Top 10 Richest Man in Africa 2023 [Ranked with Networth]
by Kowsalya | Updated Apr 11, 2023
Top 10 richest man in Africa 2023
The designation "richest man in Africa" commonly denotes an individual with the highest net worth among all people residing on the African continent. This net worth is typically calculated based on the individual's assets, investments, and business holdings, serving as an indicator of their financial success and affluence. Accumulating the title of "richest man in Africa" can be accomplished through various methods, including ownership of successful enterprises, investment in lucrative opportunities, or inheritance of wealth. Some of the most notable wealthy individuals in Africa have garnered their fortunes through sectors such as telecommunications, oil and gas, mining, and real estate.
S.No
Name
Net Worth (billions, USD)
Industry
Citizenship
1
Aliko Dangote
$13.5
Manufacturing
Nigeria
2
Johann Rupert & family
$10.7
Fashion & Retail
South Africa
3
Nicky Oppenheimer & family
$8.4
Metals & mining
South Africa
4
Abdulsamad Rabiu
$7.6
Diversified
Nigeria
5
Nassef Sawiris
$7.3
Construction & Engineering
Egypt
6
Mike Adenuga
$6.3
Diversified
Nigeria
7
Issad Rebrab & family
$4.6
Food & Beverage
Algeria
8
Naguib Sawiris
$3.3
Telecom
Egypt
9
Patrice Motsepe
$3.2
Metals & mining
South Africa
10
Mohamed Mansour
$2.9
Diversified
Egypt
Who are the Top 10 richest man in Africa 2023?
The African continent currently has 46 billionaires, which is the second-lowest number of wealthy individuals of any global region. However, the number of rich people in Africa is growing, with private wealth expected to increase by 30% over the next decade, led by growth in the billionaire and millionaire categories. Forbes has compiled data on the wealthiest billionaires who reside and operate their primary businesses in Africa. The richest man in Africa, and also the richest Black man in the world, is Aliko Dangote. Starting out as a small sugar trader, he has now amassed a net worth of $13.5 billion, making him the 86th richest person in the world. Dangote's wealth constitutes 25% of the total wealth of African billionaires. Through his company, the Dangote Group, he has become an African conglomerate with interests in various sectors, including sugar, cement, and real estate.
Aliko Dangote
Aliko Dangote is the wealthiest person in Africa and is the founder and chairman of Dangote Cement, which is the largest cement producer on the continent. Dangote owns a holding company that has an 85% stake in Dangote Cement, which is publicly traded.
Dangote Cement has the capacity to produce 48.6 million metric tons of cement every year and operates in 10 different countries throughout Africa. Dangote has been working on a fertilizer plant in Nigeria for many years, and it finally began operations in March 2022.
In addition to the cement and fertilizer businesses, Dangote has also been constructing the Dangote Refinery since 2016. Once completed, the Dangote Refinery is expected to be one of the largest oil refineries in the world.
Johann Rupert & family
Johann Rupert is the chairman of the Swiss luxury goods company, Compagnie Financière Richemont. Richemont is most well-known for its brands, Cartier and Montblanc. The company was created in 1998 as a spinoff of assets owned by Rembrandt Group Limited, which was founded by Johann's father, Anton, in the 1940s.
Johann Rupert owns 7% of Remgro, a diversified investment firm that he also chairs. Additionally, he owns 26% of Reinet, which is an investment holding company based in Luxembourg. Rupert has publicly opposed plans to allow fracking in the Karoo region of South Africa, where he owns the land.
Nicky Oppenheimer & family
Nicky Oppenheimer is the heir to the DeBeers diamond fortune. In 2012, he sold his 40% stake in the firm to mining group Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash. Oppenheimer 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 held a controlling position in the global diamond trade. In 2014, Nicky Oppenheimer founded Fireblade Aviation in Johannesburg, which offers chartered flights. Oppenheimer also owns a minimum of 720 square miles of conservation land across South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.
Abdulsamad Rabiu
Abdulsamad Rabiu is the founder of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate with operations in cement production, sugar refining, and real estate. In early January 2020, Rabiu merged his privately-owned Obu Cement company with the publicly-listed Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria, which he controlled.
The resulting company, called BUA Cement Plc, is now traded on the Nigerian stock exchange, with Rabiu owning 98.2% of it. Rabiu inherited land from his businessman father and started his own business in 1988, which involved importing iron, steel, and chemicals.
Nassef Sawiris
Nassef Sawiris is a member of Egypt's wealthiest family and an investor. He holds a nearly 6% stake in sportswear maker Adidas, which is his most valuable asset. In December 2020, he acquired a 5% stake in Madison Square Garden Sports, a New York-listed firm that owns the NBA Knicks and the NHL Rangers teams.
