Southern Africa, with a population of 69 million people, is home to some of the wealthiest African businessmen and women. Entrepreneurs from the region have routinely appeared on Forbes’ list of the world’s wealthiest people.
South African dou Patrice Motsepe and Johann Rupert, as well as Zimbabwean Strive Masiyiwa, are among the entrepreneurs.
Below are five of the richest people in Southern Africa:
1. Patrice Motsepe
Patrice Motsepe is the founder and chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, which produces iron ore, manganese ore, alloys, platinum group metals, copper, nickel, and coal. He is South Africa’s first Black businessman and billionaire. In 2008, he became the first black African billionaire on the Forbes list.
Before launching a mining services contracting business, the South African became the first Black partner at the Johannesburg legal firm Bowman Gilfillan in 1994. In 2016, he founded African Rainbow Capital, a private equity firm focused on investing in Africa.
Motsepe was elected president of the Confederation of African Football in 2021. He is the president and owner of the Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club. He is estimated to be worth $2.7 billion.
2. Strive Masiyiwa
Strive Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean billionaire with a $2 billion net worth. The Zimbabwean is not just one of the world’s wealthiest Black billionaires, but also the second-richest Black billionaire in Southern Africa.
He has made numerous investments in businesses and endeavors such as Econet Global Limited and Liquid Intelligent Technologies, among others, which have helped to increase his net worth. In 1998, he overcame long-standing official opposition to build the mobile phone network Econet Wireless Zimbabwe in his birth country.
3. Moise Katumbi
Moise Katumbi is a DR Congo politician, businessman, and football investor. He was born in Greece to a Greek businessman and a Congolese mother. According to Forbes, he is regarded as one of DR Congo’s wealthiest individuals, having transformed a medium-sized fishing enterprise owned by his family into a string of multi-million dollar businesses in the mining, agriculture, and logistics industries.
In addition, he co-founded Mining Company Katanga (MCK), which was sold to French logistics firm Necontrans for a projected $130 million. He is the owner of the Congolese club TP Mazembe, who has won the CAF Champions League.
4. Isabel dos Santos
Forbes once ranked Isabel dos Santos Africa’s richest lady. Her net worth was believed to be $3.5 billion at the time. Her father was Angola’s long-serving former president during the time she amassed much of her riches.
With her father out of the president, dos Santos’ empire, which includes the oil industry and telecommunications, is just a shell of what it once was. Her economic empire began to crumble when the new Angolan government charged her with corruption.
It was also alleged that her assets were frozen in three different countries, and that she was being sued in a fourth country for hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid debt. As a result, according to Forbes, she is no longer a billionaire.
She formerly appeared on the Forbes 2020 list of African billionaires. However, she was not included in the 2021 release because her wealth was calculated to be less than $1 billion.
Forbes evaluated her fortune by assuming she had no access to and little prospect of regaining control of the frozen assets, which are worth approximately $1.6 billion if not frozen. Her net worth was estimated to be $2.2 billion prior to the recent revelation.
Despite the failure of her businesses, dos Santos is far from impoverished. The value of her mansions, yacht, cash, and other assets is believed to be $400 million.
5. Johann Rupert
Johann Rupert is the richest individual in South Africa. His net worth is $11.8 billion. Rupert’s main source of wealth is luxury goods; he is the chairman of the Swiss luxury goods corporation Compagnie Financiere Richemont, which is best known for its two top brands, Cartier and Montblanc. The company was founded in 1998 when assets from his father’s company, Rembrandt Group Limited, were spun off.
He also has a 7% diversified ownership in Remgro and a 25% stake in Reinet, a Luxembourg-based investment firm.