Forbes 2024 Africa’s Richest Man List: Dangote tops list; Otedola named among continent’s wealthiest

The president of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has retained his position as the richest person in Africa with a net worth of $13.9 billion in the 2024 Forbes list of 20 of Africa’s Richest billionaires released Monday.

According to Forbes, the fortunes of Africa’s wealthiest people rebounded slightly in the past 12 months, reversing the decline in their fortunes from a year ago, though they were still off their all-time highs.

The 20 billionaires on the 2024 Forbes list of Africa’s Richest are worth a combined $82.4 billion. That’s up $900 million from last year’s $81.5 billion.

The executive chairman of Geregu Power Plc and a non-executive director FBN Holdings, Femi Otedola, was named among the 20 richest persons in Africa. Otedola was listed as the 19th richest person in Africa with net worth of $1.1 billion.

Specifically, Forbes attributed the improvement in the net worth of those listed to the return of Otedola, whom, it said, last appeared on the Forbes Africa list in 2017 when he held a controlling stake in fuel distributor, Forte Oil.

“Otedola phased out his oil investments during a government push to privatise the country’s energy business in 2013, using a Forte subsidiary to purchase Geregu, a public power generation plant.

“He owned about 90 per cent of Geregu when it was listed on the Nigerian exchange’s Main Board in 2022, but has since sold shares to institutional investors, which include Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa and the State Grid Corporation of China.

“His 73 per cent stake in Geregu is worth more than $850 million, about three-quarters of his $1.1 billion fortune, which puts him at No. 20 on the list.

“After taking Otedola’s comeback into account, Africa’s billionaires dipped slightly, but still fared better than the decline of four per cent last year, when African markets faded in sync with equity values around the world.

“This year, African equities joined a late-year global rally, with the S&P All Africa index rising 10 per cent in the final two months of 2023 but still ended down more than 9% in the 12 months through January 8, 2024,” Forbes stated.

Dangote was followed by Johann Rupert and Family from South Africa, with net worth of $10.1 billion; another South African businessman, Nicky Oppenheimer and his family, with net worth of $9.4 billion; Nassef Sawiris with net worth of $8.7 billion; Nigeria’s Mike Adenuga with net worth of $6.9 billion and the chairman of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu, with net worth of $5.9 billion, in that order.

This year South Africa claimed six spots on the ranking, followed by Egypt with five and Nigeria with four. Algeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe each has one billionaire on the list, while Morocco has two.

Forbes noted that Africa “remains one of the world’s toughest places to build – and hold onto – a billion-dollar fortune, as global investors remain leery of its stock exchanges, businesses struggle against strained economies, poor infrastructure and volatile exchange rates, while changing political winds can make, boost or bust private fortunes.”

According to Forbes the list tracks the wealth of African billionaires who reside in Africa or have their primary business there, thus excluding Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim, who is a U.K. citizen and South African Nathan Kirsh, who operates out of London. Strive Masiyiwa, a citizen of Zimbabwe and a London resident, appears on the list due to his telecom holdings in Africa.

Net worths were calculated using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of business on Jan. 8, 2024. To value privately held businesses, we start with estimates of revenues or profits and apply prevailing price-to-sale or price-to-earnings ratios for similar public companies. Some list members grow richer or poorer within weeks-or days-of our measurement date.

The Full List
RANK
NAME
NET WORTH
INDUSTRY
1. Aliko Dangote $13.9 B Manufacturing
2. Johann Rupert & family $10.1 B Fashion & Retail
3. Nicky Oppenheimer & family $9.4 B Metals & Mining
4. Nassef Sawiris $8.7 B Construction & Engineering
5. Mike Adenuga $6.9 B Diversified
6. Abdulsamad Rabiu $5.9 B Diversified
7. Naguib Sawiris $3.8 B Telecom
8. Mohamed Mansour $3.2 B Diversified
9. Koos Bekker $2.7 B Media & Entertainment
9. Patrice Motsepe $2.7 B Metals & Mining
11. Issad Rebrab & family $2.5 B Food & Beverage
12. Mohammed Dewji $1.8 B Diversified
12. Strive Masiyiwa $1.8 B Telecom
14. Aziz Akhannouch & family $1.7 B Diversified
15. Othman Benjelloun & family $1.4 B Finance & Investments
16. Youssef Mansour $1.3 B Diversified
17. Yasseen Mansour $1.2 B Diversified
17. Christoffel Wiese $1.2 B Fashion & Retail
19. Michiel Le Roux $1.1 B Finance & Investments
19. Femi Otedola $1.1 B Energy