Africa is not only rich in culture and natural resources. It is also rich in monetary terms.
Meet some of Africa’s richest men.
Aliko Dangote
Aliko Dangote GCON was born 10th April 1957. He is a Nigerian billionaire businessman, who is the founder and chairman of Dangote Group, an industrial conglomerate in Africa.
The Dangote Group was established as a small trading firm in 1977, the same year Dangote relocated to Lagos to expand the company. Today, it is a multi trillion-naira conglomerate with many of its operations in Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and Togo. Dangote has expanded to cover food processing, cement manufacturing, and freight. The Dangote Group also dominates the sugar market in Nigeria and is a major supplier to the country’s soft drink companies, breweries, and confectioners. The Dangote Group has moved from being a trading company to be the largest industrial group in Nigeria including Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Cement, and Dangote Flour.
He has an estimated net worth of US$8.3 billion (July 2020), making him the 162nd wealthiest person in the world and the richest person in Africa.
Mohammed Ibrahim
Mohammed “Mo” Ibrahim, born 3rd May, 1946, is a Sudanese-British billionaire businessman. He worked for several telecommunications companies, before founding Celtel, which when sold had over 24 million mobile phone subscribers in 14 African countries. After selling Celtel in 2005 for $3.4 billion, he set up the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to encourage better governance in Africa, as well as creating the Mo Ibrahim Index, to evaluate nations’ performance. He is also a member of the Africa regional advisory board of London Business School.
According to the Forbes 2011 Billionaire List, Mo Ibrahim is worth $1.8 billion, making him the 692nd richest person in the world. Mo Ibrahim was also selected for the TIME “Top 100” list in 2008 and was ranked first in the annual Powerlist of influential Black Britons.
Nassef Onsi Sawiris
Nassef Onsi Sawiris was born in 1961 and is an Egyptian billionaire businessman, the youngest of Onsi Sawiris’ three sons (his brothers are Naguib and Samih). As of April 2019, his net worth was estimated to be $7.5 billion, and the fourth richest African in 2019, according to Forbes.
Strive Masiyiwa
Strive Masiyiwa was born 29th January 1961 and is a London-based Zimbabwean billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and executive chairman of the international technology group Econet Global.
As of March 2020, he was said to have a networth of US$1.3 billion.
Nicky Oppenheimer
Nicholas F. Oppenheimer is a South African billionaire businessman born 8th June, 1945. He was formerly the chairman of De Beers diamond mining company and of its subsidiary, the Diamond Trading Company, and former deputy chairman of Anglo American. He is the third richest man in Africa.
Oppenheimer appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List 2018 as the 23rd richest person in the United Kingdom, with a reported fortune of £5.5 billion.
He was ranked as the richest person in South Africa on Forbes list of The World’s Billionaires for 2019, with a fortune reported as US$7.3 billion and, again, on its 2020 list, with a reported fortune of US$7.6 billion in August 2020.