Sawiris runs OCI, which is one of the world's largest nitrogen fertilizer producers and has plants in Texas and Iowa. OCI is traded on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange. He also owns Orascom Construction, which is an engineering and building firm traded on the Cairo exchange and Nasdaq Dubai.
Sawiris holds stakes in cement giant Lafarge Holcim and Adidas and sits on the supervisory board of Adidas. He teamed up with Fortress Investment Group's Wes Edens to purchase the Premier League's Aston Villa Football Club.
Mike Adenuga
Adenuga is a Nigerian businessman and is ranked as the country's third richest man. He has made his fortune in two industries: telecom and oil production. Adenuga's mobile phone network, Globacom, is the third largest operator in Nigeria and has 55 million subscribers.
He also owns an oil exploration company called Conoil Producing, which operates six oil blocks in the Niger Delta region. Adenuga earned an MBA from Pace University in New York and worked as a taxi driver to support himself while studying. He started his entrepreneurial journey by selling lace and distributing soft drinks, which earned him his first million at the age of 26.
Issad Rebrab & family
Rebrab founded and served as CEO of Cevital for over 50 years. In July 2022, he named his son, Malik, as CEO of the company. Cevital is Algeria's largest privately-held company and owns one of the world's biggest sugar refineries, with a yearly production capacity of 2 million tons.
Additionally, Cevital owns European companies such as Groupe Brandt, a French home appliances maker, an Italian steel mill, and a German water purification company. Rebrab was jailed for 8 months on corruption charges but was released on January 1, 2020. He denies any wrongdoing.
Naguib Sawiris
Naguib Sawiris is a member of Egypt's wealthiest family. His brother Nassef is also a billionaire. Sawiris amassed his wealth through telecom ventures, including the sale of Orascom Telecom to Russian firm VimpelCom (now Veon) in a multibillion-dollar deal in 2011.
He currently serves as chairman of Orascom TMT Investments, which has holdings in companies such as an asset manager in Egypt and Italian internet firm Italiaonline. Through his Media Globe Holdings company, Sawiris has an 88% ownership stake in Euronews, a pan-European pay TV and video news network.
Sawiris has also invested in the hospitality industry, with the development of a luxury resort called Silversands on the Caribbean island of Grenada.
Patrice Motsepe
Patrice Motsepe is the founder and chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, a mining company based in South Africa. In 2008, he became the first black African billionaire on the Forbes list. In 2016, he launched African Rainbow Capital, a private equity firm focused on investing in Africa.
Motsepe owns a stake in Sanlam, a listed financial services firm. He is the president and owner of the Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club. In March 2021, he was elected president of the Confederation of African Football.
In 1994, he became the first black partner at the law firm Bowman Gilfillan in Johannesburg. He started a mining services contracting business. In 1997, he bought low-producing gold mine shafts and later turned them profitable.
Mohamed Mansour
Mohamed Mansour is the head of the Mansour Group, a family conglomerate founded by his father in 1952, with 60,000 employees. In 1975, Mansour established General Motors dealerships in Egypt and became one of GM's largest distributors worldwide.
The Mansour Group has exclusive distribution rights for Caterpillar equipment in Egypt and seven other African countries. Mansour served as Egypt's minister of transportation from 2006 to 2009 under the Hosni Mubarak regime. His brothers, Yasseen and Youssef, are also billionaires and share ownership in the Mansour Group.
Richest man in Africa
The net worth of the richest man in Africa can change over time due to various factors such as changes in the value of their assets or investments, fluctuations in the economy, or shifts in their business ventures. It is also important to note that the net worth of the richest man in Africa may not reflect their actual income, as some of their assets may be illiquid or tied up in investments or businesses. Some of the most well-known wealthy individuals in Africa have made their fortunes in various industries such as telecommunications, oil and gas, mining, and real estate. For example, Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian businessman, is often considered to be the richest man in Africa due to his success in the cement industry. While the pursuit of wealth and financial success is a personal endeavor, it is important to note that poverty and inequality remain major issues in many parts of the African continent. Therefore, it is important for individuals and businesses to balance their financial success with efforts to promote social and economic development for all people in Africa.
Top 10 richest man in Africa 2023 - FAQs
Aliko Dangote is the richest man in Africa in 2023.
The top 10 richest men in Africa in 2023 are likely to come from a variety of industries, including telecommunications, oil and gas, mining, real estate, banking, and others.
The top 10 richest men in Africa in 2023 likely accumulated their wealth through various means, such as owning successful businesses, investing in profitable ventures, or inheriting wealth. Some may have also diversified their investments across multiple industries.