The richest people in Africa control $100.2 billion, nearly 79% of the continent’s total billionaire wealth of $126.7 billion. Their wealth is up 21% from 2025, according to Forbes. African equity markets surged, currencies stabilised, and listed companies posted record profits. The people positioned at the top of that system got richer.
Here’s the full top 10, ranked from bottom to top.
10. Michiel Le Roux — $3.8B | South Africa
The Capitec founder built a bank targeting South Africa’s emerging middle class in 2001 and held his stake. Capitec shares climbed 57% on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in the past year, up 45%, pushed higher by rising gold and platinum prices. Le Roux owns roughly 11% of what he built. His net worth is up from $2.2 billion last year, a $1.6 billion gain for a man who no longer runs the bank day-to-day.
9. Mohamed Mansour — $4.0B | Egypt
A family empire built on distribution dominance. The Mansour Group has held exclusive General Motors dealerships in Egypt since 1975 and holds Caterpillar rights across eight African nations. The group employs 60,000 people. Mansour served as Egypt’s minister of transportation under Mubarak from 2006 to 2009. He holds dual Egyptian and British citizenship and is based in London. His brothers Yasseen and Youssef co-own the group — and are also billionaires.
8. Patrice Motsepe — $4.3B | South Africa
He was the first Black African to appear on the Forbes billionaires list in 2008. Motsepe made his entry by buying unwanted gold mine shafts in 1997 and turning them profitable. He founded African Rainbow Minerals, launched private equity firm African Rainbow Capital, owns Mamelodi Sundowns FC, and has served as CAF president since 2021. Before any of that, he was the first Black partner at law firm Bowman Gilfillan in Johannesburg in 1994. His net worth is up $1.3 billion from last year.
7. Naguib Sawiris — $5.6B | Egypt
He built Orascom Telecom into a multi-market operation, sold it to Russia’s VimpelCom in 2011 for billions, and has been deploying capital in different directions ever since. Today, he chairs Orascom TMT Investments, holds a stake in Italian internet firm Italiaonline, and owns a luxury resort on the Caribbean island of Grenada. His net worth is up from $5 billion last year.
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6. Mike Adenuga — $6.5B | Nigeria
One of Lagos’ most powerful and most private businessmen. Adenuga built his fortune across two pillars: Globacom, Nigeria’s third-largest mobile network with over 17 million subscribers, and Conoil, with six oil blocks in the Niger Delta. Globacom also built the Glo-1 submarine internet cable, which runs from Nigeria to the United Kingdom. He holds a 74% stake in fuel retailer Conoil. His wealth slipped from $6.8 billion in 2025, making him the only top-six name to decline.
5. Nassef Sawiris — $9.6B | Egypt
He’s the only person on this list who neither gained nor lost wealth in 2026 — flat at $9.6 billion. He co-owns Premier League club Aston Villa with Fortress Investment Group’s Wes Edens, runs one of the world’s largest nitrogen fertiliser producers through OCI, and holds a nearly 6% stake in Adidas. He is set to become Adidas chairman at the company’s shareholder meeting in May.
4. Nicky Oppenheimer & family — $10.6B | South Africa
Three generations of the Oppenheimer family ran De Beers. Then in 2012, Nicky sold the family’s 40% stake to Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash and walked away. Since then, Fireblade Aviation has been offering chartered flights in Johannesburg and across over 720 square miles of conservation land in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. The fortune sustains itself on diversified investments and legacy holdings.
3. Abdulsamad Rabiu — $11.2B | Nigeria
The biggest story of 2026. Rabiu’s net worth jumped 120% in a single year, from $5.1 billion to $11.2 billion, an increase of $6.1 billion. BUA Cement shares surged 135%, outperforming even Nigeria’s stock exchange, which itself rose 81% to record highs. He went from sixth to third on the continent. He owns 98.2% of BUA Cement and 95% of BUA Foods, a food conglomerate. His father was a businessman who left him land. He started his own trading operation in 1988, importing iron, steel, and chemicals.
2. Johann Rupert & family — $16.1B | South Africa
The heir to South Africa’s Rembrandt Group fortune chairs Compagnie Financière Richemont — the Swiss luxury giant behind Cartier, Montblanc, and Van Cleef & Arpels, among others. His father, Anton, built the original empire in the 1940s. Johann has spent decades expanding it globally. His net worth is up $2.1 billion from last year, driven by continued premium demand for hard luxury worldwide.
1. Aliko Dangote — $28.5B | Nigeria
Dangote is Africa’s wealthiest person, and the gap keeps growing. Dangote Cement shares rose nearly 69% in the past year, helping the company double its profits to a record ₦1 trillion in 2025. He controls 85% of the NGX-listed cement giant, which operates across 10 African countries. His refinery (Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals), which came online in 2024, is being scaled up. A $400 million equipment deal with a Chinese firm puts double capacity in reach by 2029. An IPO is planned for later this year. Net worth up $4.6B — the largest single-year gain in raw dollars on this list.
