Key Factors
- Africa’s self-made billionaires emerge from humble beginnings, creating huge fortunes throughout industries like manufacturing, telecommunications, and agriculture.
- Their contributions redefine native economies and drive industrial progress throughout the continent.
- These tycoons form international markets, from vitality manufacturing to tech innovation, boosting Africa’s financial prominence.
The highest 15 richest self-made African billionaires didn’t inherit empires, they constructed them. Typically beginning with little greater than intuition, persistence, and a deep familiarity with native challenges, these 15 people have turned on a regular basis alternatives into extraordinary fortunes. Within the course of, they’ve redefined what’s attainable on a continent too typically seen via the lens of limitation moderately than potential.
On the high of the record is Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote, who started by buying and selling sugar and cement and now runs the continent’s largest industrial group. His ventures, from a sprawling cement empire to a $19 billion oil refinery, usually are not simply reshaping Nigeria’s economic system, they’re making the nation much less depending on imports and extra able to assembly its personal wants.
Others, like South Africa’s Ivan Glasenberg, lower their enamel in commodity buying and selling pits earlier than rising to steer international giants like Glencore. Glasenberg’s quiet dominance over the worldwide sources commerce has made him a defining determine in fashionable mining, and one of the vital influential South Africans of his period.
From Eswatini, Nathan Kirsh made his cash supplying cash-and-carry shops in southern Africa, and later, industrial actual property within the U.S. His story is a reminder that realizing how folks store, and the way items transfer, will be simply as helpful as any flashy tech play.
Then there’s Clive Calder, a music government turned billionaire who helped launch among the world’s largest pop stars via his Zomba label. In an trade infamous for chewing up dreamers, Calder constructed a quiet fortune by staying behind the scenes and proudly owning the rights.
Others within the ranks, like Mike Adenuga, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Michiel Le Roux, and Anas Sefrioui, have earned their locations by fixing on a regular basis issues on an enormous scale: constructing cell networks the place none existed, increasing entry to client items and credit score, and offering properties for rising city populations.
These billionaires are builders of banks and broadband, of cement crops and procuring empires. Some made their cash shortly, others over many years. Some are family names, others hold low profiles. However what they share is a perception in the potential of doing huge issues in robust environments, and the power to make these bets repay.
- Aliko Dangote
Web Value: $23.6 billion
Nationality: Nigerian
Sector: Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Power and Diversified Investments
Aliko Dangote, Nigeria’s richest man, constructed his wealth via Dangote Group, an enormous industrial empire spanning cement, sugar, flour, and now oil refining. His 86.81 p.c stake in Dangote Cement—Africa’s largest cement producer—stays the spine of his fortune. However his ambitions stretch far past development supplies. In 2024, he launched the Dangote Petrochemical Complicated, house to the world’s largest single-train refinery, with a refining capability of 650,000 barrels per day. The challenge is about to revolutionize Nigeria’s vitality sector, lowering gasoline imports and reshaping the nation’s stability of commerce. His affect extends throughout banking, infrastructure, and manufacturing, making him a dominant pressure in Africa’s financial improvement. Forbes values his internet value at $23.6 billion, however that estimate excludes his stake within the $20 billion Dangote Oil Refinery—suggesting his true fortune is considerably greater.
- Ivan Glasenberg
Web Value: $8.8 billion
Nationality: South African
Sector: Mining and Commodities
A significant determine within the international commodities market, Ivan Glasenberg led Glencore to grow to be one of many world’s largest mining and buying and selling corporations. Beneath his management, the corporate expanded its coal and ferroalloy operations in South Africa, reinforcing mining as a key pillar of the nationwide economic system. Even after stepping down as CEO, Glasenberg’s wealth stays intently tied to the nation’s useful resource sector, with a continued deal with effectivity and sustainability.
