2012. He owns a 1% stake in Anglo American through the sale. Nicky was the third generation of Oppenheimer to run De Beers, with Ernest Oppenheimer (who founded the company in 1917) officially assuming the role of chairman of De Beers back in 1929.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicky-oppenheimer-15555538/

1) Aliko Dangote – Net worth - $12.2bn

The richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote founded and chairs Dangote Cement which is the largest cement producer on the continent. He is the majority owner of the company with an 88% stake. The company produces around 29.3 MTA of cement in Nigeria alone and produces more than 45MTA per year across the whole of Africa. The company recorded a net profit of more than $2bn in 2017. Running alongside Dangote Cement is the Aliko Dangote Foundation. The main objective of the Foundation is to reduce the number of lives lost to malnutrition and disease. In 2015, the Dangote Foundation played a key role containing the spread of Ebola in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. The Foundation was the biggest private contributor to the African Union Ebola Trust Fund with a donation of $3mn.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/dangote-industries-limited/