15 Richest Billionaires in Africa – This Might Surprise You

Christoffel Wiese

Christoffel Wiese (Net Worth $3.5B)

South Africa’s third richest man, Christoeffel Wiese, is the chairman and the largest single shareholder of Africa’s biggest retailer, low-priced supermarket chain Shoprite. He also owns a large stake in discount clothes, shoes and textiles chain Pepkor, where he is executive chairman. Wiese is significantly invested in seven publicly traded companies, and those stakes are worth approximately $500 million more than they were a year ago. In 2009 Wiese, known as Christo, found himself in an awkward situation when $1.1 million in cash was found in his luggage and confiscated at London City Airport.

 

Aliko Dangote

Aliko Dangote ( Net Worth $16.1B)

As a citizen of Nigeria, 56-year-old Aliko Dangote is Africa’s richest man. He started building his fortune three decades ago after taking a business loan from his maternal uncle to begin trading in commodities such as flour, sugar, rice and cement. In the early 2000s, he started producing these items himself. His Dangote Group is now the largest manufacturing conglomerate in West Africa and owns sugar refineries, salt processing facilities, a beverage manufacturer and a string of cement plants across Africa.

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