Africa is a breeding ground for hard working individuals who are not shy to use their brains and also get their hands dirty, in a bid to make a success of their lives, the environment and the continent.
So many billionaires have emerged from Africa, with astounding business testimonies of grass to grace and even more grace. Their stories are encouraging as well as inspiring.
This edition takes a look at African billionaires in Africa within a particular age demographic…………….
Mohammed Dewji (TANZANIA)
Personal Stats
Age 47
Source of Wealth diversified
Residence Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Citizenship Tanzania
Marital Status Married
Children 3
Tanzanian billionaire Mohammed Dewji is reportedly worth $1.5B, he is the CEO of METL, a Tanzanian conglomerate which was founded by his father in the 1970s. The company METL is into textile manufacturing, flour milling, beverages and edible oils. Their products move from Tanzania to eastern, southern and central Africa. METL currently operates in a minimum of six African countries and is making moves for further expansion, thus making Dewji, Tanzania’s only billionaire.
Besides being a billionaire, Dewji aged 47 is also a philanthropist, he signed the Giving Pledge in 2016 where he promised to donate at least half his fortune to philanthropic causes. The Giving Pledge group supports causes including climate change, ecological protection, education and poverty.
Mohammed Dewji completed two terms in Tanzania’s parliament before he retired in early 2015. Dewji, has tried his hands in several businesses, including launching Mo Cola some years ago with the intention of competing with Coca Cola. Mo Cola was an abbreviation of his short name, as he known as Mo (short for Mohammed).
Recently, Mohammed Dewji made an offer of a whooping $10 Million in a bid to acquire a controlling stake of at least 51% in Simba SC, one of the most successful soccer clubs in the Tanzanian Premier League.
Controversies
The Tanzanian government threatened to revoke the ownership of six larger commercial farms owned by Billionaire Mohammed Dewji, through his company METL Group. They cited the reason for the purported revocation as failure to develop the farmlands over a long period, leaving them fallow and unused.
Mohammed Dewji was reportedly kidnapped at gunpoint in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in October 2018, his family offered $400,000 for any information regarding his whereabouts. He was released nine days later, and returned safely to his family.
Obi Cubana (NIGERIA)
Born Obinna Iyiegbu
12 April 1975 (age 47)
Idemili South, Anambra
Nationality: Nigerian
Occupation: Businessman, Entertainer
Obinna “Obi” Iyiegbu, who is popularly known as Obi Cubana, chairs the Cubana Group. He is reportedly worth $96M. Obi, who is from Oba in Anambra State, Nigeria, attended University of Nigeria Nsukka and emerged with a Bsc in Political Science.
Before 2021, Obinna Iyiegbu was reportedly unknown as he prefers to run his chain of businesses behind the scenes. But his entrepreneurial career started in 2006, when he founded a night club called Ibiza Club in Abuja. And the success of Ibiza Club led to the opening of a hospitality club called Cubana in Owerri, Imo State in 2009. Since then, he has opened Cubana in Victoria Island and Ikeja GRA Lagos, Nigeria, which earned him the award of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year, 2016.
The burial of Obi’s mother in Oba in 2021 exposed him to limelight, due to the huge money spent at the burial and the huge money splashed on Obi by his friends and well-wishers. Since then, Obi Cubana has set up businesses such as Grand Cubana Hotel in Abuja and Odogwu Bitters in 2022.
He also has investment in several businesses, which includes a power bank manufacturing company.
Besides his astounding businesses responsibilities, Obi Cubana is also heavily involved in philanthropy as he has spent millions of Naira on various charity projects for individuals, communities and organizations.
Linda Ikeji (NIGERIA)
Born Linda Ifeoma Ikeji
19 September 1980 (age 42)
Nkwerre, Imo, Nigeria
Nationality: Nigerian
Occupation: Blogger, entrepreneur
and writer
Website: lindaikejisblog.com
Linda Ifeoma Ikeji is a Nigerian blogger, writer, entrepreneur and former model, who made name fame and fortune through her online blog. Her blog was mostly known for controversial publications online, though she has recently toned down the writing style on her blog in the past few years.
Linda Ikeji started writing at the age of 10, and did part time jobs such as modeling, writing and restaurant waitress to support herself and family as a young undergraduate student. She initially started blogging as a hobby, by using cybercafes because having internet at home or specifically for your exclusive use was not as popular as it is now.
