How Samih Sawiris turned a Red Sea desert into a city and built a $1.4 billion empire
Samih Sawiris once waited tables in Berlin. Today he is worth $1.4 billion, having built cities from scratch across four countries through Orascom Development.
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Tycoon Robert Gumede says South Africa's sugar industry must pivot to ethanol and electricity or risk becoming irrelevant
Robert Gumede told Business Day that South Africa's sugar industry is too narrowly focused on table sugar and must pivot to ethanol and electricity to survive global competition.
Nigerian oil tycoon Wale Tinubu says Africa must stop begging for foreign capital and fund its own energy future
Oando CEO Wale Tinubu told Reuters Africa must stop depending on foreign capital and build its own financing mechanisms as Oando prepares a $750 million drilling campaign.
Nigerian oil tycoon Tein Jack-Rich disqualified from Senate run
Oil mogul Tein Jack-Rich was blocked from Nigeria's APC Senate primary for Rivers West, while a rival was quietly reinstated on the same day, exposing a deeper political power struggle.
South Africa's Dis-Chem faces nationwide boycott calls after heir Mark Saltzman clashes with journalist over Palestine
Dis-Chem faces growing boycott calls after shareholder Mark Saltzman clashed with journalist Redi Tlhabi on social media over Palestine posts, drawing public anger at the pharmacy chain.
Kenyan banker James Mwangi eyes bank acquisitions along the Lobito Corridor for Equity Group
Equity Group CEO James Mwangi told Reuters the bank is targeting acquisitions in Angola, Zambia and Mozambique as it follows the Lobito Corridor trade route south.
African Wealth Briefing — Tues., May 19, 2026
Tanzania's president met Dangote in Dar es Salaam after losing the refinery to Mombasa; Nigeria's pension regulator clears pension funds for the Dangote refinery IPO; Motsepe's GoTyme Bank eyes $15 billion listing.
Uganda's richest man, Sudhir Ruparelia, was exiled from Uganda at 16 with nothing. He came back and bought a quarter of Kampala
Sudhir Ruparelia was expelled from Uganda at 16 with nothing, worked in UK factories to survive, then returned in 1985 with $25,000 and built the country's largest business empire worth $1.2 billion.
Japan's Asahi clears East African regulators for 2.3 billion dollar EABL takeover, secures exemption from mandatory minority offer
Japan's Asahi Group Holdings has won capital-markets clearance in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda for its $2.3 billion takeover of East African Breweries from Diageo.
Ghana's McDan rejects GACL "buyer beware" notice as 16-acre Spintex land dispute heads to Court of Appeal
Daniel McKorley's McDan Group has rejected Ghana Airports Company Limited's warning against developing a contested 16-acre Spintex parcel as the appeal pushes ahead.
Abdelmadjid Kerrar was trading with China in the 1960s. Today his pharmaceutical company is Algeria's largest
Abdelmadjid Kerrar was building factories and trading with China before most Algerians thought about Asia. Then he built the country's biggest pharma company.
Ghana wants 30% of every gold ounce, and Kenneth Ashigbey isn't ready to sign
Ghana wants 30% of every gold ounce its industrial miners produce, up from 20%, as the central bank rebuilds reserves. The miners aren't sold.
Tycoon William Tewiah's $338 million ZEN Petroleum stake makes him the richest stockholder on the Ghana Stock Exchange
William Tewiah's 80% stake in ZEN Petroleum is worth GHS 3.87 billion, making him Ghana's wealthiest individual stockholder, overthrowing Daniel Ofori.
How tycoon William Tewiah built a $420 million energy empire in Ghana with no oil experience and one contract
William Tewiah left a career in London finance and drove his own fuel tankers to Ghana's gold mines. He built an empire doing it.
Nigeria's pension regulator clears pension funds to buy into Aliko Dangote's refinery IPO
The National Pension Commission has waived its own rules to let pension funds back the Dangote refinery's share sale, the largest in Nigeria's history
Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola's memoir is shortlisted for African Business Book of the Year
Femi Otedola's Making It Big has been shortlisted for the 2026 BCA African Business Book of the Year, with the winner announced in London on July 3.