12 of Africa’s Rich & Famous and How They Made Their Money

Aliko Dangote

• Dangote Group
• Net Worth: $14.1B
• Country: Nigeria

A list of Africa’s richest would not be possible without Aliko Dangote. His net worth is $14.1 billion, making him the richest man on the continent. Aliko was born in Kano, Nigeria.

He owns the Dangote Group. The Dangote Group owns stakes in many different industries. What really helped Dangote get his start was cement.

Aliko owns Dangote Cement, which is Africa’s largest producer of cement, making more than 44 million tons of cement annually. The Dangote Group has stakes in sugar, flour, and salt manufacturing companies as well, giving it a diversification edge.

Mike Adenuga

• Globacom
• Net Worth: $4.2B
• Country: Nigeria

Born in Idaban, Nigeria, Mike Adenuga has a net worth of $4.2 billion. He owns the company Globacom. Globacom is the second-largest telecommunication provider in Nigeria.

In addition to owning Globacom, Adenuga also has stakes in several ventures. He owns investments in the Equitorial Trust Bank and Conoil. Conoil is an oil exploration firm that has proven to be very lucrative for Adenuga.

He got his first oil drill in 1990, and, just one year later, he struck oil. Adenuga’s company was the first indigenous drilling company to achieve this.

Issad Rebrab

• Cevital
• Net Worth: $3.2B
• Country: Algeria

With a net worth of $3.2 billion, Issad Rebrab resides in the same country in which he was born: Algeria. The Algerian businessman founded Cevital, which is Algeria’s largest privately-owned company.

Rebrab founded Cevital in 1998. From there, it has expanded into tons of different industries. Rebrab’s company owns stakes in agriculture, food sectors, retail sectors, and services related to those industries.

Cevital didn’t just stop there. It has several subsidiaries as well, including EXAGON SAS, Alas Iberia, SLU, Ness-Prod, and more. Rebrab may have gotten his start in food production, but his businesses have expanded far beyond that.

Isabel dos Santos

• Multiple Investments
• Net Worth: $2.1B
• Country: Angola

Isabel dos Santos is Africa’s richest woman. She is worth $2.1 billion. Born in Azerbaijan during the Soviet Union era, her father was the Angolan president Jose Santos. Isabel is highly-educated, receiving a degree in electrical engineering at King’s College in England.

Isabel has achieved her billionaire-status through her investments in Angolan companies. Isabel is the head of several investment companies that not only have stakes in oil and diamonds, but also in media, finance, retail, telecommunications, and energy.

She’s one of the world’s foremost businesspeople to date, and her wealth can attest to that.

Patrice Motsepe

• African Rainbow Minerals
• Net Worth: $2B
• Country: South Africa

Patrice Motsepe founded and chairs African Rainbow Minerals. African Rainbow Minerals has stakes in gold, platinum, ferrous metals, and base metals.

The mineral giant started out as a law partner in the firm Bowman Gilfillan. After that, he founded his first mining company, which contracted to siphon gold dust from mine shafts. His purchase of gold mines in 1997 (after gold prices sank drastically) paid off in the future, and he was able to use that money to start African Rainbow Minerals.

Recently, he pledged to donate $250 million to helping institute South African land reform. Motsepe’s net worth is two billion.

Aziz Akhannouch

• Akwa Group
• Net Worth: $2B
• Country: Morocco

Aziz Akhannouch has a net worth of two billion. This father-of-three has an MBA from the University of Sherbrooke. A Moroccan citizen, Akhannouch is the majority owner of an investment company called Akwa Group.

Akwa Group invests in oil, petroleum, chemicals, and gas. Its investments primarily reside with Afriquia Gaz and Maghreb Oxygene. Aziz’s father founded the Akwa Group, and it has grown to become a multi-billion-dollar company.

He is Africa’s twelfth-richest man. Aziz’s wife, Salwa, owns her own company as well. Her company has investments in Gap, Zara, and Galeries Lafayette franchises in Morocco.

