19 billionaires made up Forbes Africa’s list of the wealthiest Africans, which was recently published. The list was published on ForbesAfrica.com on February 13, 2023.
As anticipated, Dangote topped the list with a net worth of $13.5 billion, followed by Johann Rupert and Family ($10.7 billion), Nicky Oppenheimer and Family ($8.4 billion), and other expected entrants.
Similar to Dangote’s fortune, Africa’s richest person for the 12th consecutive year saw a $400 million decline to $13.5 billion. Johann Rupert of South Africa, maker of Montblanc pens and Cartier watches, maintained his position as No. 2 with $10.7 billion, down from $11 billion in 2022, as shares of his Compagnie Financiere Richemont partially offset last year’s loss. The third-placed company, Nicky Oppenheimer, a South African who oversaw the giant diamond mining company DeBeers before selling it to mining company Anglo American a decade ago, is estimated to be worth $8.4 billion.
The publication claims that after a global market downturn in 2022, Africa’s wealthiest individuals lost a total of $3.1 billion in the previous 12 months.
The estimated combined wealth of the 19 billionaires on the continent is $81.8 billion, down from the $84.9 billion held by the 18 African billionaires a year ago. Following a 15% increase the previous year on the strength of rising stock values from Nigeria to Zimbabwe, the Forbes list for 2023 has decreased by 3.6%.
The S&P All Africa index fell more than 20% in the first nine months of 2022 before beginning a late-year comeback that reduced the index’s loss to just 3% from the prior year. Their fortunes declined in lockstep with global equity prices.
According to the Forbes magazine, “South African Christoffel Wiese, who ranks No. 18 with $1.1 billion, is back on the list this year. After selling his discount retailer, Pepkor, to Steinhoff International for $5.7 billion in 2015, Wiese, who was then worth more than $6 billion, lost his billionaire status two years later when an accounting scandal decimated Steinhoff’s stock. He filed a lawsuit, and in March 2022, he obtained from Steinhoff cash payments and shares totaling about 5% of the publicly traded Pepkor worth 7 billion South African rands (roughly $400 million).
Without further ado, the following ten people will be the richest in Africa in 2023:
