It was an interesting year for African billionaires as some fortunes shrunk and others grew. Notably Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote’s wealth dropped by a couple of billions, giving South African/Canadian/American billionaire and founder of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk the edge he needed to top the list.

African Countries represented on the Billionaire list

In 2017, South Africa still topped the list with 9 billionaires after dropping Christoffel Wiese and adding Stephen Saad and Desmond Sacco. Egypt’s list grew to 8 billionaires with Sawiris family patriarch back on the list.

Nigeria’s billionaires dropped from 5 to 3, dropping Abdulsamad Rabiu and Femi Otedola. The other countries represented are Angola, Algeria, Ethiopia, Sudan and Swaziland.

African Billionaire Age groups

There are 3 billionaires in their forties, 5 in their fifties, 8 in their sixties, 7 in their seventies and 5 in their eighties. Africa’s youngest Billionaire is still Mohammed Dewji from Tanzania at Age 42.

Methodology

The African Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth taken on January 1, 2018. It is based on the Forbes Real time billionaire wealth calculator. The calculation is derived from stock prices and exchange rates from around the world used to calculate net worths. Some fortunes change from day to day due to fluctuations in the market.

The list is based on individuals rather than multigenerational families who share large fortunes, though included is wealth belonging to a billionaire’s spouse and children if the current list member is the founder of the fortune. In that case you’ll see “& family” on the list. Also included are married couples who built fortunes and businesses together. 

Africa’s Billionaires of 2017

Picture	Africa Rank	Forbes Rank	Name	Net Worth	Age	Wealth Source	Hometown / Residence
	1	#61	Elon Musk	$19.6 B	46	Self Made, Tesla Motors	South Africa / United States
	2	#131	Aliko Dangote	$12.1 B	60	Self Made, cement, sugar, flour	Nigeria
	3	#144	Mohammed Al Amoudi	$10.5 B	71	Self Made, oil, diversified	Ethiopia / Saudi Arabia
	4	#212	Patrick Soon-Shiong	$7.9 B	65	Self Made, pharmaceuticals	South Africa / United States
	5	#216	Nicky Oppenheimer	$7.7 B	72	Diamonds	South Africa
	6	#239	Johann Rupert	$7.1 B	67	Luxury goods	South Africa
	7	#269	Nassef Sawiris	$5.6 B	56	Construction, chemicals	Egypt
	8	#347	Mike Adenuga	$5.5 B	64	Self Made, telcom, oil	Nigeria
	9	#464	Nathan Kirsh	$4.6 B	85	Retail, real estate	Swaziland
	10	#538	Naguib Sawiris	$4.1 B	63	Telecom	Egypt
	11	#543	Issad Rebrab	$4 B	74	Food	Algeria
	12	#699	Haim Saban	$3.3 B	73	Self Made, TV network, investments	Egypt / United States
	13	#766	Isabel dos Santos	$3.1 B	44	Investments	Angola
	14	#872	Koos Bekker	$2.8 B	65	Self Made, media, investments	South Africa
	15	#898	Mohamed Mansour	$2.7 B	69	Self Made, diversified	Egypt
	16	#1045	Patrice Motsepe	$2.4 B	55	Self Made, mining	South Africa
	17	#1145	Aziz Akhannouch	$2.2 B	57	Petroleum, diversified	Morocco
	18	#1213	Allan Gray	$2 B	80	Money management	South Africa
	19	#1260	Yasseen Mansour	$2 B	56	Self Made, diversified	Egypt
	20	#1269	Mohamed Al Fayed	$1.9 B	88	Self Made, retail, investments	Egypt
	21	#1482	Othman Benjelloun	$1.6 B	85	Banking, insurance	Morocco
	22	#1610	Youssef Mansour	$1.4 B	72	Self Made, diversified	Egypt
	23	#1625	Folorunsho Alakija	$1.4 B	67	Self Made, oil	Nigeria
	24	#1666	Mohammed Dewji	$1.4 B	42	Diversified	Tanzania
	25	#1812	Stephen Saad	$1.2 B	53	Self Made, pharmaceuticals	South Africa
	26	#1913	Mohammed Ibrahim	$1.1 B	71	Self Made, communications	Sudan / United Kingdom
	27	#1955	Onsi Sawiris	$1.1	88	Self Made, construction, telecom	Egypt
	28	#2005	Desmond Sacco	$1 B	75	Mining	South Africa