Ikeji used a blogger subdomain lindaikeji.blogspot.com and later obtained her domain www.lindaikejisblog.com, and eventually ventured into online radio broadcasting. Linda Ikeji currently owns a media office where her blog, online radio, online TV, music platform, etc operates from.
Ikeji is into philanthropy through her social networking platform named Linda Ikeji Social, it runs a non-profit project themed “I’d rather be self-made; No thanks”. She uses the project to assist young girls aged 16–25, who have great business ideas and are willing to venture into entrepreneurship. She has given out millions of Naira through the project.
Her efforts has been recognized locally and internally and in 2018, Linda Ikeji was conferred with Honorary Doctorate Degree from Trinity International University in Georgia for her outstanding job in Business and Media in Africa, with the likes of Steve Egboro, Nigerian filmmaker and event manager, Chairman Daily Times Newspaper, Dr. Fidelis Anosike, Dr. Obeahon Ohiwerei, GMD/ CEO of Keystone Bank Limited, renowned lawyer Mike Ozekhome and few others.
Controversies
Linda Ikeji has been enmeshed in controversies in the past, some of which were her blog being shut down by Google in 2014, and later reopened. John Abayomi an online editor of Punch Newspaper threatened to sue Ikeji for an untrue story about him being the owner of instablog9ja, claiming that the publication had put his life and that of his family in danger.
However, her biggest controversy till date was getting pregnant and having a son outside wedlock. This rubbed her personality in the mud especially because she preached celibacy for single women and yet went ahead to get pregnant for a man who though had been identified as the father of her son, yet has not made any effort to claim the boy or marry the mother till date.
Kevin Okyere (GHANA)
Kevin Okyere’s biggest story is that he was a billionaire’s son who started hawking drinks at age 11. Born into wealth, but exposed to entrepreneurship quite early, it is no surprise that he became successful quite young, and these principles has formed the basis of his success till date.
Kevin survived the harsh African entrepreneurial scene, particularly in Ghana, and today runs the Springfield group, a company that controls an 82% interest in the Tano Basin block, spanning 673 square kilometres in the Gulf of Guinea. Kevin Okyere was born in 1980 in Ghana’s gold-rich, Ashanti region to a wealthy family. His father was first into construction, steel manufacture, and large-scale cocoa planting, before he became a traditional chief.
However, Okyere sold iced drinks to football fans at the Kumasi Sports Stadium, when he was 11 years and also worked in textile companies, whenever the family travelled to London for summer vacations.
While going through the university in the US, he did various jobs “legitimate that could earn me money.” was his mantra. He left US to return to Ghana, refusing an attractive job offer of $72,000 annually to come and start business in Ghana.
He tried several things such as telecoms (Westland Alliance Ltd), which rendered international call routing services for AT&T, but left the business after a while. However, he got tired of the business, while searching for an exit plan, he spotted an opportunity for an independent local firm in ghana’s oil and gas sector and boom, Springfield Group was born.
Since then, Springfield has become one of Ghana’s most prominent energy players, with affiliations in Nigeria’s oil sector through Springfield Ashburton, and refineries and even tank storage farms.
Currently, Springfield is the first and only independent Ghanaian company to be given an oil block in Ghana. Kevin Okyere is reportedly worth over $1.5b.
Controversies
Kevin Okyere was involved in controversies following the company’s enlistment in the 2014/2015 Crude Oil Term Contract in Nigeria, through the minister for petroleum Diezani Allison Madueke. It was a highly coveted long-term oil contract, and it being given to a relatively unknown Ghanaian company raised feathers. Some claimed he got it because he was an associate of Diezani, to which Kelvin vehemently denied. He also instituted and won a law suit to that effect, and the newspapers retracted their stories immediately. He won financial judgement against the newspapers
Nana Kwame Bediako (GHANA)
Name: Nana Kwame Bediako
Alias: Freedom Jacob Caesar
Gender: Male
Age: 42
Nationality: Ghanaian
Marital Status: Married
Net worth: $4 billion
Career: Business mogul,
Real estate entrepreneur,
Philanthropist, industrialist
Nana Kwame Bediako, popularly known as Freedom Jacob Caesar, is reportedly the youngest billionaire in Ghana. He is a business mogul, real estate entrepreneur, industrialist, and philanthropist and owns the Kwarleyz Group. The Kwarleyz group is an umbrella that has brands like Wonda World Estates, Petronia City Construction, Belfast City & Property management, and the New Africa Philanthropic Foundation.
