AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com has identified 12 billionaires who are African or of African descent, using data obtained from the 2016 Forbes magazine list of the world’s billionaires. Aliko Dangote (Nigeria) again tops the list, outranking fellow billionaires by more than $5 billion in net worth.
Three of the 12 Black billionaires are women, including Isabel dos Santos of Angola, Folorunsho Alakija of Nigeria, and Oprah Winfrey of the United States, ranking fourth, fifth, and eighth, respectively, on the AfSB list.
The AfSB list also includes Saudi billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi, who was born to an Ethiopian mother; and Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim, who holds citizenship in the United Kingdom where he resides.
Noticeably missing again this year among the world’s Black billionaires are Nigerian investor/philanthropist Tony Elumelu, who last appeared on billionaire lists in 2014; and Zimbabwean telecom entrepreneur Strive Masiyiwa, who also last appeared among billionaires in 2014.
This year, Forbes lists a total of 25 billionaires from African countries, including those on the AfSB Black list. The country breakdown for these 25 are: Algeria, 1; Angola, 1; Egypt, 6; Ethiopia, 1; Morocco, 2; Nigeria, 5; South Africa, 6; Sudan, 1; Swaziland, 1; and Tanzania, 1.
| AfSB
Rank |
Forbes Rank | Name, Age | Company; Country | Net Worth | Source of Wealth |
| 1 | 51 | Aliko Dangote, 58 | Dangote Group.
Nigeria |
$15.4 billion | Self made: cement, sugar, flour |
| 2 | 62 | Mike Adenuga, 62 | Globacom; Proline Investments.
Nigeria |
$10 billion |
Self made: telecoms, oil, real estate |
| 3 | 138 | Mohammed Al Amoudi, 69 | Preem; Saudi Star Agricultural Development.
Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia |
$8.3 billion | Self made: oil, diversified (construction, agriculture, cement, gold mining) |
| 4 | 569 | Isabel dos Santos, 42 | Angola | $3 billion | Investments in Portugal and Angola |
| 5 | 569 | Oprah Winfrey, 62 | Oprah Winfrey Network; Harpo Studios.
U.S.A. |
$3 billion | Self made media mogul: film, television, radio, magazine |
| 6 | 688 | Robert Smith, 53 | Vista Equity Partners.
U.S.A. |
2.5 billion | Self made: private equity |
| 7 | 1,011 | Femi Oteodola, 53 | Forte Oil.
Nigeria |
$1.85 billion | Self made: gas stations, utilities |
| 8 | 1,121 | Folorunsho Alakija, 65 | Famfa Oil.
Nigeria |
$1.6 billion | Self made: oil |
| 9 | 1,577 | Mohammed Ibrahim, 69 | Satya Capital; Mo Ibrahim Foundation.
Sudan/U.K. |
$1.1 billion | Self made: communications |
| 10 | 1,577 | Michael Jordan, 53
|
Charlotte Hornets.
U.S.A. |
$1.1 billion | Self made: sports team, restaurants, car dealership, endorsements |
| 11 | 1,577 | Patrice Motsepe, 54 | African Rainbow Minerals; Ubuntu Botho Investments; Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club.
South Africa |
$1.1 billion | Self made: mining |
| 12 | 1,577 | Abdulsamad Rabiu, 55 | BUA Group
Nigeria |
$1.1 billion | Cement, sugar, real estate, logistics, port operations |