Folorunsho Alakija

• Rose of Sharon Group / Famfa Oil
• Net Worth: $1.5B
• Country: Nigeria

Folorunsho is a powerhouse Nigerian businesswoman. She is Africa’s second-richest woman. Her net worth is $1.5 billion, and Forbes Magazine titled her the 67th Most Powerful Woman in the World.

Early in her career, she worked as a secretary. Then, she transferred into the banking and fashion industry, traveling all around the world. Before that, she received her education in the United Kingdom.

Alakija continued her upward climb and now is the managing director of the Rose of Sharon Group and executive VP of Famfa Oil. Alakija has worked hard for every single thing she has, and she is well-deserving of her membership on the World’s Most Powerful Women list.

Mohammed Dewji

• MeTL Group
• Net Worth: $1.5B
• Country: Tanzania

Mohammed Dewji is a businessman of Tanzanian nationality. He belongs to the CCM political party in Tanzania. Mohammed Dewji is of distant Indian descent. His family traveled from India in the 1800s and became traders in East Africa.

Mr. Dewji chairs MeTL Group, a conglomerate in Tanzania that his father originally founded. MeTL Group is composed of loss-making companies. Tanzania privatized these companies in the early 2000s.

Dewji, who was the CFO of MeTL at the time, bought these newly-private company for cheap, adding them to the MeTL empire. MeTL makes up for 3.5% of Tanzania’s total gross domestic product. Dewji’s net worth is $1.5 billion.

Johann Rupert

• Richemont / Remgro
• Net Worth: $5.5B
• Country: South Africa

Johann Rupert’s net worth is $5.5 billion. The South African investor chairs a luxury-goods company based in Switzerland. The company, Richemont, is worth more than six billion dollars. He is also the chair of Remgro, another South African company specializing in investments.

Rupert dropped out of college, where he was studying economics, in favor of business. He then entered the banking industry and his career took off.

Rupert is well-known for being reluctant to go to public events and do interviews. His nickname is “Rupert the Bear” for his uncanny prediction of the 2008 economic crisis.

Nicky Oppenheimer

• De Beers
• Net Worth: $7.6B
• Country: South Africa

Nicky Oppenheimer is worth $7.6 billion. The South African businessman used to chair De Beers mining company (which mined diamonds). He also was the chair of De Beers’ subsidiary, Diamond Trading Company and Anglo American.

Educated at Oxford, Oppenheimer retired from the diamond industry in 2012 after nearly three decades in the diamond industry. The family’s stake sold to Anglo American, and he became more focused on philanthropy.

His philanthropic causes are environmental. He works to sustain development in Africa and established the Diamond Route land conservation plan, which protects African lands.

Femi Otedola

• Zenon / Forte Oil PLC
• Net Worth: $550M
• Country: Nigeria

Femi Otedola is worth $550 million. Born in Nigeria, Femi Otedola is a father of four. His main industries are fuel and gas. He currently chairs the Forte Oil PLC, a company that imports fuel products.

Mr. Otedola founded Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited. However, oil and gas aren’t his only industries. He also owns smaller companies in the real estate, finance, and shipping sectors. His father is the late governor of Lagos.

Otedola himself has recently announced plans to run for governor of Lagos in the near future. He’s also a major philanthropist, donating six million dollars to build a new structure at Augustine University.

Mohammed Hamid

• Aya Group
• Net Worth: $400M
• Country: Uganda

Mohammed Hamid was born in Sudan. He traveled to Uganda when he was a child to visit his older brother, and he decided to stay.

Mohammed Hamid started his first company, called Pan Afric Commodities. This trading business went well, and Hamid expanded, purchasing machinery to expand into milling wheat. He chose yet another industry to venture into when he started a trucking business. He started a company known as Aya Investments.

All of these ventures across different industries have paid off for Hamid. In 2017, Hamid launched the Pearl of Africa in Uganda, a 5-star hotel worth more than $150 million in investments.