Table of Contents
Key Points
- Anas Sefrioui and Jannie Mouton join Africa’s billionaire ranks with net worths of $1.7B and $1.9B, driven by real estate and banking gains.
- Zak Calisto surpasses $1B after expanding Karooooo Ltd. from a vehicle-tracking start-up into a global mobility analytics company.
- Thom Mpinganjira and Hisham Talaat Moustafa hit $1B as FDH Bank and TMG shares soar, boosting Africa’s billionaire count to 25.
Africa’s billionaire class has grown in 2025, with five new names joining the continent’s wealthiest individuals, highlighting the resilience of its capital markets despite global economic headwinds. These gains reflect a combination of strong corporate performance, investor confidence, and the leadership of business figures whose companies have delivered significant shareholder value across real estate, banking, and technology.
Data from Billionaires.Africa shows that equity markets have been a major driver of personal wealth this year, pushing a new wave of founders and major shareholders past the $1 billion mark. Earlier in the year, Forbes expanded its Africa rich list from 20 to 22, noting the return of Moroccan real estate entrepreneur Anas Sefrioui and South African investor Jannie Mouton.
Market rally boosts net worths
Sefrioui’s net worth jumped to $1.7 billion after Douja Promotion Groupe Addoha, the property group he founded, saw its share value more than double. Mouton, meanwhile, reached $1.9 billion as Capitec Bank, where he is a major shareholder, posted a sharp rise in stock price. The billionaire roster grew further in May, when South African tech entrepreneur Zak Calisto crossed the $1 billion threshold. Calisto turned his start-up, Karooooo Ltd., a vehicle-tracking business, into a global mobility analytics company.
August proved to be another pivotal month. Malawian banker Thom Mpinganjira and Egyptian real estate magnate Hisham Talaat Moustafa both joined the billionaire club after significant increases in the market value of their holdings. Mpinganjira’s leap was driven by a remarkable 365 percent surge in FDH Bank Plc’s shares on the Malawi Stock Exchange.
Through his firm M Development, he controls a 55 percent stake in FDH Financial Holdings, the parent company of FDH Bank, which itself owns 74.05 percent of the bank. This indirect holding of more than 2.81 billion shares, around 40.73 percent of FDH Bank’s equity, rose in value from MWK416.6 billion ($240.5 million) in January to MWK1.94 trillion ($1.12 billion) by August. FDH Bank’s market capitalization reached MWK4.76 trillion ($2 billion), making it Malawi’s most valuable publicly traded company.
In Egypt, Moustafa, chairman and largest shareholder of Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG), the country’s largest real estate developer, surpassed the $1 billion mark as TMG shares rebounded. Between July 30 and August 11, the market value of his 43.5 percent stake increased by EGP 3.49 billion ($72 million), reaching EGP 50.27 billion ($1.04 billion), securing his place among Africa’s wealthiest.
Equity markets fuel wealth creation
The rise of these new billionaires comes amid a broader story of growth across Africa. “The growth story in Africa overall is promising, with millionaire population set to rise 65 percent in the next decade, fueled by strong growth in key sectors such as fintech, eco-tourism, business process outsourcing, software development, rare metals mining, green tech, media and entertainment, and wealth management,” said Raymond Nel, Senior Advisor at Henley & Partners. He also cautioned that currency depreciation and underperforming stock markets in some regions have limited the growth of Africa’s wealth relative to global benchmarks, with total investable wealth on the continent at roughly $2.5 trillion.
Even against these headwinds, Africa’s equity markets have proved to be engines of unprecedented wealth creation in 2025. The emergence of Sefrioui, Mouton, Calisto, Mpinganjira, and Moustafa as billionaires has boosted the continent’s billionaire count to 25, a milestone that reflects not only individual achievements but also the deepening maturity and global integration of Africa’s capital markets. The year’s gains have reinforced the notion that, despite volatility, Africa’s wealth trajectory remains upward, driven by visionary entrepreneurs whose companies are shaping the continent’s economic future.
