The African economy is booming as we see more and more intensive economic activities around the continent. With a nominal GDP of $2.9 trillion, analysts predict that in the coming decades, miraculous progress would be observed through the African landscape. Insider Monkey published an article detailing the people behind the companies that is backing Africa’s growth.
Here is a summary of the 15 Richest People in Africa.
Othman Benjelloun is the CEO of Moroccan Bank for External Trade that has operations in over 20 African countries. Othman also owns stakes in the telecom company Orange and he invests his wealth into philanthropic causes such as education and environmental conservation.
Youssef Mansour is chairman of the family-owned conglomerate Mansour Group, which generates a revenue of $7.5 billion. Mansour Group is the exclusive distributor of GM vehicles and Caterpillar equipment in Egypt and several other countries.
Mohammed Dewji is the CEO of Mohammad Enterprises Tanzania Limited, a Tanzanian conglomerate founded in the 1970s. METL is active in textile manufacturing, flour milling, beverages, and edible oils in eastern, southern, and central Africa.
Aziz Akhannouch is Morocco’s Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and the largest shareholder in the Akwa Group, a multibillion-dollar conglomerate established in 1932. He has investments in diversified petroleum products such as coal and chemicals and in the media industries.
Mohamed Mansour oversees the Mansour Group, a family-owned conglomerate which operates from automotive and consumer goods to banking and real estate, education, health care, transport and logistics, They operate in more than hundred countries and have exclusive rights of manufacturing and distribution of products of various multinational companies.
Koos Bekker is the chairman of the South African media group, Naspers. Their services encompass classified advertising, online payments, fintech, and food delivery.
Patrice Motsepe got his fortune from the mining business and later founded African Rainbow minerals, which conducts the business of minerals extraction and refining including gold, ferrous metals, base metals, and platinum.
Naguib Sawiris is the current chairman of Orascom Telecom Holdings and it has become one of the most successful telecom companies in the African region. He also founded the Weather investment group which later bought Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A, an Italian telecom company.
Issad Rebrab founded Cevital in 1998. The company operates in automotive, household appliances, transport and large-scale retail, making Cevital Algeria’s largest conglomerate.
Abdulsamad Rabiu is one of the renowned figures in the Nigerian business community owing to his conglomerate, BUA group, that has stakes in manufacturing, infrastructure, and agriculture.
Mike Adenuga’s main source of wealth is his company Globacom, which is the second-largest telecom services provider in Nigeria, serving over 43 million subscribers. In addition, he also owns stakes in Conoil and Equitorial Trust Bank.
Johann Rupert’s primary source of wealth is Compagnie Financiere Richemont, which owns various luxury brands from clothing to wristwatches.
Nassef Sawiris is the youngest among the three brothers and heads Orascom Constructions, formed after the Orascom group was split into multiple companies.
Aliko Dangote is the richest man in Africa and has many titles to his name. He has a $12 billion Dangote oil refinery project in Lagos which is expected to make a dent in the African oil market. Once completed, the Dangote oil refinery would be the largest in the world producing more than 650,000 BPD.
Read more of Insider Monkey’s 15 Richest People in Africa here.
