African Vibes Magazine’s African Billionaires of 2020


While some African billionaires got richer, others are getting poorer. We are all glad that 2020 is behind us now. However, the memories will remain with some of us throughout our lifetime. All that it took was coronavirus to bring the earnings of some billionaires to a halt. Nevertheless, the cumulative worth of all jumped from $68.7 billion to over $200 billion—and this is thanks to Elon Musk.
The billionaire of South African descent is not showing any sign of slowing down. His worth rose by over 500% from $27.5 Billion in 2019 to $189.7 billion. Aliko Dangote, the richest black man also saw substantial growth in his net worth. One of the major problems that billionaires all over the world have to deal with is the volatility of the economy.
For example, Strive Masiyiwa, Zimbabwe’s only billionaire continues to suffer from the country’s change in currency. Sadly, out of the long list of African billionaires, there is only one female on the list, Isabel dos Santos of Angola. Also, it is disheartening to know dos Santos is facing a barrage of legal battles for the diversion of public funds. Apparently, Folorunsho Alakija of Nigeria is no longer a billionaire.
African Countries with the Most Billionaires on the List
Egypt, South Africa, and Nigeria continue to dominate the African billionaire list. Other countries like Algeria, Angola, Morocco, Swaziland, Tanzania, Sudan, and Zimbabwe have one or two billionaires on the list.
Age Distribution
At age 45, Mohammed Deji of Tanzania is still the youngest African billionaire. This is followed by Isabel dos Santos who is currently 48 years old. The majority of the men on the list are in their fifties and sixties. At age 92, Mohamed Al Fayed of Egypt maintains the spot of oldest African billionaire on our list.
Methodology
Our list is a snapshot from the Forbes Real-time billionaire wealth calculator. The data was taken on 7th January 2021. It is important to mention this because the figures can change drastically within hours. The calculations are determined using currency exchange rates and stock prices.
The majority of lists on the Internet track only billionaires living in Africa. However, our list includes billionaires who were born in Africa regardless of where they reside.
It’s always good having to read about and draw inspiration from these guys
Yes, there is so much to learn from their resilience and business models