Top 10 richest women in Africa
A Swe celebrate Women’s Month, we take a look at the 10 richest women in Africa. From oil to mining, and technology, only the sky is the limit for the girl child. Here they are;
1. ISABEL DOS SANTOS NET WORTH: AGE: COUNTRY:
47
Isabel Dos Santos, widely known as the daughter of the super-rich Angolan President, José Eduardo dos Santos, tops the list as the richest woman in Africa.
Isabel’s first business venture was in 1997, which was the opening of her Miami Beach Club in Luanda Island. Today, she can boast of owning several companies and businesses in Portugual and Angola.
Isabel currently holds more than a 28 per cent stake in Portuguese media conglomerate, Zon Multimedia, via two of her shareholding companies, Kento and Jadium.
Isabel also owns major stakes in Portuguese banks, Banco Espírito Santo and Banco Português de Investimento, and also in the energy firm, Energias de Portugal. She also owns 25 per cent of the private Angolan mobile company, Unitel SA.
Isabel’s business interests are centred in the areas of media, finance, retail, mining, energy, and the telecommunications industry. She became the first female billionaire in Africa in 2013.
2. FOLORUNSO ALAKIJA NET WORTH: AGE: COUNTRY:
69
Folorunso Alakija is a Nigerian billionaire and the second richest woman in Africa after Dos Santos. Folorunso’s business career started back in the 1970s when she established a fashion brand called Supreme Stitches, which later changed into what is currently known as the Rose Of Sharon House of Fashion.
Today, Folorunso is a well-respected billionaire with business interests in the areas of fashion, oil and gas, retail, printing, and the real estate sector. She is the owner of several groups of companies, most notably, Rose of Sharon Prints and Promotions, Digital reality prints, Dayspring Property Development Company Limited; a real estate company that owns prosperities in various part of the world.
Alakija is also the Executive Director of FAMFA Oil, her family-owned oil production company which is said to be worth over US$600 million.
3. NGINA KENYATTA NET WORTH: AGE: COUNTRY:
87
US$2.2 billion
Angola
US$1 billion
Nigeria
US$1 billion
Kenya
Ngina Kenyatta, also popularly known as Mama Ngina, is the and she is one of women in Africa.
Mama Nyiga handles the family’s businesses, which cut across banking, farming, education, insurance, hospitality, manufacturing, and real estate sectors.
Mama Ngina Kenyatta currently oversees a series of investments, stakes, and portfolios under her authority and holds 24.91 per cent in one of the largest privately-owned banks in Kenya, which is the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA). Other businesses include Brookside Dairies; a dairy farm that is responsible for almost half of the dairy products in Kenya, heritage hotels, Voyager Resort in Mombasa and Tsavo, Timsales Timber, Media Max; a media company that owns K24 TV, Kameme Radio, and The People newspaper.
The latest investments are in the real estate sector, which involves the development of a 500 acre Northlands City, which is said to be the largest gated community in the region.
4. HAJIA BOLA SHAGAYA NET WORTH: AGE: COUNTRY:
61 her family for good.
Hajia Bola started her business career by importing Konica photographic equipment for resale, after quitting her job as an auditor for the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1983.
Today, she is the second richest woman in Nigeria and CEO of Bolmus Group International which is a diversified Nigerian conglomerate company with interests in oil, real estate, banking, and photography.
As a real estate mogul, Hajia Bola owns hundreds of townhouses in Nigeria’s choicest neighborhoods, as well as properties in Europe and the United States. She is also the founder of the oil exploration company, Voyage Oil.
Hajia Bola is also a board member of the National Economic Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD), a Nigerian-focused business group.
5. WENDY APPELBAUM NET WORTH: AGE: COUNTRY:
58 widow of Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, and mother of the country’s current President, Uhuru Kenyatta, the richest
US$630 million
Nigeria
Despite being born in an average income family, Hajia Bola Shagaya beat the odds to change the history of
US$152 million
South Africa Though the 5th richest woman in Africa, Wendy Appelbaum is currently the richest woman in South Africa. She is the daughter of the late South
African
Gordon.
