Forbes Africa released its annual list of Africa’s billionaires with its 2024 class of 20 billionaires now worth $82.4bn. Collectively, these billionaires would be the 18th richest person in the world sandwiched between Indian Gautam Adani ($84bn) and Walmart heir Jim Walton ($78.4bn). For yet another year, Forbes does not feature any Ugandan.
But Uganda isn’t the only country that is not represented here. The 20 billionaires come from just 7 countries. Forbes recognises that Africa is one of the “toughest places to build and hold onto a billion-dollar fortune” due to various factors like scepticism from global investors, strained economies, poor infrastructure and volatile exchange rates. Also “changing political winds can make, boost or bust private fortunes.”
The 2024 list is dominated by billionaires from Africa’s wealthiest economies with South Africa (6) edging out rivals Egypt (5) and Nigeria (4). Morocco is the only other country with multiple billionaires.
For the 13th year in a row, Nigerian, Aliko Dangote is Africa’s wealthiest billionaire with a net worth of $13.9bn up by $400m. Notably, Dangote survived political uncertainty in Nigeria with a general election that ushered in Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023 after eight years of Muhammadu Buhari. The Nigerian currency, Naira, also greatly devalued against the dollar.
South African luxury goods magnate, Johann Rupert came in second with his net worth going down by $600m to $10.1bn. In third was another South African Nicky Oppenheimer who ran and sold the diamond mining firm DeBeers. His fortune rose by almost $1bn to $9.4bn.
Tribunal Backs URA in UGX 10.2 Billion Century Bottling Tax FightBut the biggest gain in net worth in 2024 belonged to Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawirios whose net worth grew by $1.4bn to $8.7bn due to a rise in the shares of German sportswear manufacturer Adidas, of which he owns 6%. The biggest fall belonged to the sole Algerian on the list, Issad Rebrab, whose net worth fell by half to $2.5bn.
Only one person from East Africa appeared on the list. Tanzanian Mohamed Dewji whose METL Group has interests in manufacturing and agriculture as well as one of Tanzania’s most popular clubs, Simba SC, has a net worth estimated to be $1.8bn. The last Ugandan to feature on any Forbes list was Sudhir Ruparelia in 2015. Forbes valued his net worth at $800m which was enough for him to be ranked as one of the 50 wealthiest Africans at number 27.
To be ranked on the list, one must be a resident of Africa and have their primary residence in one of the African countries. Forbes calculates fortunes in private companies using estimates of revenues or profits and then applies the prevailing price-to-sale or price-to-earnings ratios of comparable public companies.