Nana Kwame has been a successful developer in the Ghanaian real estate sector for over 20 years, with close to 560 homes in it. Petronia City, his latest project is an industrial park that he hopes to turn into a petrochemical cluster. This will be the first fully integrated business hub for oil, gas, and mining industries in Africa. The remarkable list of Nana Kwame Bediako properties has made him a household name.
Nana Kwame Bediako grew up in Kumasi Ghana, and had his first tase of entrepreneurship when his father gave him and his brother some money and told them to use it to help their mom. His brother bought bread and eggs, while he bought two hens and started a poultry business. His business grew, and he was soon selling 200 eggs a month.
Bediako eventually moved to London to attend Waltham Forest College and while there, he started making money by selling clothes that he got from a friend and soon everyone at school bought clothes from him. He used this money wisely and managed to buy his first car at 16. It was through this car that he got his next idea of selling scrap metals after his car was clamped several times.
He would buy scrap metal and then resell them, the money he was making made him to drop out from school as he felt there was nothing more for him to learn there. From the scrap metal business, he moved into telecommunication.
Nana Bediako created a company that billed people whenever they used the internet, the company was Global Telecommunications and Utilities (GTU), and quickly gained popularity and users. This attracted an investor who bought the company for £410,000.
Bediako moved to Africa after that, and started his real estate empire, which has grown into what it is today and is still gaining momentum.
Luckily, Bediako is a very private person and as such has no controversies so far.
Nana Kwame Bediako is a huge and perfect role model for every young person out there with a dream. He is proof that even the smallest of actions work together to push you closer to your dream. He also teaches young entrepreneurs to listen to their gut and work relentlessly towards whatever they dream of doing.
Sylvestre Ngouchinghe (Cameroon)
He started as a small shop owner but has grown to control nearly 80% of Cameroon’s frozen fish market. Sylvestre owns Congelcam, an import company that holds a firm grip on the country’s frozen fish supply chain. The brand sells frozen fish, both in urban markets and the remote parts of Cameroon.
Sylvestre has gained monopoly in the Cameroonian market and thus became a strong partner of the state on fish supplies at an affordable rate and also helps in the fight against high cost of living. Concerning the latter, the Cameroonian Ministry of trade said that a shortage, or an increase in prices of the “maquereau 5 plus,” a cheap mackerel consumed by 75% of the population, could spark hunger riots in the country; A legit claim considering that rice and fish are the two food products that Cameroon imports the most.
Sylvestre is heavily involved in philanthropy. He single handedly gave out over 250M Francs during COVID19 Pandemic, to indigent cameroonians.
Samuel Foyou (CAMEROON)
Samuel Foyou is a Cameroonian businessman and industrialist, who hails from the western Region of Cameroon, and made his fortune through commercial activities in Congo and Angola. He owns a chain of businesses such as, Unalor a match production company which he acquired from the Fotso group in 2009. He also owns Plasticam, Sotrasel (kitchen salt production) company and Biscuiterie Samuel Foyou (BSF), and Moore Paragon printing.
In 2014, he built the first 5-star hotel, the Chrystal Palace Chain, in downtown Douala. He also started a brewing company called the Samuel Foyou Brewery Company.
Samuel also applied to the State of Cameroon, an area of 2000 hectares to plant fruit trees, to produce natural juice for export. This is meant to align with his brewery project as well.
It is also the majority shareholder of the Cameroon Fermentation Company (Fermencam), a distillery he bought in 2006 from Victor Fotso, with a turnover of 12 billion CFA francs in 2013.
Kate Fotso (CAMEROON)
Citizenship: Cameroonian
Occupation: Businesswoman
Known for: Cocoa bean business
Kate Kanyi-Tometi Fotso is a Cameroonian businesswoman who founded the largest cocoa exporter in Cameroon and is currently the richest woman in Cameroon and the 20th richest person in the African Francophonie.
