Earlier this year, Forbes released a list of the top 20 billionaires in Africa, but no woman was on that list. Another of the several scenarios of male dominance, you would say.
Well, while the prevailing system in this African world of wealth creation appears male-centric, some women have risen from dint of hard work to reach a commanding height of wealth that can’t be ignored.
In this article, we will look at the top ten wealthiest women in Africa, exploring their net worth, age, source of wealth, and more. Let’s dive in!
Top Ten Wealthiest Women in Africa
-
Folorunsho Alakija (Nigeria)
With a net worth of 1 billion dollars, Folorunsho Alakija is currently the richest female in Africa. By extension, she’s also the richest woman in Nigeria and the 17th richest person.
Folorunsho Alakija started her career in the banking industry in 1974, and she ended up having a 12-year-long career, rising to the position of Office Assistant to the Treasury Department. Her decision to pursue a career in fashion design, saw her quit to launch her first company, Supreme Stitches.
After successfully exploring the fashion industry for a while, Folorunsho Alakija decided to explore the oil and gas industry, leading to the launch of her oil exploration company, Famfa Limited. Today, the oil exploration company partners with oil heavyweights like Chevron and Petrobras and owns a significant stake in the Agbami Oilfield, a 100 km offshore field in Nigeria. She is currently the vice chair of the company Famfa Oil and the managing director of The Rose of Sharon Group.
Personal Profile
- Age: 73
- Net worth: $1 billion
- Origin of Wealth: Oil
- Citizenship: Nigeria
- Marital Status: Married
- Spouse: Modupe Alakija
- Children: 4
-
Ngina Kenyatta (Kenya)
Being one of the richest women in Africa, Mama Ngina, as she is popularly known, is currently the richest woman in Kenya. She’s also worth around 1 billion dollars, which means she’s not only one of the wealthiest women in Africa and Kenya but also one of the top ten richest individuals in her country.
The Kenyatta family is a household name in Kenya, associated with vast wealth, political power, and influence. Her husband, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, was the first president of Kenya, and her son, Uhuru Kenyatta, was the country’s fourth president.
New findings have revealed that Mama Ngina currently controls over 500,000 acres of Kenyan land, one of the largest privately-held land holdings in the country. These vast land assets can be directly linked to Jomo Kenyatta, who acquired them at dirt-cheap prices between the 1960s and the 1970s.
Apart from her vast land holdings, Ngina Kenyatta and her family own stakes in the Kenyan Television station K24. They also own significant stakes in the Commercial Bank of Africa, Timber production company, and Brookside Dairies, Kenya’s largest dairy company.
Personal Profile
- Age: 90
- Net worth: $1 billion
- Origin of Wealth: Land, Banking, Media
- Citizenship: Kenya
- Marital Status: Married
- Spouse: Jomo Kenyatta
- Children: 4
Read also: Nigeria Women in Tech: Breaking Barriers and Making Strides
-
Hajia Bola Shagaya (Nigeria)
With a net worth of 800 million dollars, Hajia Bola Muinat Shagaya sits third on our list of the richest women in Africa. The Kwara state-born business tycoon started her career in the audit department of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Today, she is the founder and CEO of Bolmus Group International, a diversified Nigerian conglomerate with holdings in real estate, oil and gas, banking, communications, and photography.
Hajia Bola Shagaya was born into a regular middle-class family in Ilorin, Kwara state, where her father was a Nigerian public servant, and her mother was a seamstress. She had her primary and high school education in her hometown, Ilorin, before continuing her education at the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria.
Hajia Bola Shagaya had the opportunity to finish her education very early. By the time she left her job at the CBN for full-time business, she was only 24. Her business journey started with the importation and distribution of photographic materials. Today, she has a diverse portfolio of investments in Nigeria and abroad.
Personal Profile
- Age: 64
- Net worth: $800 million
- Origin of Wealth: Oil, Banking, Real Estate, Photography
- Citizenship: Nigerian
- Marital Status: Married
- Spouse: Alhaji Shagaya
- Children: 6
-
Wendy Appelbaum (South Africa)
Next on our list of the wealthiest women in Africa is Wendy Appelbaum. She has an estimated net worth of $600 million, built from investments in diverse industries, including real estate, winery, tourism, etc.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wendy Donna Appelbaum was the only daughter in a family of five. Her father, Sir Donald Gordon, was a renowned billionaire business mogul in South Africa. In fact, he was one of the richest men in Africa.
Wendy’s father’s wealth created an advantage for her career and wealth-creation journey. After studying Psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand, she was immediately hired at her father’s Insurance company, the Liberty Group. She eventually rose to the post of director and became one of the company’s largest individual shareholders.
Wendy ended up selling her shares in Liberty Group. Together with her husband, Hylton Appelbaum, she launched her wine farm in 2003.
Today, the DeMorgenzon wine and agricultural farm is one of the top wine producers in South Africa. They sell about 500,000 bottles of wine annually, within South Africa and Internationally to the US, UK, Holland, Belgium, Sweden, Canada, etc.
Personal Profile
- Age: 64
- Net worth: $600 million
- Origin of Wealth: Insurance
- Citizenship: South African
- Marital Status: Married
- Spouse: Hylton Appelbaum
- Children: 2
-
Wendy Ackerman (South Africa)
Wendy Ackerman is another wealthy South African millionaire. She is one of the founders and currently a non-executive director of Pick n Pay Holdings LTD, a retail company she started and ran alongside her husband.
Born in Cape Town, Wendy Ackerman started her career as a class teacher in Soweto. She eventually got into the retail business when she got married. Her husband, the late Raymond Ackerman, acquired the retail company Pick n Pay Stores and appointed Wendy as the director.
