The list of the richest men in Africa was released by Forbes magazine in January 2021. There was no significant difference in the positions as most of this Africa rich moguls still held their position on the rich list but there was a magnificent drop and rise in some net worth.
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.
5. Mike Adenuga:
Net worth of $6.3 billion
The owner and chairman of the 3rd largest telecommunications operator in Nigeria, Globacom (GLO), is the 2nd richest man in Nigeria and fifth in Africa as a whole. Sadly, he dropped from number 4 from the top 10 richest men in Africa 2019 to land at number 5 this year.
Mike Adenuga had made a name for himself in the past in the oil sector and there were times he was the second on this list of richest Africans.
He owns Conoil filling station and over 5 oil blocks in the Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region. He used to be a cab driver in the US while studying for his master’s in business administration in New York. He is married and is father to controversial businessman Paddy Adenuga.
Mike Adenuga owns a private jet and drives a 35 million naira Bentley Continental GT, a Mercedes AMG G63 among other expensive cars. Among Mike Adenuga’s cars, he also has a Rolls-Royce to join the league of Nigerian celebrities who drives Rolls-Royces.
4. Johann Rupert & family
Net worth: $7.2 billion
Anton Rupert founded the Rembrandt group in the mid-1940s in Switzerland. The company is known for making some of the world’s most expensive luxury items. After a split, Anton’s son, Johann Rupert became chairman of the Compagnie Financiere Richemont division, the parent company of Mont Blanc and Cartier. He also has a stake in Remgro the other split half. He is one of the richest South Africans alive and is against the oil exploration going on in his hometown, Karoo in South Africa.
Johann is also a lover of cars as he drives an 85 million naira Ferrari Lusso GT, a Porsche Cayenne, and over 185 other vintage cars in his private museum.
3. Nicky Oppenheimer & family
Net worth: $8 billion
The Oppenheimer family is known to control a huge part of South Africa’s wealth. The heir to the family’s wealth, Nicky Oppenheimer, once had a 40% stake in DeBeers, South Africa’s main diamond mining firm. In mid-2012, the shares were bought for more than 1 Billion by Anglo American. But what many people don’t know is that Nicky actually has a 1 percent stake in the same company he sold the shares to. A company founded in 1917 by his granddad. See? Money revolves in the family.
Nicky and his siblings own private jets, yachts, the latest Mercedes Benz Mclaren, and a 75 miillion naira BMW i3 EV.
2. Nassef Sawiris
Net worth: $8.5 billion:
The Sawiris family is the wealthiest in the whole of Egypt. But the notable names in the family are Nassef and Naguib. Nassef Sawiris is head of the OCI arm of the Orascom group. That division prides itself as the largest producer of nitrogen fertilizers in the world. They have factories in Iowa and Texas, United States of America. OCI is listed on Amsterdam stock exchange. Nassef is Adidas’s largest shareholders and popular cement manufacturing company, LaFarge.
Nassef Sawiris drives some of the best cars in Egypt and Dubai like the 2019 Audi Q5
READ ALSO; How Aliko Dangote Became the Richest African
1. Aliko Dangote
Net worth: $12.1 billion
Aliko Dangote is the richest man in Africa and he has maintained the number one position for almost a decade. The Nigerian tycoon is the chairman and founder of the Dangote Group, the parent company of the largest cement producer in Africa – Dangote Cement. There are also other subsidiaries that produce flour, sugar, salt, and tomato paste. As the shareholder of over 87% of the company’s shares, he amasses the most wealth. He used to be worth about 5 trillion naira 3 years ago.
The richest man of Africa drives some of the most expensive cars in the world, including a Bugatti Veyron ($2.2million), a Maybach 57S Knight Luxury ($1million) and a Bentley Mulsanne ($310,000).
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