African billionaires’ wealth rebounds as Mo Dewji gains $300m in new Forbes list

Dar es Salaam. The fortunes of Africa’s wealthiest people have rebounded slightly in the past 12 months, despite economic uncertainties and global market fluctuations, with Tanzania’s Mohammed Dewji gaining $300 million more.

According to the 2024 Forbes list of Africa's Richest, Mr Dewji, popularly known as Mo, saw his fortune jump from $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion, making him the only publicly known billionaire in East and Central Africa.

Mo is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited (MeTL), which employs 40,000 people in ten different countries in east and central Africa. He remains the youngest African billionaire on the Forbes list for 10 years in a row.

The Tanzanian tycoon is still the only billionaire from the East African Community (EAC) to make it on the list.

“The fortunes of Africa’s wealthiest people have rebounded slightly to reverse the decline in their fortunes from a year ago, though they are still off their all-time highs,” Forbes says in its latest report.

The 20 billionaires on the 2024 Forbes list of Africa’s Richest are worth a combined $82.4 billion. That’s up $900 million from last year’s $81.5 billion.

However, Forbes says, the challenging environment that wealthy Africans went through during the past year mostly favoured entrenched family fortunes or those with close ties to government that continue to dominate the ranks of Africa’s richest.

That was because a turbulent 2023 made African equities less attractive for foreign investors, Forbes says.

The period under review was also largely characterised by weakening domestic currencies, which pushed up inflation, while tax rises hurt companies. As such, according to Forbes, central banks have been hiking rates as well, which has created a storm for investors.

That notwithstanding, Forbes says the $900 million rise in the fortunes of Africa’s billionaires was attributed to the return of Nigeria’s Femi Otedola, who last appeared on the Forbes Africa list in 2017. “Thus, after taking Otedola’s comeback into account, Africa’s billionaires dipped slightly but still fared better than the decline of 4 percent last year, when African markets faded in sync with equity values around the world,” Forbes says.

Nigeria's Aliko Dangote remained the richest African for the 13th consecutive year, witnessing a $400 million increase in his fortune, now valued at $13.9 billion.

South African luxury goods tycoon Johann Rupert maintained his second position, albeit with a dip in net worth from $10.7 billion in 2023 to $10.1 billion.

Meanwhile, another South African, Nicky Oppenheimer, secured the 3rd position with $9.4 billion, marking a $1 billion rise from the previous year.

Forbes says that thirteen of the billionaires added to their fortunes this year, while seven saw their net worth decline.

The list of other billionaires and the amount of fortune they possess in brackets are: Nassef Sawiris ($8.7 billion), Mike Adenuga ($6.9 billion), Abdulsamad Rabiu ($5.9 billion), Naguib Sawiris ($3.8 billion), Mohamed Mansour ($3.2 billion), Koos Bekker ($2.7 billion), Patrice Motsepe ($2.7 billion), and Issad Rebrab & Family ($2.5 billion).

On the 12th position, Mo, whose fortune stands at $1.8 billion, ties up with Strive Masiyiwa, a citizen of Zimbabwe and a London resident, while the fortune of Moroccan Aziz Akhannouch & Family stands at $1.7 billion. The list also has Othman Benjelloun & Family ($1.4 billion), Youssef Mansour ($1.3 billion), Yasseen Mansour ($1.2 billion), Christoffel Wiese ($1.2 billion), Michiel Le Roux ($1.1 billion), and Femi Otedola ($1.1 billion).

According to Forbes, the biggest decline on this year’s list belongs to Algerian industrial magnate Issad Rebrab, who was barred by a court in May from exercising any commercial or management duties at his conglomerate, Cevital.

Rebrab, who denied any wrongdoing, had previously served eight months in jail on corruption charges until his release in January 2020. Rebrab, who shares the wealth with his wife and five children, including his son, Malik, who took over as CEO in 2022, saw his net worth fall by almost half to $2.5 billion. The biggest gain belongs to Egypt’s Nasseff Sawiris, who added $1.4 billion to $8.7 billion thanks to a rise in Adidas shares (he owns about 6%), as well as dividends from the German sneaker company and family conglomerate OCI.

This year, South Africa claims six spots on the ranking, followed by Egypt with five and Nigeria with four. Algeria, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe each have one billionaire on the list, while Morocco has two.

Forbes used stock prices and currency exchange rates from January 8, 2024, to measure the net worth.