Top 10 Richest People In Africa – 2016, According To Forbes

Posted by: lukwago J in Life Style October 31, 2016

7). Isabel dos Santos –Angola – $3.4bn

The eldest daughter of Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is Africa’s richest woman, by virtue of her investments in Portugal and Angola. Though her representatives have denied that her assets have any connection to her father, Forbes claims that he transferred stakes in several Angolan companies to her.

In Angola, she holds 25% of Unitel, the country’s largest mobile phone network, and a stake in a bank, Banco BIC. Meanwhile, in Portugal, she owns a nearly 7% chunk of oil and gas firm Galp Energia, and nearly 19% of Banco BPI, the country’s fourth-largest bank. She is also a controlling shareholder of Portuguese cable TV and telecom firm Nos SGPS.

In October 2015, Dos Santos found herself at the centre of controversy after four members of the European Parliament publicly called for an investigation into her investments in Portugal, questioning their legality. They sayid that the method of payment – a transfer of funds by the Angolan government – “raises the possibility the Angolan State is indirectly and illegally financing private investments of his daughter Isabel dos Santos”.

A spokesperson told Forbes that “Isabel dos Santos is an independent business woman and a private investor representing solely her own interests. Her investments in Angolan and/or in Portuguese companies are transparent and have been conducted through arms length’s transactions involving external entities such as reputed banks and law firms.”

8). Issad Rebrab –Algeria – $3.1bn

The first Algerian on the list, Rebrab – the son of militants who fought for the country’s independence from France – founded the country’s biggest privately held conglomerate, Cevital, which owns one of the largest sugar refineries in the world and produces vegetable oil and margarine.

Rebrab has been diversifying by buying European companies in distress. In 2014, he acquired (for an undisclosed amount) Groupe Brandt, a large France-based maker of appliances that had filed for bankruptcy protection. Rebrab said is betting that his country can compete with China for cheap labour, and Cevital has invested more than $200m to build a Brandt plant in Algeria, which will employ 7,500 people.

His five children work at the company.

9). Naguib Sawiris –Egypt – $3.1bn

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris captured world headlines in September 2015 when he offered to buy an island from Greece or Italy to settle refugees fleeing the war in Syria. A statement from Sawiris’s company, Orascom Telecom Media and Technology, confirmed he had identified two privately owned Greek islands that constitute a good opportunity for the project. It said: “We have corresponded with the owners and expressed our interest to go into negotiation with them.”

Sawiris is a technology and communications magnate. While his company, Orascom Telecom Media and Technology, has investments in enterprises in Egypt, Lebanon and Pakistan, he also owns Koryolink, North Korea’s 3G mobile telecom company.

The oldest of three brothers, Sawiris joined the family business in 1979. Orascom, his father’s company, was the largest private employer in Egypt at the time and was split into separate operating companies in the late 1990s. However, he is not the richest member of his family. His younger brother, Nassef, is the richest man in Egypt.

As well as from courting controversy, Sawiris has involved himself in the post-revolutionary politics of his native Egypt. He was one of the founding members of Free Egyptians. The political party was formed in April 2011 following the topping of Egypt’s 30-year dictator Hosni Mubarak and joined a loose alliance of broadly secular, liberal parties that stood in Egypt’s legislative elections in 2011 and 2012.

Sawiris stood opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and its president, Mohamed Morsi, who held power in the country from 2012 to 2013. Sawiris’s party did not see the toppling of Morsi in June 2013 as a coup d’etat, and supported Abdel Fateh Al-Sisi in his successful bid for the presidency in 2014.

10). King Mohammed VI – Morocco – $2.5bn

King Mohammed VI, who inherited a 35% stake in Societe Nationale d’Investissement (SNI) from his late father King Hassan, is Morocco’s first billionaire.

SNI is a holding company that has stakes in several publicly traded companies, including: the country’s largest bank, Attijariwafa; mining company Managem Group; sugar producer Cosumar; and dairy firm Centrale Danone.

According to Forbes, estimates of the king’s net worth are up significantly from a year ago due to “new information about the value of SNI’s assets”.

Source: ibtimes

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