Kenyan billionaire Vimal Shah says he was defrauded of $745,000 in currency deal
Bidco Africa founder Vimal Shah told a Nairobi court he sent Ksh102.4 million for dollars that never arrived, after a friend vouched for the deal.
Otobong Tommy
Reporter
Otobong Tommy is a business writer and researcher with a background in public administration. She has worked with media and policy-adjacent institutions including Ventures Africa and NAEC, contributing to research and business reporting.
Billionaire Patrice Motsepe's Kropz to cut staff at $160m phosphate mine
Patrice Motsepe has put about $160 million into a phosphate mine outside Cape Town since 2018. It never reliably produced. Now Kropz is cutting its own staff, letting the mining contract lapse, and mothballing most of the plant.
Michael Dell's family office buys Baldwin Insurance for $7.7bn
Michael Dell made $107 billion this year on AI servers. He is now spending some of it on an insurance broker, bought alongside an AI holding company, at an 88 per cent premium, and taken off the public market entirely.
Billionaire Masayoshi Son borrows $11.87 billion more for his OpenAI bet
SoftBank secured an $11.87 billion two-year loan from about 20 banks, exceeding its $10 billion target, to fund its OpenAI investment.
South African tycoon Don Ncube was Anglo's first black director and now drills for gas
Don Ncube holds 16.35% of Kinetiko Energy, a stake worth about $6.9 million, built from licences the South African state had no form to issue.
Chinese AI chip founders are worth $2.1 billion each at a company that has never made a profit
Shanghai Enflame has fewer than 900 staff, one major customer and has never turned a profit in eight years. Its two founders, both ex-AMD engineers, are now worth $2.1 billion each and their biggest customer is also their biggest shareholder.
Lego's billionaire owners to double $1.6bn climate portfolio
Lego abandoned its attempt to make bricks from recycled bottles in 2023 because it raised emissions. The family office behind the company is now doubling a $1.6bn climate fund and putting money into the recycling industry instead.
Billionaire Aliko Dangote wins court order keeping Nigeria's oil regulator out of his refinery
A Lagos court has extended an order barring Nigeria's petroleum regulator from Dangote's refinery, four days before its share offer opens.
South African tycoon Stephen Saad's Aspen pulls out of making the HIV prevention shot
Aspen has withdrawn from South Africa's plan to make Gilead's HIV prevention injection locally, with Stephen Saad citing the absence of purchase guarantees.
Egypt's billionaire Elsewedy family bets $700 million on energy services
Egypt's El Sewedy family has announced about $700 million of investment as Elsewedy Electric pushes from cables into power services.
Raffles Family Office hires former Rwandan minister Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye to court wealthy Africans
Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye, Rwanda's former infrastructure minister, joins Raffles Family Office to lead its push along the Africa-Asia corridor.
Billionaire Aliko Dangote's $16 billion Kenyan refinery has no secure crude supply
Aliko Dangote breaks ground at Lamu on Sept. 30 on a 700,000-barrel refinery, in a country with no commercial oil production.
Kenyan tycoon Suleiman Shahbal signs a $100 million Mombasa deal with Dubai's DP World
DP World is putting more than $100m into a 535-acre industrial zone at Jomvu with Suleiman Shahbal's GulfCap. At the signing, President Ruto used the podium to tell Shahbal to abandon his bid for Mombasa governor.
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich loses his third attempt to overturn EU sanctions
Roman Abramovich has lost a third attempt to lift EU sanctions. The court held that his stake in Evraz was enough on its own, no proof he controlled the company or influenced the Kremlin was required.
Coinbase's billionaire founder Brian Armstrong says philanthropy is 'net negative'
Brian Armstrong is worth around $9 billion and will not start a foundation. Charities get "captured by ideology," he says, and philanthropy is often image repair, naming Bill Gates, whose foundation is among Africa's largest health funders.
Billionaire Chris Rokos quits the UK for Greece's flat tax
Chris Rokos paid £330m in UK tax last year, more than almost anyone. He is moving to Greece, where wealthy foreigners pay a flat €100,000 on all overseas income. Egypt's Nassef Sawiris made the same calculation two years earlier.