So we have been hearing of a lot of interest being taken in Africa. The Chinese are investing billions of dollars in infrastructure development among other undertakings. It seems that focus is now on the not-so dark continent anymore.

Over the past years a good number of Africans have been trying to get themselves recognized by doing everything to get into Africa’s richest list. So who exactly are the richest Africans? who are the billionaires of Africa you might be wondering. Over the past few years the net worth of the richest Africans has been increasing as they seek to expand their investments and reach into new markets.

It is quite obvious that for you to make it in Africa and become the richest; you have to work extra hard. This is due to the fact that consumerism is not at per with the developed world. Consumerism is what most of the world billionaires have capitalized on to make their money. Okay so I am blubbering too much here is a list of the top ten richest Africans according to Forbes.

 The Top 10 Richest Africans

1. Aliko Dangote (Nigeria)- He has a net worth of around 10.1 billion dollars. He is married with three kids and is aged 55. (I don’t know if he is willing to adopt a grown up son) . He makes his money from Cement, flour and sugar; he is referred to as the cement king of Africa. His investments are spread out in a number of countries in Africa from Senegal, Zambia, Tanzania and Ivory Coast. He is also quite the philanthropist and helps out mostly in the education sector.
2. Nicky Oppenheimer and Family (South Africa)– He is worth 6.5 billion dollars. He is married with one child and he is in his mid-sixties. He used to have a 40% stake in De Beers; the world’s biggest diamond producer but he sold it for a whooping 5.1 billion dollars. He enjoys flying choppers, conserving the environment and playing cricket.
3. Nassef Sawiris (Egypt)- He is worth 4.75 billion dollars, married with four kids and in his early fifties. He has made his money from the construction industry; he runs Orascom Construction Industries which is Egypt’s most valuable public company. A few years ago he came together with Eike Batista who is a Brazilian billionaire to build a nitrogen fertilizer plant in Brazil. He also has stakes in Lafarge which is a cement company and also in Texas Industries.
4. Johann Rupert and Family (South Africa)– He is married with three kids, in his early sixties and makes his money from luxury goods. He is the chairman and CEO of Richemont which is a Swiss company that controls a number of luxury products lines like Chloe and Montblanc. He is also quite the conservationist.
5. Mike Adenuga (Nigeria)- He has a net worth of  4.3 billion dollars, he is married and he is in his late fifties. He runs Conoil which was the first company in Nigeria to strike oil in commercially viable quantities back in the 90s. The company produces about 100, 000 barrels of oil per day. He is also the owner of Globacom which happens to be the second largest mobile telephony operator in Nigeria. He made is first million at the age of twenty-six.
6. Miloud Chabi (Morocco)– He has a net worth of 3 billion dollars, he is married with six children and he is in early eighties. He has made his money in the real estate industry. He is also an investor in renewable energy and supermarkets. He is very outspoken on the issue of corruption both in business and politics. He is never afraid to lash out at anyone he deems corrupt.
7. Naguib Sawiris (Egypt)- This is Nassef’s brother and has a net worth of 2.9 billion dollars, he is married with four children and he is in his late fifties. He made is money in the telecom industry. He also sold the family’s stake in Orascom to VimpelCom for 6.5 billion dollars. He is a controversial individual and promotes free markets and a secular society in a country that is mostly Muslim.
8. Christoffel Wiese (South Africa)– He worth 2.7 billion dollars married with three children and he is in his early seventies. The source of his wealth is from the retail industry. He is popularly referred to as Christo and is Chairman Shoprite and also happens to be the biggest single share holder. On top of that he has a 44% stake in Pepkor which is a shoes and textiles chain. He is also the owner of Lourensford estate which is a wine producer. He also has a game reserve in the Kalahari desert.
9. Onsi Sawiris (Egypt)- Apparently money runs in the family since this is the father of Nassef and Naguib Sawiris. He has one other child and has a networht of 2.6 billion dollars which he has made from the construction and telecom industry. He has shares in VimpelCom which bought Orascom telecom. It goes without say that he is the head of Egypt’s richest family.
10. Patrice Motsepe (South Africa)- He is worth 2.5 billion dollars, married with three children and he is about fifty years. South Africa being huge on mining; this is basically where he made his money. His company Africa Rainbow Minerals is involved in mining Manganese, Platinum, nickel chrome, iron, copper,coal and gold. Patrice was born in Soweto and underwent training as a Lawyer. He bought gold mines that were not so profitable and made them profitable. He is also a stake holder and Board member in Sanlam which is a financial services company outside of Cape town.

The images above are arranged as per the list of the top ten richest Africans.

So there you have it; the top ten richest Africans. As you have seen only two countries house 90% of  Africa’s top ten billionaires. These countries also happen to be among Africa’s biggest economies. Start working hard and maybe we will be writing your about your success story here at scopegater! Feel free to air your comments about this or other posts.