Poor Billionaires: 14 Africa’s Richest Won’t Make Forbes 400 List

Compared to some of Africa’s billionaires who have been able to retain their place on the Forbes 400 list, some will drop off or lose their billionaire status by the end of 2022. The poor performance of these individuals can be attributed to factors such as the world economic meltdown and the Russia-Ukraine war.

This saw the net worth of some billionaires increase while some decreased drastically. Although some billionaires recorded a good performance in the year, they still won’t be able to make the Forbes 400 list despite the net worth criteria reduction to $6 billion.

However, the likes of the wealthiest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote, still retain his place, while Samil Sawiris may lose his billionaires status. Here are some of Africa’s billionaires that might not make the top 400 list.

Mike Adenuga

From the 2022 African billionaires list, Mike Adenuga became the sixth wealthiest on the continent with a net worth of $7.6 billion, ranking him as one of the 324th richest people in the world. 

However, the third-richest man in Nigeria lost over $1 billion of his net worth due to his poor investment performance in sectors such as baking. Also, his telecommunication company, Globacom and Conoil oil incurred losses due to a drop in market capitalisation and stakes of the companies.

Issad Rebrab

The wealthiest billionaire in Algeria made his wealth in the food and beverage industry. This made him the wealthiest man in Algeria, the seventh in Africa and the 536th in the world in 2022, with a net worth of $5.1 billion.

He owes this to his company, Cevital group, Algeria’s biggest privately-held company. The company owns one of the largest sugar refineries in the world, with a production capacity of 2 million tons yearly.

The group also owns European companies, such as French home appliances maker Groupe Brandt, an Italian steel mill and a German water purification company.

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Naguib Sawiris

After his brother, Naguib Sawiris is the second richest person in Egypt, the eighth in Africa and 883rd in the world. Naguib Sawiris made his $3.4 billion wealth from family and personal businesses in sectors such as telecommunication.

He started Orascom Telecom and sold it in 2011 to Russian telecom firm VimpelCom (now Veon) in a multibillion-dollar transaction. Naguib Sawiris is currently the Chairman of Orascom TMT Investments. Naguib Sawiris also owns 88% of the pan-European pay T.V. and video news network Euronews.

Patrice Motsepe

Patrice Motsepe, the third richest South African, derived most of his wealth from the mining industry. He earned them from his 40% stake in his company — African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), a South African diversified mining and minerals company. This made him the ninth richest person in Africa and the 913rd in the world.

The richest black South African started the year with $3.3 billion in net worth but dropped by $200 million due to a reduction in the market value of his stake in ARM

Mohammed Mansour

Mohamed Mansour is the Chairman of Mansour Group, a family conglomerate worth multi-billions of dollars. After the Sawiris, the Mansour family is the second wealthiest family in Egypt.

He made his billionaire status from the family business with his other two brothers — Yasseen and Youssef Sawiris. Under his leadership, he expanded the General Motors (G.M.) dealership, which he started in Egypt in 1975, into one of the biggest G.M. distributors worldwide. 

With a net worth of $2.5 billion, Mohamed Mansour is ranked the twelfth richest man in Africa and the 1238th billionaire in the world.

Other African billionaires are Koos Bekker, Mohamed Al Fayed, Aziz Akhannouch, Mohammed Dewji, Youssef Mansour, Michiel Le Roux, Strive Masiyiwa, Yesseen Mansour and Othman Benjelloun.

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