Jean-Louis Billon built a $1.2 billion palm oil empire, then chased Ivory Coast's presidency
He built his family's plantation roots into a $1.2 billion palm oil and rubber empire, then turned his ambition toward Ivory Coast's presidency. T
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Farouk Ismail inherited a failing shop in Lobatse and turned it into a $38 million retail fortune
Farouk Ismail inherited a failing general dealer in Lobatse from his father, made the pivotal decision to hand operational control to a Kerala accountant named Ram, and built a $38 million retail fortune.
Inoussa Kanazoe left his village with 13,500 FCFA and built a $500 million cement and gold empire
Inoussa Kanazoe left his village with 13,500 FCFA, sold ice cream in Abidjan and returned to build a cement empire across five countries and a gold mining group acquiring the mines foreign companies are fleeing.
African Wealth Briefing — Fri., June 26, 2026
Nassef Sawiris moves to take OCI Global private in an all-cash bid. Femi Otedola's First HoldCo stake crosses $420 million.
South African arms mogul Ivor Ichikowitz's Paramount teams with Baba Kalyani to launch Simha armored vehicle in France
Ivor Ichikowitz's Paramount Group, Africa's largest private defense company, has unveiled the Simha armored vehicle in France with billionaire Baba Kalyani's Indian defense group.
Cameroon's richest woman Kate Fotso recovers after a brutal cocoa season
Kate Fotso's Telcar Cocoa is getting a late-season boost after its worst trading year in three decades, when purchases plunged more than 50 percent
Egypt's Farida Khamis bet the family carpet fortune on a $680 million petrochemical plant
While her sister runs the world's largest carpet maker, Farida Khamis built Egypt's only integrated polypropylene producer and chairs a $680 million industrial bet.
Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola's stake in First HoldCo is now worth $420 million
Femi Otedola now holds 9.27 billion shares in First HoldCo worth N575 billion, cementing his position as the bank's largest individual shareholder.
Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris met Syria's president in Damascus to resolve investments he lost under the Assad regime
Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has met Syria's new president in Damascus as he seeks to resolve outstanding financial claims in the country.
Missing phone haunts media mogul Amougou Belinga's murder trial in Cameroon
A missing phone has become the most significant evidentiary gap in the Cameroon murder trial implicating media billionaire Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga in the killing of journalist Martinez Zogo.
Billionaire Vimal Shah's seed company just beat Kenya's tax authority in a $1.7 million dispute
The Kenya Revenue Authority has lost a Sh221 million tax dispute against a seed company linked to Kenyan billionaire Vimal Shah and a former Central Bank of Kenya official.
Egyptian fintech unicorn MNT-Halan could be Egypt's next major IPO
Egyptian fintech unicorn MNT-Halan is said to be worth up to $1 billion and is exploring a public listing that could make founder Mounir Nakhla one of Egypt's newest billionaires.
Africa's 3rd richest man Abdul Samad Rabiu loses $1 billion as Nigerian stocks suffer their worst day of 2026
A brutal session on the Nigerian Exchange erased more than a billion dollars from the BUA Group founder's fortune, reshuffling Africa's wealth rankings overnight.
Bet9ja's billionaire founder Kunle Soname finances flights to bring 66 more Nigerians home from South Africa
Bet9ja founder Kunle Soname has financed the return flights of 66 more Nigerians from South Africa as part of his ongoing personal repatriation initiative.
Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa joins the board of advisors of Laurel Strategies, the global CEO advisory firm
Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa has joined the board of advisors of Laurel Strategies, a global CEO advisory firm that counsels Fortune 500 leaders on strategy, reputation and governance.
South African billionaire Robert Gumede saved Tongaat Hulett from collapse but cheap sugar imports are threatening to undo the rescue
Robert Gumede's Vision Group has saved Tongaat Hulett from liquidation but the company now faces a second crisis — R1.5 billion lost to cheap imported sugar.