Forbes counted 23 African billionaires in its 2026 annual ranking, with combined wealth of $126.7 billion. Ten of them accounted for $100.2 billion.
That puts 79% of the billionaire wealth measured by Forbes in the hands of the top 10. All 10 come from three countries: Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt.
Nigeria’s three members of the top 10 were worth a combined $46.2 billion. Four South Africans held $34.8 billion, while three Egyptians accounted for another $19.2 billion.
Forbes calculated the ranking using stock prices and exchange rates at the close of business on March 1, 2026. The figures are therefore a snapshot, not current account balances. Fortunes tied to listed companies can move by billions of dollars as share prices and currencies change.
Here are the 10 largest fortunes in that annual ranking and the assets behind them.
10. Michiel Le Roux — $3.8B | South Africa
Le Roux founded Capitec Bank in 2001 and owns about 11% of the Johannesburg-listed lender. His estimated fortune rose from $2.2 billion in Forbes’ previous Africa ranking after Capitec shares gained 57% over the measurement period. Unlike several people above him on the list, Le Roux’s wealth is concentrated primarily in one listed financial institution.
9. Mohamed Mansour — $4.0B | Egypt
Mansour oversees Mansour Group, the family conglomerate founded by his father in 1952. The company became a General Motors dealer in Egypt in 1975 and later developed into one of GM’s major global distributors. It also holds Caterpillar distribution rights in Egypt and seven other African countries. Forbes says the group employs about 60,000 people. His brothers Youssef and Yasseen Mansour are also billionaires, although they sit below the top 10.
8. Patrice Motsepe — $4.3B | South Africa
Motsepe founded African Rainbow Minerals after first building a mining-services business in South Africa. He became the first Black African to appear on the Forbes billionaires list in 2008. His other interests include African Rainbow Capital, a stake in financial-services group Sanlam and Mamelodi Sundowns football club. Motsepe’s estimated wealth increased by about $1.3 billion from Forbes’ 2025 Africa ranking.
7. Naguib Sawiris — $5.6B | Egypt
Naguib Sawiris made much of his fortune in telecommunications. He built Orascom Telecom across several markets before selling the business to VimpelCom, now Veon, in a multibillion-dollar transaction in 2011. His investments now include Orascom TMT Investments, stakes in financial and technology businesses and property interests outside Egypt. He is the elder brother of Nassef Sawiris. Their brother Samih also appears on Forbes’ broader Africa billionaires list.
DON’T MISS THIS: Julie Gichuru warns Africa is being recolonised: “We are going there”
6. Mike Adenuga — $6.5B | Nigeria
Adenuga’s two main businesses are telecommunications and oil. He owns Globacom, Nigeria’s third-largest mobile operator, and Conoil Producing, which holds oil assets in the Niger Delta. Forbes also puts his stake in listed fuel company Conoil at 74%. Globacom built Glo-1, the submarine fibre cable connecting West Africa to Europe. Adenuga’s estimated fortune fell from $6.8 billion in the previous annual ranking. He was one of only four people among Forbes’ 23 African billionaires whose wealth declined.
5. Nassef Sawiris — $9.6B | Egypt
Sawiris’ holdings stretch well beyond Egypt. He runs OCI, the fertiliser producer, and has held almost 6% of Adidas. He also has an interest in Madison Square Garden Sports and is a co-owner of English football club Aston Villa. His estimated wealth was unchanged from Forbes’ 2025 Africa ranking, making him the only person on the 2026 list whose fortune neither rose nor fell over the measurement period. Sawiris was subsequently selected to chair Adidas’ supervisory board in 2026.
4. Nicky Oppenheimer & family — $10.6B | South Africa
The Oppenheimer fortune was built around diamonds. Nicky Oppenheimer was the third generation of his family to run De Beers. In 2012, the family sold its 40% stake in the diamond company to Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash. The family has since invested through private vehicles and owns Fireblade Aviation in Johannesburg, alongside extensive conservation holdings across Southern Africa. Unlike many fortunes on the list, most of the Oppenheimer wealth is no longer tied to the listed company that originally created it.
3. Abdulsamad Rabiu — $11.2B | Nigeria
Rabiu recorded the largest percentage increase in wealth among the 23 people on Forbes’ 2026 Africa list. His fortune rose from $5.1 billion to $11.2 billion, a gain of 120%. The increase was driven largely by his listed holdings. Rabiu owns 98.2% of BUA Cement and 95% of BUA Foods, according to Forbes. BUA Cement shares rose 135% during the period measured for the ranking. Those concentrated stakes mean movements in the two companies can have an unusually large effect on his estimated personal wealth.
2. Johann Rupert & family — $16.1B | South Africa
Most of Rupert’s fortune comes from Compagnie Financière Richemont, the Swiss luxury group that owns Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Montblanc and other brands. Rupert also holds interests in South African investment company Remgro and Luxembourg-based Reinet. The family’s influence over Richemont extends beyond its economic shareholding. As we established in BLKNOW’s separate Rupert profile, the family vehicle controls more than half of Richemont’s voting rights despite holding a much smaller percentage of its capital.
1. Aliko Dangote — $28.5B | Nigeria
Dangote remained Africa’s richest person in the Forbes ranking. His largest publicly traded asset is Dangote Cement, in which Forbes says he owns about 85% through a holding company. The cement producer operates across 10 African countries and has annual production capacity of 48.6 million tonnes. His fortune rose by $4.6 billion from the previous Forbes Africa list. Dangote Cement shares had gained almost 69% over the period measured by Forbes, while the company reported record profit in 2025. Dangote also owns the privately held Dangote Refinery, which began refining operations in 2024. Forbes said plans to list the refinery were expected to advance in 2026.