Fotso started her cocoa bsiness more than 20 years ago, and is called the “iron lady of the cocoa sector”. Fotso founded the Telcar Cocoa company and is also a director there, the largest exporter of cocoa beans in Cameroon, and it accounts for 30% of the country’s cocoa exports with roughly 48,000 tons of cocoa exported in 2015– K 2016. Telcar has a partnership deal with American agricultural trading firm Cargill.
Fotso was appointed by Cameroonian president Paul Biya to represent exporters on the board of directors for the autonomous port of Kribi. She is also a shareholder in Ecobank Cameroun and manages the investments and capital she inherited from her late husband.
Fotso also runs the “Kargill Cocoa Promise” initiative, a scheme to improve the training of agricultural workers in Cameroon, which resulted in 21,000 cocoa farmers trained in 2011 and 2015.
Fotso is reportedly worth of $252 million, and is ranked as the 20th largest fortune of the African Francophonie and is the first woman to ever be ranked in the top 30 in the African Francophonie or SubSaharan Africa. She has also been named as one of the top ten most influential people in Cameroon by the French edition of Slate Magazine.
Hamis Kiggundu (UGANDA)
He is called the richest Young Billionaire in Uganda, with a net worth of $870 and business interests in the United States and UK. His business name is Ham International UK Ltd, and it holds the commercial property business, logistics company (Ham International Express Logistics), a multimedia platform (Hamz Link Ltd), all based in IK, Texas and Canada.
Popularly known as Ham in his native Uganda, he also owns a number of buildings in the heart of Kampala city; including a shopping Centre he named, Ham Shopping Mall, Ham Towers, Ham Shopping Grounds, among others. These achievements have earned him a place on the List of The Uganda Top60 Most Powerful and influential Young Entrepreneurs and Corporate Executives (2021).
Ham was born to a textile trader in Masaka, and learnt how to do business from his father. Though he studied Law in Kabojja and Makerere Universities, he had already been ingrained on entrepreneurship early in life. He started trading in commodities and merchandise with small funds given to him by his parents, and as his profit increased so did he expand his businesses.
Ham started importing commodities from: China, Thailand, Hong Kong and Dubai. And distributed them in wholesale to Ugandans and neighboring countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Congo and Sudan. He eventually went into real estate, mainly buying and selling land and properties at a profit before incorporating Ham Enterprises (U) Ltd and progressed to constructing and owning his commercial properties.”
As if that’s not enough, he is also investing heavily in technology, under another of his companies, Hamz Link Ltd, just like google. Through Hamz Link, he has been able to launch an online learning platform, Hamz Campus, a video streaming App, Hamz Wave, and a social media platform, Hamz Line, to name a few.
Hams is also a philanthropist, he is building a replica of the White House in Kampala, which he says will act as a tourist attraction. “The White House will house the headquarters for all my companies but equally stand as an illustration of possibilities for my fellow Ugandans and Africans at large, if they have it there, we too can have it here. Africans should not chase their dreams out there but rather put in an effort and struggle to implement their desires in Africa. I have always admired the white house as a young man and based on reason, why go to America as a tourist to visit the white house when I have the means to build a look-alike here back home,” says Ham.
Ham is also currently building a sports stadium named Nakivubo Stadium, on behalf of the government of Uganda, a project he embarked on as a corporate social responsibility for community development.
“I advise them to take social and self-responsibility, connect their vision to their personal values. They must have the ability to anticipate change and most importantly they must be courageous enough to abandon their past. In fact, they should get time and read my books; “Success and Failure based on Reason and Reality” and “Reason as the World Masterpiece,” with an open mind.
Ham says “All developments and discoveries, past, present and future to come; were, are and will always be a direct reflection of the reasoning capacity of the people of such a given time frame.” That’s why reason stands as the world masterpiece.
Senegalese Multi-Millionaire Abdoulaye Diao Launches Commercial Bank
44 year old Senegalese multimillionaire oilman Abdoulaye Diao recently founded Bustard, a new commercial bank serving the West African country.
The bank was officially launched in Dakar in January 2022, and is the first out of many branches to come. The bank, has an initial market capitalization of $26 million, will help in financing Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), with a particular focus on agricultural businesses.
Abdoulaye Diao, is one of Senegal’s most illustrious businessmen, who founded International Trading Oil and Commodities Corporation (ITOC SA) in 1987. ITOC trades crude oil as well as gasoline, LPG and jet fuel and has annual revenues of more than $600 million
