African Vibes Magazine’s African Billionaires of 2020

While some African billionaires got richer, others are getting poorer. We are all glad that 2020 is behind us now. However, the memories will remain with some of us throughout our lifetime. All that it took was coronavirus to bring the earnings of some billionaires to a halt. Nevertheless, the cumulative worth of all jumped from $68.7 billion to over $200 billion—and this is thanks to Elon Musk.

The billionaire of South African descent is not showing any sign of slowing down. His worth rose by over 500% from $27.5 Billion in 2019 to $189.7 billion. Aliko Dangote, the richest black man also saw substantial growth in his net worth. One of the major problems that billionaires all over the world have to deal with is the volatility of the economy.

For example, Strive Masiyiwa, Zimbabwe’s only billionaire continues to suffer from the country’s change in currency. Sadly, out of the long list of African billionaires, there is only one female on the list, Isabel dos Santos of Angola. Also, it is disheartening to know dos Santos is facing a barrage of legal battles for the diversion of public funds. Apparently, Folorunsho Alakija of Nigeria is no longer a billionaire.

African Countries with the Most Billionaires on the List

Egypt, South Africa, and Nigeria continue to dominate the African billionaire list. Other countries like Algeria, Angola, Morocco, Swaziland, Tanzania, Sudan, and Zimbabwe have one or two billionaires on the list.

Age Distribution

At age 45, Mohammed Deji of Tanzania is still the youngest African billionaire. This is followed by Isabel dos Santos who is currently 48 years old. The majority of the men on the list are in their fifties and sixties. At age 92, Mohamed Al Fayed of Egypt maintains the spot of oldest African billionaire on our list.

Methodology

Our list is a snapshot from the Forbes Real-time billionaire wealth calculator. The data was taken on 7th January 2021. It is important to mention this because the figures can change drastically within hours. The calculations are determined using currency exchange rates and stock prices.

The majority of lists on the Internet track only billionaires living in Africa. However, our list includes billionaires who were born in Africa regardless of where they reside.

2020 African Billionaire List

Picture	AV Africa Rank	Forbes Rank	Name	Net Worth	Age	Wealth Source	Hometown Residence
	1	#1	Elon Musk	$189.7 B▲	49	Auto	South Africa / United States
	2	#176	Aliko Dangote	$12.1 B ▲	63	Cement, Sugar, Flour	Nigeria
	3	#271	Nassef Sawiris	$8.4 B ▲	60	Construction, Chemicals	Egypt
	4	#291	Nicky Oppenheimer	$8.0 B ▲	75	Diamonds	South Africa
	5	#333	Johann Rupert	$7.2 B ▲	70	Luxury goods	South Africa
	6	#370	Patrick Soon-Shiong	$6.6 B ▲	68	Pharmaceuticals	South Africa / United States
	7	#401	Mike Adenuga	$6.3 B ▼	67	Telecom, Oil	Nigeria
	8	#465	Abdulsamad Rabiu	$5.5 B ▲	60	Cement, Sugar	Nigeria
	9	#683	Nathan Kirsh	$4.2 B ▲	89	Retail, Real estate	Eswatini (Swaziland)
	10	#411	Issad Rebrab	$4.0 B ▲	76	Food	Algeria
	11	#1006	Patrice Motsepe	$3 B ▲	58	Mining	South Africa
	12	#906	Mohamed Mansour	$3.3 B	73	Diversified	Egypt
	13	#936	Naguib Sawiris	$3.2 B ▲	66	Telecom	Egypt
	14	#1045	Haim Saban	$2.9 B –	76	Communications, Investments	Egypt / United States
	15	#1080	Koos Bekker	$2.8 B ▲	68	Media, Investments	South Africa
	16	#1342	Yasseen Mansour	$2.3 B –	60	Diversified	Egypt
	17	#1530	Aziz Akhannouch	$2.0 B ▼	60	Petroleum, Diversified	Morocco
	18	#1618	Youssef Mansour	$1.9 B –	76	Diversified	Egypt
	19	#1726	Isabel dos Santos	$1.7 B ▲	47	Investments	Angola
	20	#1827	Mohamed Al Fayed	$1.6 B ▲	92	Retail, Investments	Egypt
	20	#1835	Mohammed Dewji	$1.6 B ▲	45	Diversified	Tanzania
	21	#2055	Othman Benjelloun	$1.3 B ▼	90	Banking, Insurance	Morocco
	22	#2196	Strive Masiyiwa	$1.2 B ▲	60	Telecom	Zimbabwe
	22	#2193	Michiel Le Roux	$1.2 B ▼	71	Banking	South Africa
	23	#2259	Mohammed Ibrahim	$1.1 B –	74	Communications	Sudan / United Kingdom