Africa’s 23 dollar billionaires have business interests spanning 12 sectors, with diversified businesses accounting for the largest share of the continent’s billionaire population, according to a BusinessDay analysis of Forbes’ billionaire rankings.
Seven individuals, representing 30.4 percent of the total, fall under diversified businesses. Finance and investments rank second, with three billionaires, or 13 percent, while fashion and retail, metals and mining, and telecommunications each account for two billionaires.
The distribution highlights the range of industries associated with Africa’s wealthiest businesspeople, from manufacturing and financial services to telecommunications, property and energy.
However, the number of billionaires in each sector does not necessarily reflect the value of wealth held in that industry. The fortunes of existing billionaires can rise substantially even when the number of people on the list remains unchanged.
Nigeria provides a recent example. A BusinessDay earlier analysis of Forbes data found that the combined wealth of the country’s four dollar billionaires rose from $26.7 billion in 2024 to $73.2 billion by September 2026, an increase of $46.5 billion, or 174.1 percent. The number of Nigerian billionaires remained unchanged over the period.
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Diversified businesses account for the largest share
The seven billionaires classified under diversified businesses are Nigeria’s Abdulsamad Rabiu and Mike Adenuga; Egypt’s Mohamed Mansour, Youssef Mansour and Yasseen Mansour; Tanzania’s Mohammed Dewji; and Morocco’s Aziz Akhannouch.
Rabiu, founder of BUA Group, has an estimated net worth of $11.2 billion, built through interests spanning cement, sugar, flour, oil and real estate.
Adenuga, whose estimated fortune stands at $6.5 billion, has interests in telecommunications through Globacom and in petroleum through Conoil. His business activities extend across multiple sectors, including investments in banking.
Egyptian businessman Mohamed Mansour has an estimated net worth of $4 billion. His business interests include a major General Motors dealership and the distribution of Caterpillar machinery across Africa, supplying equipment used in construction, mining and transport.
Dewji, with an estimated fortune of $2.1 billion, leads Tanzania’s MeTL Group, whose operations span agriculture, textiles, beverages and logistics.
Youssef Mansour, worth an estimated $1.8 billion, co-owns Mansour Group and oversees retail and fast-moving consumer goods operations, including the Metro Supermarket and Kheir Zaman chains.
Morocco’s Akhannouch, with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion, built his fortune through Akwa Group, whose interests include petroleum distribution, liquefied petroleum gas and industrial gases.
Yasseen Mansour, also estimated to be worth $1.4 billion, chairs Palm Hills Developments, an Egyptian property developer involved in residential and mixed-use developments.
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Finance and investments ranks second
Finance and investments accounts for three billionaires, representing 13 percent of Africa’s billionaire population in the analysis.
South African Michiel Le Roux has an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion, largely derived from his founding stake in Capitec Bank, which has developed a substantial retail banking business.
Jannie Mouton, whose fortune is estimated at $2.7 billion, built his wealth through PSG Group, an investment holding company with interests spanning financial services, education and other businesses.
Morocco’s Othman Benjelloun, worth an estimated $1.7 billion, accumulated his fortune through interests in banking, insurance and telecommunications, including Bank of Africa and RMA Watanya.
Nigeria’s Femi Otedola, worth $1.8 billion, expanded his investment through First HoldCo, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria. After selling his majority stake in Geregu Power last year in a deal valued at about $750 million, Otedola has redirected his investment focus towards banking, increasing his shareholding in First HoldCo to 26.1 percent by August.
The sector’s presence among the continent’s wealthiest individuals underscores the role of financial services and investment holdings in the billionaire landscape.
Fashion, mining and telecommunications each account for two billionaires
Fashion and retail accounts for 8.7 percent of Africa’s billionaires, represented by South Africans Johann Rupert and Christoffel Wiese.
Rupert, with an estimated net worth of $16.1 billion, chairs Compagnie Financière Richemont, the Swiss luxury group behind brands including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Montblanc. His interests also extend to industrial and financial investments through Remgro and Reinet.
Wiese, worth an estimated $1.9 billion, built his fortune through retail businesses, including interests associated with Pepkor and Shoprite, alongside investments in other companies.
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Metals and mining also account for two billionaires, both from South Africa
Nicky Oppenheimer has an estimated net worth of $10.6 billion. His fortune originated largely from his family’s interests in De Beers and Anglo American before the family sold its stake in the diamond business.
Patrice Motsepe, whose estimated net worth is $4.3 billion, founded African Rainbow Minerals. The company has interests in platinum, iron ore and other metals, making mining the principal source of his fortune.
Telecommunications accounts for another two billionaires, Egypt’s Naguib Sawiris and Zimbabwe’s Strive Masiyiwa.
Sawiris, worth an estimated $5.6 billion, built his fortune through Orascom Telecom, which expanded mobile operations across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia before a major transaction involving VimpelCom, now VEON.
Masiyiwa, whose estimated net worth is $2.2 billion, founded Econet Wireless after a prolonged legal battle to secure a telecommunications licence in Zimbabwe. His business interests have since expanded into fibre broadband, digital infrastructure and technology services through businesses including Cassava Technologies and Liquid Intelligent Technologies.
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Manufacturing, construction and other sectors
The remaining seven sectors each account for one billionaire, or 4.3 percent of the total.
Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, represents manufacturing. His industrial empire spans cement, fertiliser and petroleum refining. Dangote Cement operates across several African markets, while his fertiliser plant and Lagos-based refinery represent major investments in domestic industrial production.
Egypt’s Nassef Sawiris represents construction and engineering. With an estimated net worth of $9.5 billion, his interests include Orascom Construction and OCI, a major nitrogen fertiliser producer with manufacturing facilities in the United States.
Algeria’s Issad Rebrab, whose estimated fortune is $3.6 billion, founded Cevital, one of the country’s largest privately owned business groups. Its operations include food production and sugar refining, with annual sugar-refining capacity of about two million tonnes.
South Africa’s Koos Bekker represents media and entertainment. With an estimated net worth of $2.3 billion, he helped transform Naspers from a traditional newspaper publisher into a major investor in technology and pay television. Its investment in Chinese technology company Tencent became a particularly significant source of value.
Egypt’s Samih Sawiris, estimated to be worth $1.4 billion, represents services through his interests in hospitality and integrated resort developments, including Orascom Development Holding’s El Gouna resort on the Red Sea coast.
Morocco’s Anas Sefrioui represents real estate. He built his fortune through Groupe Addoha, a publicly listed property developer known for residential housing projects in Morocco.
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