- Mohammed Al-Amoudi
Web Value: $8.1 billion
Nationality: Ethiopian
Sector: Power, Actual Property, Agriculture
Mohammed Al-Amoudi is Ethiopia’s richest individual and one in all Africa’s wealthiest people, with a various empire spanning vitality, actual property, and agriculture. His largest belongings embody Preem, Sweden’s largest oil refiner, and Svenska Petroleum, an oil exploration agency. In Saudi Arabia, he controls Naft Companies Co., a petroleum distribution firm with over 235 fuel stations. In Ethiopia, he owns Midroc Gold, the nation’s largest mining firm and operator of main gold exploration tasks. Al-Amoudi’s widespread affect cements his position as a key financial pressure throughout three continents.
- Nathan Kirsh
Web Value: $7.1 billion
Nationality: Swazi (Eswatini)
Sector: Retail and Actual Property
Nathan Kirsh turned a modest inheritance into a worldwide enterprise empire spanning wholesale, property, and logistics. By Kirsh Group and Jetro Holdings, he instructions important stakes in U.S. cash-and-carry giants Jetro Money & Carry and Restaurant Depot, in addition to a significant share in Australia’s Abacus Property Group. His sensible actual property bets embody London’s Tower 42 and Sydney’s Birkenhead Level. Past enterprise, Kirsh can also be recognized for funding 1000’s of small entrepreneurs throughout Eswatini, cementing each his wealth and philanthropic legacy.
- Clive Calder
Web Value: $6.9 billion
Nationality: South African
Sector: Music and Leisure
Clive Calder reworked the music trade along with his label, Zomba Music Group, which helped launch the careers of artists like Britney Spears and NSYNC. Although he relocated to the Cayman Islands, his South African roots stay a key a part of his journey. His success continues to encourage the following era of South African artists and entrepreneurs, whereas his wealth fuels investments in leisure and past.
- Mike Adenuga
Web Value: $6.7 billion
Nationality: Nigerian
Sector: Telecommunications, Oil & Fuel, Actual Property, Banking, Development
Mike Adenuga, Nigeria’s second-richest man, made his wealth via a mixture of daring strikes in telecommunications and oil. He’s the founding father of Globacom, Nigeria’s second-largest telecom supplier, with practically 60 million subscribers. Certainly one of his most important contributions to the sector is the Glo-1 submarine cable—a $1.5 billion challenge that connects Nigeria on to the UK, serving to to spice up web entry and pace throughout West Africa. Within the vitality area, Adenuga owns Conoil Producing, a significant indigenous oil firm that pumps round 30,000 barrels per day. The corporate operates six extremely promising oil blocks within the Niger Delta and has greater than 20 years of expertise throughout the upstream oil and fuel sector. He additionally holds a controlling stake in Conoil Plc, one in all Nigeria’s high petroleum advertising and marketing corporations. Past oil and telecoms, Adenuga’s investments stretch into actual property, banking, and infrastructure. He owns a stake in Cobble-Stone Properties & Estates, a luxurious actual property agency based by his daughter, and holds an curiosity in Sterling Monetary Holding. He additionally has a 25.1 p.c stake in Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, a significant participant in development and infrastructure improvement—additional cementing his wide-ranging affect throughout Nigeria’s economic system.
- Abdul Samad Rabiu
Web Value: $4.7 billion
Nationality: Nigerian
Sector: Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Mining, and Actual Property
Abdul Samad Rabiu reworked BUA Group into one in all Africa’s most formidable industrial conglomerates. His wealth comes from BUA Cement—Nigeria’s second-largest cement producer—and BUA Meals, a powerhouse within the nation’s client items sector. In 2020, Rabiu merged his Obu Cement Firm with Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria to kind BUA Cement Plc, a $2.1 billion big listed on the Nigerian Alternate. He later took BUA Meals public, additional consolidating his affect. His empire extends into ports, mining, metal, and actual property. Past enterprise, Rabiu is a significant philanthropist. In 2022, he launched Nigeria’s largest non-public safety help fund with a $23.8 million donation and continues to fund schooling via the ASR Africa initiative.
- Koos Bekker
Web Value: $3.2 billion
Nationality: South African
Sector: Media and Know-how
Koos Bekker reshaped South Africa’s media panorama via Naspers, the worldwide tech and media group. His largest transfer was investing in Tencent, the Chinese language tech big, a call that generated large returns. In South Africa, Naspers owns main platforms like News24 and PayU, taking part in a key position in digital media and fintech. His affect within the tech trade has positioned the nation as a rising hub for innovation.
