In Africa—as elsewhere in the world—the wealthiest have come through the pandemic just fine. The continent’s 18 billionaires are worth an average of $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 Nigerian Stock Exchange requires that either 20% or more of a company’s shares to be floated to the public, or that the floated shares are worth at least 20 billion naira — about $50 million — a paltry sum, to be sure.
A spokesman for the Nigerian Stock Exchange told Forbes that BUA Cement meets the second requirement. (Forbes discounts the value of stakes when the public float of a company is less than 5%.)
While some got richer by the billions, two from the 2020 list of Africa’s richest dropped below the $1 billion mark. In fact, the only two women billionaires from Africa have both fallen off the list.
Forbes calculates that the fortune of Folorunsho Alakija of Nigeria, who owns an oil exploration company, dropped below $1 billion due to lower oil prices.
And Isabel dos Santos, who since 2013 has been the richest woman in Africa, was knocked from her perch by a series of court decisions freezing her assets in both Angola and Portugal. In January 2020, the attorney general of Angola charged Dos Santos with embezzlement and money laundering.
The Angolan court claimed that actions taken by Dos Santos, her husband Sindika Dokolo (who died in October 2020, reportedly in a scuba diving accident) and one other associate caused the Angolan government losses of at least $1.14 billion.
Forbes has marked Dos Santos’ frozen assets at zero. Through a spokesperson, Dos Santos declined to comment.
The 18 billionaires from Africa hail from seven different countries. South Africa and Egypt each have five billionaires, followed by Nigeria with three and Morocco with two. Altogether they are worth $73.8 billion, slightly more than the $73.4 billion aggregate worth of the 20 billionaires on last year’s list of Africa’s richest people. See the full list of Africa’s billionaires here.
METHODOLOGY
Our list tracks the wealth of African billionaires who reside in Africa or have their primary business there, thus excluding Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim, who is a U.K. citizen and billionaire London resident Mohamed Al-Fayed, an Egyptian citizen. Strive Masiyiwa, a citizen of Zimbabwe and a London resident appears on the list due to his telecom holdings in Africa.
We calculated net worths using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of business on Friday, January 8, 2021. To value privately held businesses, we start with estimates of revenues or profits and apply prevailing price-to-sale or price-to-earnings ratios for similar public companies. Some list members grow richer or poorer within weeks-or days-of our measurement date.
1. Aliko Dangote
Net worth: $12.1 billion
Rank in 2020: 1
Net worth in 2020: $10.1 billion
Self-made
Origin of wealth: Cement, sugar
Industry: Manufacturing
Age: 63
Country: Nigeria
Residence: Lagos
Education: Al-Azhar University, Bachelor of Arts/Science
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, founded and chairs Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer. He owns 85% of publicly-traded Dangote Cement through a holding company.
Dangote Cement produces 45.6 million metric tons annually and has operations in 10 countries across Africa. Dangote also owns stakes in publicly-traded salt and sugar manufacturing companies.
Dangote Refinery has been under construction since 2016 and is expected to be one of the world’s largest oil refineries once complete.
Did you know?
Dangote’s grandfather was a successful trader of rice and oats in Kano, Nigeria’s second-largest city. Dangote told Forbes that when he was young, he bought sweets, gave them to others to sell, and he kept the profits.
2. Nassef Sawiris
Net worth: $8.5 billion
Rank in 2020: 2
Net worth in 2020: $8 billion
Origin of wealth: Construction, chemicals
Industry: Construction and engineering
Age: 59
Country: Egypt
Residence: Cairo
Education: University of Chicago, Bachelor of Arts/Science
Nassef Sawiris is a scion of Egypt’s wealthiest family. His brother Naguib is also a billionaire. Sawiris split Orascom Construction Industries into two entities in 2015: OCI and Orascom Construction.
He runs OCI, one of the world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer producers, with plants in Texas and Iowa; it trades on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange. Orascom Construction, an engineering and building firm, trades on the Cairo exchange and Nasdaq Dubai.
His holdings include stakes in cement giant Lafarge Holcim and Adidas; he sits on the supervisory board of Adidas.
Did you know?
A University of Chicago graduate, he donated $24.1 million to the school in 2019 to aid Egyptian students and fund an executive education program. Nassef Sawiris teamed up with Fortress Investment Group’s Wes Edens to purchase Aston Villa Football Club.
3. Nicky Oppenheimer & family
Net worth: $8 billion
Rank in 2020: 3
Net worth in 2020: $7.7 billion
Origin of wealth: Diamonds
Industry: metal and mining
Age: 75
Country: South Africa
Residence: Johannesburg
Education: Oxford University Christ Church, Master of Arts/Science, Oxford
Oppenheimer, heir to his family’s fortune, sold his 40% stake in diamond firm De Beers to mining group Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash in 2012.
He 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 occupied a controlling spot in the world’s diamond trade. In 2014, Oppenheimer started Fireblade Aviation in Johannesburg, which operates chartered flights with its fleet of three planes and two helicopters.
He owns at least 720 square miles of conservation land across South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
Did You Know?
Oppenheimer owns Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, the largest private game reserve in South Africa. Oppenheimer is a sports fan and plays squash, golf and cricket. Notepads in his office read: “Things I must do before cricket.”
4. Johann Rupert & family
Net worth: $7.2 billion
Rank in 2020: 5
Net worth in 2020: $6.5 billion
Origin of wealth: Luxury goods
Industry: Fashion and retail
Age: 70
Country: South Africa
Residence: Cape Town
Johann Rupert is chairman of Swiss luxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont. The company is best known for the brands Cartier and Montblanc. It was formed in 1998 through a spinoff of assets owned by Rembrandt Group Limited (now Remgro Limited), which his father Anton formed in the 1940s. He owns a 7% stake in diversified investment firm Remgro, which he chairs, as well as 25% of Reinet, an investment holding co. based in Luxembourg. In recent years, Rupert has been a vocal opponent of plans to allow fracking in the Karoo, a region of South Africa where he owns land.
Did You Know?
He also owns part of the Saracens English rugby team and Anthonij Rupert Wines, named after his deceased brother. Rupert says his biggest regret was not buying half of Gucci when he had the opportunity to do so for just $175 million.
4. Mike Adenuga
Net worth: $6.3 billion
Rank in 2020: 3
Net worth in 2020: $7.7 billion
Self-made
Origin of wealth: Telecom, oil
Industry: Diversified
Age: 67
Country: Nigeria
Residence: Lagos
Education: Pace University, Master