Africa’s Richest People 2022
By David Dawkins, Jemima McEvoy, Rachel Sandler, Chase Peterson-Withorn and Kerry A. Dolan
Three of Africa's richest people : Johann Rupert of South Africa, Aliko Dangote of Nigeria and Nassef Sawiris of Egypt.Africa’s billionaires are richer than they have been in years, despite the global pandemic. As a group, the continent’s 18 billionaires are worth an estimated $84.9 billion – a 15% increase from twelve months ago and the most since 2014, when a larger number of billionaires–28–were worth a combined $96.5 billion. On average, the continent’s billionaires are worth $4.
, who formerly ran diamond mining firm DeBeers before selling it to mining firm Anglo American a decade ago, ranks No. 3, worth an estimated $8.7 billion. The biggest gainer in percentage terms–up 125%—is Strive Masiyiwa of Zimbabwe, worth $2.7 billion, up from $1.2 billion last year. Shares of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which he founded, rose more than 750% in the past year, helping to drive up the size of his fortune.
Another gainer: Nigerian cement tycoon Abdulsamad Rabiu, who is $1.5 billion richer after taking yet another of his companies public. In early January 2022, Rabiu listed his sugar and food firm BUA Foods on the Nigerian stock exchange. He and his son retained a 96% stake in the company, which recently had a market capitalization of nearly $2.8 billion. BUA Cement, in which he and his son have a 96% stake, listed in January 2020.
The 18 billionaires from Africa, none of whom are new to the ranks, hail from seven different countries. South Africa and Egypt each have five billionaires, followed by Nigeria with three and Morocco with two. All of the continent’s billionaires are men; the last woman to appear in the ranks, Isabel dos Santos of Angola,