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Nigeria's four billionaires are running the playbook that built industrial America
Dangote, Adenuga, Rabiu and Otedola are running versions of the playbooks Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie and Morgan used to build America.
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Nigerian oil tycoon Abdulrahman Bashar's Abuja mansion is sealed over $40 million debt
Bailiffs enforced court orders against Abdulrahman Musa Bashar's properties in Lagos and Abuja over a $40 million judgment debt.
Kenyan supermarket chain Quickmart is going public and these people will make millions
Sokoni is selling 2 billion Quickmart shares, and the proceeds go to Adenia Partners, the chain's founders and CEO Peter Kang'iri.
Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal is building what would be Africa's largest copper smelter
Konkola Copper Mines, 79.4% owned by Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, says a new smelter will add 70,000 tonnes a year and be the largest in Africa.
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The Inside Story: So He Bought a Bank — How GT Ferreira Was Refused a Banking Licence in 1977, Then Built One of South Africa's Great Fortunes
In 1977, GT Ferreira and two partners applied for a banking licence in South Africa. They were refused. So, over the next eight years, they simply built the thing the regulator wouldn't hand them — buying their way into control of a merchant bank and turning it into the foundation of FirstRand.
Deep-Dive Report: The Pipeline Builder — How Emeka Okwuosa's Oilserv Went From Nigerian Gas Contractor to Pan-African Energy Developer
Emeka Okwuosa's Oilserv helped build the AKK pipeline, Nigeria's gas backbone. Two months later it signed to develop two blocks in Gabon — the moment a contractor becomes a developer. Inside Nigeria's indigenous pipeline champion and its move up the value chain, and across borders.
Investor Memo: The Clean Exit — Why Saki Macozoma Sold His Entire Manganese Business to Exxaro for R11.7 Billion and Kept Everything Else
Saki Macozoma just sold his entire manganese business to Exxaro for R11.7 billion — and kept the trucking, gaming, telecoms and copper. A clean, total exit from one capital-hungry commodity, and a lesson in what a diversified owner should hold and what he should let go.
Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris is merging OCI and Orascom into one Abu Dhabi company
Nassef Sawiris wants to merge OCI into Orascom Construction in Abu Dhabi. A Dutch court froze the deal, so he is offering €4.10 a share in cash.
Egypt's billionaire Elsewedy family opens a Shanghai buying office for its $6 billion group
Elsewedy Electric (Shanghai) began operating on Sept. 15 as the Egyptian group's procurement centre for China, six months after it registered.
Algerian billionaire Issad Rebrab is now barred from running even his smallest companies
Issad Rebrab, 81, has been stripped of the right to manage the small companies he owns outside Cévital, three years after losing the group itself.
Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris opens a €866 million offer to take OCI private
NNS Holding opened its all-cash offer for OCI Global on Sept. 15 at €4.10 a share, valuing the fertiliser group at about €866 million.
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.
Moroccan billionaire Moulay Hafid Elalamy now holds 12.5% of Teleperformance
Moulay Hafid Elalamy has closed the €355 million derivative he used to build a stake in Teleperformance, and holds about 12.5% of the CAC 40 group.
Billionaire Naguib Sawiris's son backs $50 million platform to buy Egypt's heritage brands
Onsi Naguib Sawiris has put money behind a new vehicle buying culture-rooted Egyptian brands. Creative Investments Holding has secured $20 million at first close toward a $50 million target, with an Egyptian state SME agency sitting on the same cap table.
Egyptian tycoon Medhat Mohamed Khalil abandons sale of Raya Foods to Helios
Medhat Khalil's Raya Holding cancelled the sale of Raya Foods to Helios after conditions went unmet, eight months after board approval.
Nigerian oil tycoon Abdulrahman Bashar's Abuja mansion is sealed over $40 million debt
Bailiffs enforced court orders against Abdulrahman Musa Bashar's properties in Lagos and Abuja over a $40 million judgment debt.
Nigerian oil tycoon Tunde Afolabi is building a gas field to feed Nigeria LNG's Train 7
Amni, founded by Tunde Afolabi, and TotalEnergies have approved the Ima gas field, which will supply a third of Nigeria LNG's Train 7 feedstock.
Ghanaian tycoon Sam Jonah is helping raise $1 billion for African critical minerals
Former Gold Fields CEO Chris Griffith is raising $1 billion for African critical minerals with Colin Coleman and Ghana's Sam Jonah.
Senegalese billionaire Yerim Sow's Bridge Bank starts trading in Abidjan on Wednesday
Bridge Bank starts trading on the BRVM on Sept. 24 under BBGC, after drawing CFA95.8 billion of orders for CFA67.5 billion of shares.
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote will break ground on his Kenyan refinery on Sept. 30
Construction of the $17 billion East Africa Refinery at Lamu starts Sept. 30, while Dangote Cement has ruled out a Kenyan plant over limestone.
Nigeria's four billionaires are running the playbook that built industrial America
Dangote, Adenuga, Rabiu and Otedola are running versions of the playbooks Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie and Morgan used to build America.
