Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote still lead the list of Africa Richest People 2021 as carefully curated by the renowned American business magazine Forbes.
Not a single Kenyan featured in the Forbes list because Kenyan billionaires don’t have industry or invention to their names, (not even the first family featured) and also because the magazine doesn’t cover politician whose wealth is (ill)gotten from raiding public coffers.
The continent’s 18 billionaires are worth an average $4.1 billion, 12% more than a year ago, driven in part by Nigeria’s surging stock market.
For the tenth year in a row, Aliko Dangote of Nigeria is the continent’s richest person, worth $12.1 billion, up by $2 billion from last year’s list thanks to a roughly 30% rise in the share price of Dangote Cement, by far his most valuable asset.
The second richest is Nassef Sawiris of Egypt, whose largest asset is a nearly 6% stake in sportswear maker Adidas. At number three: Nicky Oppenheimer of South Africa, who inherited a stake in diamond firm DeBeers and ran the company until 2012, when he sold his family’s 40% stake in DeBeers to mining giant AngloAmerican for $5.1 billion.
The biggest gainer this year is another Nigerian cement tycoon, Abdulsamad Rabiu. Remarkably, shares of his BUA Cement PLC, which listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange in January 2020, have doubled in value in the past year.
That pushed Rabiu’s fortune up by an extraordinary 77%, to $5.5 billion. One thing to note: Rabiu and his son together own about 97% of the company, giving the company a tiny public float.
The youngest Africa billionaire is Tanzanian businessman Mohammed Dweji who at 45 is worth $1.6B while the oldest billionaire on the continent is Moroccan businessman Othman Benjelloun who at 88 is worth $1.3B.
The list is dominated by South Africans, Egyptians, Moroccans and Nigerians. Unfortunately, there is no Ghanaian on the list.
Check Out Full List Below
#1. Aliko Dangote (Nigeria) – $12.1B (cement and sugar)
#2. Nassef Sawiris (Egypt) – $8.5B (construction, investments)
#3. Nicky Oppenheimer (South Africa) – $8B (diamonds)
#4. Johann Rupert (South Africa) – $7.2B (luxury goods)
#5 Mike Adenuga (Nigeria) – $6.3B (telecom, oil)
#6. Abdulsamad Rabiu (Nigeria) – $5.5B (cement, sugar)
#7. Issad Rebrab (Algeria) – $4.8B (food)
#8. Naguib Sawiris (Egypt) – $3.2B (telecom)
#9. Patrice Motsepe (South Africa) – $3B (mining)
#10. Koos Bekker (South Africa) – $2.8B (media, investments)
#11. Mohamed Mansour (Egypt) – $2.5B (diversified)
#12. Aziz Akhannouch (Morocco) – $2 B (petroleum, diversified)
#13. Mohammed Dewji (Tanzania) – $1.6B (diversified)
#14. Youssef Mansour (Egypt) – $1.5B (diversified)
#15. Othman Benjelloun (Morocco) – $1.3 B (banking, insurance)
#16. Michiel Le Roux (South Africa) – $1.2 B (banking)
#17. Strive Masiyiwa (Zimbabwe) – $1.2 B (telecom)
#18. Yasseen Mansour (Egypt) – $1.1 B (diversified)
