The 10 Richest Men in Africa
by kalyani10
Vast mineral deposits in various parts of the continent make Africa one of the richest in terms of natural resources. And yet poor governance, widespread lawlessness and lack of infrastructure act as hindrances in making the natural wealth commercially viable. However certain individuals have managed to overcome the odds and make good financially. Here is a list of the ten richest men from Africa who have emerged as among the richest in the world.
- Aliko Dangote
The richest man in Nigeria, Aliko Dangote is worth $10.1 billion USD as of November 2011. Also the fifty-first richest person in the world, Dangote made his fortune with Dangote Cement which now has investments all across Africa and is the largest company on the Nigerian exchange, with a market capitalization of $10 billion. He is also the founder of the Dangote Group - a leading West African conglomerate with interests in cement manufacturing, sugar refineries, flour milling and salt processing. A venerable philanthropist in his country, Dangote has given away millions to education, health and social causes in Nigeria and elsewhere in the continent.
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- Nicky Oppenheimer
The richest man in the country of South Africa, Nicky Oppenheimer owes his fortunes to inherited wealth the most significant of which is the De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer. With a personal net worth of $6.6 billion USD, Oppenheimer is also the 136th richest person in the world. Apart from being the chairman of De Beers, he also has significant interests in Anglo American PLC, the gold mining company and is the owner of Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, the largest game reserve in Africa under private ownership.
- Nassef Sawaris
As the richest individual of Egypt, Nassef Sawaris is estimated to be worth $4.75 billion USD. Real estate and construction is the source of his fortune which he inherited from his father Onsi Sawaris. Nassef Sawiris runs Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt's most valuable publicly-traded company which recently saw some fluctuations as a result of the recent political turbulence in Egypt. However it has been buoyed by a sizable loan as well as $50 million equity investment by the World Bank's IFC. Apart from his construction and fertilizer conglomerate Nassef also has major interests in cement giant Lafarge, and Texas Industries.
- Johann Rupert
The second-richest person in South Africa, Johann Rupert’s source of fortune is inherited wealth in the form of Richemont – the Swiss company that owns luxury labels like Vacheron Constantin, Cartier, Dunhill, Mont Blanc pens and Chloe bags. As of November 2011, Rupert’s wealth is pegged at $4.7 billion USD, buoyed by 30% increase of sales at the Richemont group since earlier this year, driven largely by economic resurgence off of recession lows and increased demand for luxury goods in Asia. Apart from having major interests in South Africa-based Remgro Ltd and Reinet Investments Manager and more recently acquiring online fashion portal Net-a-Porter, Rupert is an avid golfer and owns extensive conservation land in the Karoo region of South Africa.
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- Mike Adenuga
Mike Adenuga is Nigeria’s second wealthiest individual with a personal net worth of $4.3 billion USD. A self-made man, the main constituents of Adenuga’s fortune are telecom, oil and banking. Starting out by selling lace and soft drinks, Adenuga hit big time with the patronage of Nigeria's former military president, Ibrahim Babangida. This helped him to found Conoil Producing which is today’s Nigeria's largest oil exploration company, producing an estimated 100,000 barrels per day. Apart from this The "Guru", as Adenuga is popularly known also owns Globacom, Nigeria's 2nd largest mobile telecom operator.
- Miloud Chabi
As the richest man in Morocco, Miloud Chabi is worth around $3 billion USD. The source of his wealth is real estate where he started out with construction of cheap housing and then expanded through Ynna Holding into hotels, supermarkets, and renewable energy. Chabi is quite active in political affairs as well. Having served as a Member of the Moroccan Parliament, he now regularly expresses his opinions in the press against political and business corruption.
- Naguib Sawaris
Yet another scion of the wealthy Sawaris family of Egypt, Naguib is the eldest son of patriarch Onis Sawaris and older brother of Nassef. Thanks to the inherited Sawaris fortune Naguib is the second richest person in Egypt with a net worth of $2.9 billion USD. Currently he owns Wind Telecom, a mobile service provider with operations in Africa, South Asia, Europe, Canada and Middle East. He has also delved into Egyptian politics, forming the Free Egyptians party in April 2011 to promote free markets and a secular platform and even earned the wrath of conservative Muslim clerics in the process.
- Christophel Wiese
Christo, as he is popularly known is South Africa’s third richest person with a personal fortune of $2.7 billion USD. Unlike the top two richest South Africans, Christophel is a self-made man who built his fortune in retail by founding the low-price supermarket chain Shoprite which is now the largest retail chain in the whole of African continent. Other than this, Wiese also owns 44% of discount clothes, shoes and textiles chain Pepkor bought several hundred million dollars of shares in private equity investor Brait. In recent times Wiese has been in news for buying old estates and vineyards and restoring them to both naturally beautiful as well as commercially viable properties.
- Onsi Sawaris
The grand old industrialist of Egypt, Onsi Sawaris is the third-richest person of the country after both his sons who figure in the top two rankings. A self-made billionaire with current net worth of $2.6 billion USD, Onsi Sawaris founded the mega business dynasty with a construction company but which went on to diversity into real estate and telecom. Onsi Sawiris now owns shares in Russian mobile operator Vimpelcom, following its acquisition of the family stake in Orascom Telecom in April 2011.
- Patrice Motsepe
As South Africa’s fourth wealthiest individual and richest black citizen, Motsepe’s fortune is pegged at $2.5 billion USD. A self-made man, Motsepe built his fortunes in mining. He started buying low-producing gold mines in 1994 and then turned them into profitable ventures. Recently Motsepe has founded the African Rainbow Minerals taking advantage of South Africa's Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) laws, which mandate that companies be at least 26% black-owned in order to get a government mining license.
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