Three millionaires who were featured in last year’s list of the 10 African millionaires to watch made it onto Forbes’ new list of Africa’s 40 Richest: Naushad Merali of Kenya, Isabel Dos Santos of Angola and Said Salim Bakhresa of Tanzania.
Here are ten more millionaire African business people to watch closely. They missed the cut for the list of Africa’s 40 Richest this year, but some of them may be strong contenders for future membership.
Femi Otedola, Nigeria
Source: Energy
The Nigerian diesel marketer was briefly a billionaire in 2009 but dropped off FORBES rankings following a steep fall in the share price of his petroleum marketing company, African Petroleum (now Forte Oil) and his very high debt profile. Otedola had been one of Nigeria’s biggest debtors for the past few years with non-performing loans reported at close to $1 billion. In October, the Nigerian media reported that Otedola had cleared his debts, albeit in unclear circumstances. He’s making a bold attempt at a comeback. In October he was part of a consortium that won a bid for a government-owned power plant; his Zenon Petroleum Company is still the dominant supplier of diesel and kerosene in Nigeria and he boasts an attractive property portfolio in some of Nigeria’s swankiest neighborhoods.
Strive Masiyiwa, Zimbabwe
Source: Telecom
The Zimbabwean mobile telecom tycoon was featured on the Africa’s 40 richest list last year but narrowly missed making the list this year. Masiyiwa is the founder and executive chairman of Econet Wireless, a publicly-listed mobile telecom company with operations in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Burundi and Rwanda. Econet also owns a 3G license in New Zealand. Last year, Econet launched the Econet Power Station – a solar power device that aims to provide low cost energy to rural communities…
Read more: Forbes