Wendy Appelbaum started her career as a director at Liberty Group, a real estate company owned by her father, and she later went on to co-found the Women Investment Portfolio Holdings, Wiphold, which was shortlisted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, but she sold her shares soon after that.
Today, she is the owner of a 224 acres wine farm called Demorgenzon wine estate. She is a hotshot in South Africa’s wine industry. Her first vintage wine, Chenin Blanc, is known to have won several accolades for its unique taste.
Wendy’s wine company is said to sell over half a million bottles of wine every year, with 85 per cent being exported to countries like France, Sweden, the UK, Canada, and the USA.
Sir Donald
6. WENDY ACKERMAN NET WORTH:
billionaire,
South Africa Wendy Ackerman is a South African retail tycoon and NonExecutive Director of Pick N Pay Holdings Limited – a retail company founded by her husband, Raymond Ackerman.
Ackerman is the acting executive director of the US$3 billion South African company, which has outlets in several countries like Nigeria, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Namibia, and Zambia.
Wendy is a trustee of the Ackerman Family Educational Trust Fund, which is credited to have helped hundreds of South African children through school.
Wendy Ackerman’s business interest is mainly centred on retail.
COUNTRY: 7. IRENE CHARNLEY NET WORTH: AGE: COUNTRY:
60
US$111.5
million
US$88 million
South Africa Irene Charnley is a former trade unionist and negotiator. She spent 13 years as a negotiator for South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers.
After stepping down as negotiator for union, Irene went on to become an executive director for Africa’s largest telecommunication company, MTN, and she is said to have been pivotal to the granting of operation licenses to the company by the governments of Nigerian and Iran – which, she is said to have been rewarded with a ‘huge chunk of MTN stock’ valued at over US$150 million in return.
Irene, however, called it quits with MTN following some controversies and went on to set up her own telecommunication company, Smiles Telecommunication, a low-cost telecommunications company in Mauritius. She was, however, the CEO of the company until 2019 when she was demoted to Deputy Chair.
Irene Charnley’s business interest is solely invested in telecommunications. Her telecom company, Smiles, is said to be worth US$58 billion.
8. BRIDGET RADEBE NET WORTH: AGE: COUNTRY:
60
US$58.7 million
South Africa Bridget Radebe is the older sister of South African billionaire, Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe.
Bridget’s business interest is in mining. She started her career as a miner, before setting up her own mining firm called Mmakau Mining, in an industry where most mining firms are owned by men. Bridget’s firm specialises in the exploration of gold, platinum, chrome, uranium, coal, and vanadium.
9. SHARON WAPNICK NET WORTH: AGE: COUNTRY:
56
US$25.4 million
South Africa
The success of Sharon Wapnick is often traced to her father, Alec Wapnick, due to his vast wealth and influence. Sharon is currently the major shareholder in her father’s property loan stock companies, Octodec Investments, and Premium Properties. She is also the nonexecutive chairman at Octodec, a position held by her father until 2011 when she took over.
Besides Octodec, Sharon is a very brilliant attorney and a senior partner at Tugendhaft Wapnick Banchetti & Partners.
Sharon holds business interests in the area of real estate and corporate matters.
Though the millionaire is believed to be involved in other business ventures, much is not known about her recent business endeavors due to her private nature.
10. ELIZABETH BRADLEY NET WORTH: AGE: COUNTRY:
58
US$19.4 million
South Africa Elizabeth Bradley is the daughter of Albert Wessels, the man who made history by being the first person to bring the Toyota brand to South Africa. Elizabeth started her career in business as the managing director of South African holding company, Wesco Investments Limited in 1986, and in 1991, she became the non-executive chair, a position she holds to date.
Bradley owned a 25 per cent stake in Toyota-South Africa, she, however, agreed to sell her stake to Toyota-Japan for a whopping sum of US$320 million. She later walked away with a sum of US$150 million. Elizabeth also owns a stake in agriculture and agri- processing business, Tongaat Hulett and Sasol; an integrated energy and chemical company.