- Patrice Motsepe
Web Value: $3 billion
Nationality: South African
Sector: Mining, Investments, and Sports activities
Patrice Motsepe turned Africa’s first Black billionaire in 2008 via African Rainbow Minerals, an organization with pursuits in gold, platinum, and different sources. Over time, he has steadily expanded his investments past mining. By African Rainbow Capital (ARC), he has ventured into fintech and sustainable vitality, reflecting his long-term imaginative and prescient for financial progress. Motsepe additionally owns Mamelodi Sundowns, one in all South Africa’s high soccer golf equipment, and has pledged a good portion of his wealth to philanthropy via the Motsepe Basis.
- Issad Rebrab
Web Value: $3 billion
Nationality: Algerian
Sector: Trade and Shopper
Items Issad Rebrab, Algeria’s richest man, constructed Cevital Group into one in all Africa’s largest non-public conglomerates. His enterprise empire spans agri-food, automotive, glass manufacturing, and retail. Rebrab’s management helped cut back Algeria’s reliance on imports whereas increasing globally via acquisitions in France, Spain, and Italy. His investments have formed Algeria’s industrial progress and strengthened its financial footprint throughout Africa and past.
- Adebayo Ogunlesi
Web Value: $2.1 billion
Nationality: Nigerian
Sector: Infrastructure, Personal Fairness
Adebayo Ogunlesi, a Nigerian-born funding banker, made his fortune in infrastructure and personal fairness. He co-founded World Infrastructure Companions (GIP), a agency that managed $100 billion in belongings earlier than its $12.5-billion acquisition by BlackRock in 2024. Beneath his management, GIP acquired London Gatwick, London Metropolis, and Edinburgh airports, together with stakes in ADNOC Fuel Pipelines, Tower Imaginative and prescient India, and Atlas Renewable Power. Ogunlesi additionally serves on Goldman Sachs’ board as lead director, additional cementing his affect in international finance.
- Michiel Le Roux
Web Value: $2.1 billion
Nationality: South African
Sector: Banking
Michiel Le Roux revolutionized South Africa’s banking trade by co-founding Capitec Financial institution, which centered on offering reasonably priced and accessible monetary companies. His revolutionary mannequin disrupted conventional banking, making monetary companies accessible to hundreds of thousands of beforehand underserved South Africans. Capitec’s success in driving monetary inclusion has made it one of many nation’s high retail banks, with Le Roux’s wealth reflecting his pivotal position within the sector’s transformation.
- Anas Sefrioui
Web Value: $1.6 billion
Nationality: Moroccan
Sector: Actual Property
Anas Sefrioui made his mark because the founding father of Groupe Addoha, Morocco’s main actual property developer, recognized for reasonably priced housing tasks. After an eight-year absence from the billionaires’ record, Sefrioui returned in 2024 as Morocco’s richest man, because of a pointy rise in Addoha’s inventory. Past Morocco, his agency has expanded into West Africa, together with a $27 million IFC-backed housing challenge in Côte d’Ivoire. The son of a plaster producer, Sefrioui turned native demand for social housing right into a billion-dollar fortune.
- Jannie Mouton
Web Value: $1.5 billion
Nationality: South African
Sector: Banking and Investments
Jannie Mouton turned a private setback into success when he based PSG Group after being fired at 48. Beneath his management, the agency constructed stakes in Capitec Financial institution, PSG Konsult, Zeder Investments, and Curro Holdings. His strategic deal with banking, agriculture, and personal schooling reshaped South Africa’s monetary and funding panorama, cementing his popularity as one in all Africa’s most influential dealmakers.
- Christo Wiese
Web Value: $1.5 billion
Nationality: South African
Sector: Retail
Christo Wiese constructed his fortune via Pepkor, a retail group recognized for reasonably priced necessities throughout Africa. His early funding in Shoprite helped remodel it into the continent’s largest grocery store chain. Regardless of setbacks, Wiese’s enterprise strikes reshaped African retail and created 1000’s of jobs, cementing his standing as a key participant within the sector.