Today, the company is one of the top retail stores in South Africa, extending beyond the country into eight other African countries. The retail company is currently made up of over 450 stores and employs over 49,000 people. Alongside the stores, they also own 121 supermarkets and 14 hypermarkets.
Personal Profile
- Age: Not publicly available
- Net worth: $190.2 million
- Origin of Wealth: Retail
- Citizenship: South African
- Marital Status: Married
- Spouse: Raymond Ackerman
- Children: 4
Read also: Top 10 Richest Countries in Africa.
-
Irene Charnley (South Africa)
Irene Charnley is not just one of the richest females in Africa; she’s also one of the biggest names in the African telecommunications industry. She was an executive director in the MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecommunications company, for several years. And she earned herself a name in the African telecommunications industry for her incredible achievements in this role.
As director, she oversaw the international expansion of the MTN network to several African and Middle Eastern countries.
Currently, she occupies the seat of the CEO of Smile Telecoms Holdings Ltd, a Mauritius-based Pan-African telecommunications group. They currently operate in six countries across Africa, including South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, DR Congo, and Uganda.
Personal Profile
- Age: 64
- Net worth: $150 million
- Origin of Wealth: Telecommunications
- Citizenship: South African
- Marital Status: Married
- Spouse: Clement Charnley
- Children: Not publicly available
Read also: Top 10 Biggest Nigerian Celebrities: Meet Nigeria’s Living Legends.
-
Bridget Radebe (South African)
Mining is, of course, a field that men widely dominate. However, Bridget Radebe would not be fazed by these kinds of stereotypes. She decided to venture into mining during the apartheid era when black people were not allowed to hold a mining license.
Today, she has successfully led her mining firm, Mmakau Mining, to incredible heights, helping to produce platinum, gold, and chrome and amassing a net worth of over $100 Million in the process.
Beyond her successful mining business, she’s been an important influence in the South African and African mining space. She championed the change in the exclusionary mining legislation in South Africa and has led the implementation of empowerment mining models in Africa and beyond.
Bridget Radebe would be remembered as the heroic woman who defied stereotypes and legislation to build a successful mining business. She would also be known as one of the first African female mining operators.
Personal Profile
- Age: 64
- Net worth: $100 million
- Origin of Wealth: Mining
- Citizenship: South African
- Marital Status: Married
- Spouse: Jeff Radebe
- Children: 3
-
Sharon Wapnick (South African)
Sharon Wapnick was born into wealth. Her father, Alec Wapnick, founded Octodec Investments and Premium Properties, two major South African Real Estate Investment Trusts with a massive portfolio of residential and commercial buildings. He also owns two other property loan stock companies listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange.
Sharon went on to become the chairman of Octodec in 2011, after which Premium Properties was merged with it in 2014. Today, she is the largest shareholder in the real estate holdings. She’s also currently one of the top five shareholders at every other company that belonged to her dad.
Academic-wise, Sharon obtained a law degree and proceeded to practice commercial litigation and constitutional law. Today, she is a senior legal partner at Tugendhaft Wapnick Banchetti & Partners (TWB Attorneys).
Personal Profile
- Age: 60
- Net worth: $43.1 million
- Origin of Wealth: Inherited Real estate
- Citizenship: South African
- Marital Status: Married
- Spouse: Frank Kramer
- Children: 2
-
Elisabeth Bradley (South African)
Elisabeth Bradley was also born into a wealthy home. Her father, the late Albert Wessels, secured a deal to introduce Toyota to South Africa in 1961. Through his company, Wesco Investments, he acquired the distribution rights of the Toyota car brand, and this investment eventually paid off for Elisabeth.
As chairman, Elisabeth Bradley went on to sell 25% of Wesco’s stake in 2008. The Toyota Motor Corp of Japan acquired it for about $320 million. She, however, remains the Chairman of Wesco Investments today.
She is also a board member in several blue-chip corporations, including Standard Bank Group, Rose Back Inn, and Hilton Hotel.
Personal Profile
- Age: 62
- Net worth: $32 million
- Origin of Wealth: Inherited
- Citizenship: South African
- Marital Status: Married
- Spouse: Not publicly available
- Children: Not publicly available
Read also: Financial Planning for Nigerian Women: Building Wealth And Security.
-
Liya Kebede (Ethiopian)
Liya Kebede is a 46-year-old Ethiopian-born model, who began modeling at a very young age. At only 18, she relocated to Paris in pursuit of her modeling career. She eventually had to move to the US, where she landed her life-changing Tom Ford modeling contract.
Liya’s career skyrocketed significantly after the Tom Ford deal. In just two years, she was featured on the cover of the Paris Vogue magazine. She would then appear on the cover of American, French, Japanese, Italian, and Vogue magazines.
At some point, Liya was one of the highest-earning models worldwide. According to Forbes, she was ranked 11th, with a whopping $2.5 million in earnings. In total, she’s featured twenty times on the cover of Vogue. She’s also featured in different ads for many notable brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Victoria’s Secret, Tommy Hilfiger, etc.
Aside from modeling, she’s also ventured into clothing design, launching her clothing line, Lemlem, in 2008. She’s also ventured into entertainment and acting.
Personal Profile
- Age: 46
- Net worth: $18 million
- Origin of Wealth: Modeling, Fashion
- Citizenship: Ethiopian
- Marital Status: Married
- Spouse: Kassy Kebede
- Children: 2
Conclusion
Exploring the incredible stories of these affluent African women helps us understand the different routes they took to achieve success. These women have proven that success knows no gender, making their mark in diverse industries and generating vast wealth in the process.
Hey there! Did you find this insightful? Follow us on Twitter and Linkedin to learn more about recent happenings in Africa. You can also contact us directly on WhatsApp to spotlight your business to the right audience.