Nigerian billionaires Dangote and Rabiu face a Chinese-owned rival as cement prices double
HBM Nigeria, formerly Lafarge Africa and now owned by China's Huaxin, wants distributors with N250 million each as cement tops N12,500 a bag.
Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote will take his fertiliser company public in 2028
Aliko Dangote says Dangote Fertiliser will list in 2028, when he expects capacity to reach 12 million tonnes a year across Nigeria and Ethiopia.
Sudanese-British billionaire Mo Ibrahim tells Zambia's president not to waste his first term
Mo Ibrahim told Zambia's Hakainde Hichilema not to waste his first-term progress, citing arrests, the death of a former MP and court closures.
Billionaires Narendra Raval, Edha Nahdi bet $600 million on clinker as Sarbjit Rai enters cement business
Narendra Raval's West Pokot plant and Edha Nahdi's Kwale project commit roughly Sh77 billion ($600m) to clinker, the input East Africa has always imported. Now Sarbjit Singh Rai has filed for a third plant in Nyeri.
President Paul Kagame says Rwanda wants a stake in Dangote's $16 billion Kenyan refinery
Rwanda's President Paul Kagame has confirmed his country is in early talks about taking a stake in Aliko Dangote's planned $16 billion Lamu oil refinery, saying Rwanda would be "very happy" to participate.
Aliko Dangote offers Kenya a $500 million stake in $20 billion Lamu refinery as September groundbreaking nears
Aliko Dangote has offered Kenya a $500 million stake in his planned $20 billion Lamu oil refinery, with groundbreaking now targeted for September as East African governments weigh their participation.
Madagascar's richest man Ylias Akbaraly attacks Elon Musk's layoffs in a new book
Madagascar's richest man Ylias Akbaraly criticises Elon Musk's mass layoffs in a new memoir, saying job cuts expose people to social death.
Esther Koimett becomes Middle East Bank Kenya's largest shareholder after inheriting Nicholas Biwott's stake
Esther Koimett, daughter of the late Kenyan billionaire and cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott, has emerged as Middle East Bank Kenya's largest individual shareholder with a 17.48% stake.
Aliko Dangote plans $17 billion refinery on Kenya's Lamu Island to end East Africa's fuel imports
Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote has selected Kenya's Lamu Island as the site for a $17 billion refinery that would transform East Africa's fuel supply.
High Court clears the way to distribute Simeon Nyachae's estate
A Kenyan court has dismissed a challenge by Simeon Nyachae's son, clearing the way to distribute the late politician's sprawling estate and business empire
Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal is building what would be Africa's largest copper smelter
Konkola Copper Mines, 79.4% owned by Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, says a new smelter will add 70,000 tonnes a year and be the largest in Africa.
Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa's InfraCo has lost a third of its value since March
Econet InfraCo has fallen from 33 cents to 22.79 cents since listing in March, wiping about $309 million off a company valued at $1 billion.
South African mining boss Neal Froneman wants to build a $410 million Formula One circuit
A consortium chaired by former Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman plans a R6.7 billion motorsport complex in the Swartland to host F1 by 2031.
South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe's Harmony Gold launches $500 million bond sale
Harmony Gold is selling $500 million of convertible bonds due 2031 with a coupon of 1.5% to 2%, convertible into about 2.9% of its shares.
South African defence tycoon Ivor Ichikowitz says Africa must build its own weapons
Paramount founder Ivor Ichikowitz says Africa should build its own defence industry, citing a youth survey his own foundation commissioned.
South African billionaire Lazarus Zim lost everything in 2008 and rebuilt it without borrowing
Lazarus Zim's Afripalm Resources collapsed when banks called in his pledged Northam shares. He returned through a structure that could not be margin-called.
South African media mogul Given Mkhari built four radio stations from scratch
Given Mkhari founded Shilumana, formerly MSG Afrika, and built Capricorn FM, Power 98.7, Rhythm FM and Beat 105.2 by applying for licences.
Billionaire Johann Rupert's fibre business now reaches 2.9 million South African homes
Johann Rupert's fiber group Maziv now passes 2.9 million South African homes with 1.38 million subscribers, generating $473 million in revenue, Remgro's results show.
Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Al-Amoudi's failed refinery cost Morocco $7 billion
Mohammed Al-Amoudi bought Morocco's only refinery for 4 billion dirhams in 1997. It shut in 2015 owing over $4 billion and has never reopened.
Billionaire Mohammed Al-Amoudi orders his conglomerate to hire 40,000 more Ethiopians
Mohammed Al-Amoudi has instructed MIDROC's chief executive to lift the workforce from about 80,000 to between 100,000 and 120,000 employees.
Tewodros Ashenafi is the man foreign companies use to get into Ethiopia
Tewodros Ashenafi was the local partner on Ethiopia's largest privatisation, a $1.4 billion tobacco deal, and co-owns Ambo with Coca-Cola.
Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Al-Amoudi is rebuilding his gold business in a new region
MIDROC has ordered Austrian machinery for a plant treating 1.25 million tonnes of ore a year, eight years after Ethiopia suspended its main mine.
Morocco rejects plan to nationalise Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Al-Amoudi's collapsed SAMIR refinery
Morocco's upper house has rejected a bid to nationalise the SAMIR refinery, the shuttered facility once owned by billionaire Mohammed Al-Amoudi that collapsed under $4 billion in debt.
Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi's MIDROC secures $80 million for Sheraton Addis upgrade
Mohammed Al-Amoudi's MIDROC Ethiopia has signed an $80 million IFC loan to refurbish the Sheraton Addis and build a second Sheraton hotel in Addis Ababa.
Qatar's billionaire Al-Khayyat family is bidding to build Africa's largest airport in Ethiopia
Qatar's Al-Khayyat family, through Power International Holding, is bidding to build Ethiopia's planned $12.5 billion Bishoftu airport and a 400-kilometre highway in the DRC.
Somali tycoon Amina Moghe Hersi's Atiak Sugar Factory has eaten $204 million and produced nothing in years. Uganda is demanding answers.
Uganda's parliament is demanding answers after Amina Moghe Hersi's Atiak Sugar Factory consumed $204 million in public and private funds without producing sugar in years.
Latest Posts
Nigerian oil tycoon Abdulrahman Bashar's Abuja mansion is sealed over $40 million debt
Bailiffs enforced court orders against Abdulrahman Musa Bashar's properties in Lagos and Abuja over a $40 million judgment debt.
Aliko Dangote hands Engineers India $450 million to build his $16 billion Kenya refinery
Aliko Dangote has hired Engineers India, the firm behind his Lagos refinery, on a $450 million contract to manage construction of his $16 billion Kenya plant.
Kenyan supermarket chain Quickmart is going public and these people will make millions
Sokoni is selling 2 billion Quickmart shares, and the proceeds go to Adenia Partners, the chain's founders and CEO Peter Kang'iri.
Billionaire Sunil Mittal's Airtel Money files for $9 billion London IPO, the City's biggest since 2021
Sunil Mittal's Airtel Money has announced its intention to list in London at a valuation of $8 billion to $9 billion, raising about $800 million next month.
Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal is building what would be Africa's largest copper smelter
Konkola Copper Mines, 79.4% owned by Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, says a new smelter will add 70,000 tonnes a year and be the largest in Africa.
Nigerian oil tycoon Tunde Afolabi is building a gas field to feed Nigeria LNG's Train 7
Amni, founded by Tunde Afolabi, and TotalEnergies have approved the Ima gas field, which will supply a third of Nigeria LNG's Train 7 feedstock.
Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa's InfraCo has lost a third of its value since March
Econet InfraCo has fallen from 33 cents to 22.79 cents since listing in March, wiping about $309 million off a company valued at $1 billion.
Billionaire Hassanein Hiridjee's foundation opens its 250th school in Madagascar
Hassanein Hiridjee's Axian Foundation has opened its 250th school in Madagascar, at Ambahikily in the south-west, after 15 years of building.
Malagasy tycoon Mamy Ravatomanga is charged over five Boeings that were flown to Iran
Five Boeing 777s registered in Madagascar ended up with a sanctioned Iranian airline. The trial of 33 defendants has been put back to Oct. 27.
Australian billionaire Oliver Curtis seeks $10 billion for Nvidia chips before Firmus's ASX float
A company founded seven years ago in Sydney is borrowing $10 billion to buy chips for a data centre in Indonesia, ahead of a listing reportedly valuing it above Canva. One of its co-chief executives went to prison for insider trading in 2016.
Ghanaian tycoon Sam Jonah is helping raise $1 billion for African critical minerals
Former Gold Fields CEO Chris Griffith is raising $1 billion for African critical minerals with Colin Coleman and Ghana's Sam Jonah.
Senegalese billionaire Yerim Sow's Bridge Bank starts trading in Abidjan on Wednesday
Bridge Bank starts trading on the BRVM on Sept. 24 under BBGC, after drawing CFA95.8 billion of orders for CFA67.5 billion of shares.
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote will break ground on his Kenyan refinery on Sept. 30
Construction of the $17 billion East Africa Refinery at Lamu starts Sept. 30, while Dangote Cement has ruled out a Kenyan plant over limestone.
Nigeria's four billionaires are running the playbook that built industrial America
Dangote, Adenuga, Rabiu and Otedola are running versions of the playbooks Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie and Morgan used to build America.
Billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman are freed from EU sanctions
The EU preliminarily agreed to lift sanctions on Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman to renew penalties on nearly 3,000 Russians for three years.
Soccer Legend Thierry Henry lists his New York penthouse for $25 million
Thierry Henry went house-hunting in Manhattan in 2010, the summer he left Barcelona for the New York Red Bulls. Sixteen years and one renovation later, the penthouse he settled on is for sale and he has moved into football ownership instead.
