Businessmen Aliko Dangote and Abdul Samad Rabiu have retained their positions among Africa’s richest billionaires, with their fortunes increasing since Forbes’ March 2026 ranking.
Mr Dangote remains Africa’s richest person, with an estimated net worth of $31.1 billion as of Thursday, September 3, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires tracker.
His fortune has increased by $4.6 billion, or 19.2 percent, from the $26.5 billion recorded in Forbes’ March 2026 Africa billionaires ranking.
Dangote’s wealth is linked mainly to his interests in cement, sugar and manufacturing.
He founded and chairs Dangote Cement, which Forbes describes as Africa’s largest cement producer, with a production capacity of 48.6 million metric tonnes annually and operations in 10 African countries.
His business interests also include the Dangote Fertiliser plant and the Dangote Refinery in Nigeria. The fertiliser plant began operations in March 2022, while the refinery started refining operations in early 2024.
Mr Rabiu, the founder of BUA Group, ranks third among Africa’s richest billionaires with an estimated fortune of $11.7 billion.
His wealth has risen by $500 million, or 4.46 percent, from the $11.2 billion recorded in March.
BUA Group has interests in cement production, sugar refining and real estate. Rabiu also controls stakes in BUA Cement and BUA Foods, both listed on the Nigerian Exchange.
He established his business in 1988, initially importing iron, steel and chemicals before expanding into manufacturing and other sectors.
In 2020, his privately owned Obu Cement merged with Cement Company of Northern Nigeria to form BUA Cement Plc.
Together, Dangote and Rabiu account for $42.8 billion of the $121.3 billion combined wealth of Africa’s 10 richest billionaires.
The latest figures represent an increase of $2.2 billion from the $119.1 billion combined wealth recorded in March.
South Africa’s Johann Rupert and his family rank second with an estimated fortune of $17.1 billion, up $1 billion from March.
Rupert is chairman of Swiss luxury goods company Compagnie Financière Richemont. He also owns about 7 percent of investment company Remgro and roughly 26 percent of Reinet.
Nassef Sawiris of Egypt ranks fourth with $9.6 billion, unchanged from March. His interests include fertiliser producer OCI, as well as stakes in Adidas, Madison Square Garden Sports and English Premier League club Aston Villa.
South Africa’s Nicky Oppenheimer and his family rank fifth with $10.7 billion, up from $10.6 billion in March.
Oppenheimer is heir to the De Beers diamond fortune. In 2012, he sold the family’s 40 percent stake in De Beers to mining group Anglo American for $5.1 billion.
Nigeria’s Mike Adenuga has an estimated fortune of $7 billion, an increase of about $500 million since March.Nigerian current events
Mr Adenuga built his wealth through telecommunications and oil. His main asset is Globacom, the telecommunications company he founded, while his energy interests include Conoil Producing and a 74 percent stake in publicly traded Conoil.
Egypt’s Naguib Sawiris has an estimated fortune of $5.6 billion, unchanged from March. His wealth is linked to his former ownership of Orascom Telecom, which he sold to Russian telecom operator VimpelCom in 2011.
Egyptian businessman Mohamed Mansour is worth $4 billion, also unchanged from March. He oversees Mansour Group, a family conglomerate with interests in automotive, industrial equipment and consumer goods.
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South Africa’s Michiel Le Roux has an estimated fortune of $3.7 billion, down from $3.8 billion in March. He is one of the founders of Capitec Bank and owns about 11 percent of the Johannesburg-listed lender.
South Africa’s Patrice Motsepe completes the top 10 with an estimated fortune of $3.6 billion, down from $4.3 billion in March.
Mr Motsepe founded African Rainbow Minerals and has interests in mining, private equity and financial services. He also owns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club and is president of the Confederation of African Football.
Forbes said the fortunes of billionaires fluctuate daily due to changes in share prices, exchange rates and the value of privately held assets.
Source:QEDNG
