In 2026, Africa’s billionaire leaderboard isn’t just about who is rich,  it’s about who is growing faster. 

And right now, two Nigerians are doing what the rest of the continent’s elite are struggling to match, Aliko Dangote and Abdul Samad Rabiu are recording the strongest year-to-date wealth gains among Africa’s top billionaires, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

1) Their wealth is tied to businesses that are “in the right cycle”

Billionaire rankings move with the value of the assets behind the money, publicly listed shares, private holdings, and big-ticket projects.

Dangote’s wealth is heavily linked to industrial infrastructure and production capacity: cement, food staples, and especially the Dangote Oil Refinery, which Bloomberg lists as his biggest asset. 

When those assets gain value (or are re-valued upward), his net worth moves sharply.

Rabiu’s wealth is tied to Nigeria’s real-economy industrial machine, cement and consumer/industrial production across BUA’s portfolio. 

Bloomberg’s profile notes that a large part of his fortune comes from his stake in BUA Cement.

In plain terms: they’re concentrated in sectors that can spike when production, pricing power, and market confidence line up.

2) Dangote’s refinery effect is a net-worth accelerant

Dangote remains Africa’s richest man and in early 2026 his estimated net worth climbed to roughly $32.8 billion, up about $2.79 billion year-to-date in the figures circulating across Bloomberg-index reporting.

One key reason is structural: mega assets like the refinery don’t behave like slow-moving legacy holdings. When the market narrative improves, commissioning progress, capacity expectations, supply-chain positioning, domestic fuel dynamics, valuation models can shift quickly. 

Bloomberg explicitly flags the Dangote Oil Refinery as his biggest asset, which tells you where the weight is.

So, while many billionaires need broad market rallies to rise, Dangote can climb simply because one heavyweight asset re-prices upward.

3) Rabiu’s rise is driven by listed-market momentum and industrial scale

Rabiu’s 2026 run is the clearest “fast climber” story among Africa’s top names. His estimated wealth moved to about $12.5 billion, up roughly $2.33 billion year-to-date, pushing him into the upper tier globally (around the 200s ranking range depending on the day’s market moves).

Why does that matter? Because it means his core holdings have been marked higher by the market, typically reflecting stronger earnings expectations, improved investor sentiment, or a clearer growth story in the companies tied to his fortune.

And because Bloomberg notes his fortune is largely derived from his stake in BUA Cement (where his ownership is extremely significant), even modest market re-pricing can translate into big net-worth jumps.

4) Other African billionaires are facing slower, more fragile drivers

Now compare that momentum to other top African names on the same index.

Johann Rupert started the year around $19.7 billion but has been flat-to-down year-to-date in the reporting you provided (with a decline cited), and his wealth is closely tied to luxury group exposure (Richemont).

 Luxury can be strong long-term, but it’s also sensitive to global demand cycles and sentiment swings which can cap short-term gains.

Nicky Oppenheimer has posted gains, but far smaller than Dangote and Rabiu in the same period. Bloomberg notes much of his fortune traces back to proceeds from the De Beers stake sale, a different wealth structure that tends to move less aggressively than founder-heavy, growth-driven industrial holdings.

So the gap isn’t magic. It’s mechanics: some fortunes are positioned to “jump,” others are built to “hold.”

5) The Nigeria factor: big domestic markets reward industrial control

There’s also a Nigeria-specific advantage at play: scale. Nigeria’s population and consumption base make it one of Africa’s most important demand centers. 

Industrialists who control production (cement, food, energy inputs) can benefit when supply chains tighten, infrastructure spending grows, or local substitution becomes more urgent.

Dangote and Rabiu are not just investors, they are industrial controllers. They own the factories, the production lines, the logistics, the pricing leverage, and the expansion timelines. In a year where investors reward “real economy” dominance, that model wins.

What this means next

If 2026 continues in this direction, Africa’s billionaire conversation shifts from “who is richest” to “who is building assets that re-price upward fastest.” Dangote’s megaproject exposure and Rabiu’s market-linked industrial expansion are exactly the kind of setups that can keep compounding, as long as execution and operating conditions remain favorable.

Bottom line: Dangote and Rabiu are richer than other African billionaires in 2026 because their wealth is concentrated in industrial assets that are re-valuing upward faster than luxury- and legacy-linked fortunes and the Bloomberg index is capturing that momentum in real time.