As of January 2023, Aliko Dangote was the richest man in Africa. He had a net worth of around 13.5 billion U.S. dollars and ranked 128th worldwide. From Nigeria, he is the founder and chairman of the Dangote Group, a large conglomerate operating in several sectors including cement and sugar. The South African Johann Rupert and family followed as the second-richest people in Africa, with a net worth of 10.7 billion U.S. dollars.

Dangote Group continues to expand

Founded in 1981, the Dangote Group (Dangote Industries Limited) is among the largest conglomerates in Africa. Its main subsidiary, Dangote Cement Plc, is the main cement manufacturer on the African continent. The business went public in 2010 and is the largest company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. In addition to the cement industry, the Group also manufactures and processes food products, such as sugar, flour, and salt. With Nigeria being the leading African country for oil production, Dangote expanded his business into the oil industry in recent years. For this purpose, the Group built Africa’s biggest oil refinery near Lagos, Nigeria.

Africa’s wealthiest countries

Wealth in Africa is concentrated in a few countries and, within those, in a few families. Counting the highest numbers of billionaires, South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria are the wealthiest nations, having also the largest gross domestic products (GDPs) in Africa. These countries count the highest number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), which amounts to over 39,000 in South Africa. Not surprisingly, Johannesburg and Cape Town have the highest concentration of private wealth in Africa. Moreover, South Africa has the highest wealth per capita after Mauritius.

As of June 2022, Nassef Sawiris, with a net worth of 7.3 billion U.S. dollars, is the richest man in Egypt, fourth richest in the African continent, and ranked 292 in the world. His sibling Naguib Sawiris ranked second, with a net worth of 3.4 billion U.S. dollars. Their father, Onsi Sawiris, who passed away in June 2021, founded Orascom Construction PLC, which he then passed on to his son Nassef. Four other Egyptian billionaires followed, with three of them belonging to the same family; Mansour. They have a combined net worth of 5.1 billion U.S. dollars. Furthermore, their family business, Mansour group, works in several industries, mainly the automotive industry. It is a General Motors dealer and owns several other franchises.

Orascom in the market since 1950

Born in a Coptic family in the South of Egypt (Upper Egypt), Onsi Sawiris started his construction career in 1950. Soon after, the president of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser assumed power nationalizing the company 10 years later and preventing him from leaving the country for a few years. He was later allowed to leave for Libya returning in President Anwar Sadat’s time in office, establishing Orascom Onsi Sawiris & Co. In 1995, the company was transferred to his son Nassef. As of the fiscal year ending 2020, the total revenue of Orascom construction reached 3.37 billion U.S. dollars with an increment of 5.87 percent year-on-year.

Concentrated wealth in the continent

Among the 20 wealthiest individuals in the African continent, 14 were from Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa. The wealthiest individual in Africa was the Nigerian Aliko Dangote of the Dangote Group. He was followed by Nicky Oppenheimer and his family and Johann Rupert and his family who were from South Africa. Nassef Sawiris, from Egypt, ranked fourth. This followed the same ranking in terms of the countries with the largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the continent. Furthermore, by reviewing the overall private wealth in Africa, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Cairo, and Lagos rank among the cities with the highest private wealth.