Forbes’ 2026 Africa billionaire ranking places seven of its 23 entries in “Diversified,” its largest group by industry label. The breakdown shows how Forbes classifies the people on the list; it does not measure total wealth held by each sector.
The seven are Abdulsamad Rabiu, Mike Adenuga, Mohamed Mansour, Mohammed Dewji, Youssef Mansour, Aziz Akhannouch and Yasseen Mansour. Together, they account for 30.4% of the list, based on Forbes’ 23 entries.
Finance & Investments has three entries: Michiel Le Roux, Jannie Mouton & family and Othman Benjelloun & family. Fashion & Retail, Metals & Mining and Telecom each have two. Their entries are Johann Rupert & family and Christoffel Wiese; Nicky Oppenheimer & family and Patrice Motsepe; and Naguib Sawiris and Strive Masiyiwa, respectively.
Seven other categories have one entry each: Manufacturing, Construction & Engineering, Media & Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Service, Energy and Real Estate. Aliko Dangote is the sole name in Manufacturing, with Forbes estimating his fortune at $28.5 billion, the largest on the list.
Forbes puts total wealth across all 23 entries at $126.7 billion, 21% above its 2025 edition. Its table assigns an industry label to each person but does not report a combined wealth figure for each industry.
Forbes classifies Femi Otedola under Energy and estimates his net worth at $1.3 billion. BusinessDay’s Oct. 28 article discusses Otedola under finance, a different category assignment.
Forbes published the ranking March 9. Its estimates use stock prices and currency exchange rates from the end of March 1, 2026. For private companies, Forbes estimates value using revenue or profit and valuation ratios from comparable public companies. The ranking covers African citizens who live in Africa or have their primary business there.
