Egypt’s Nassef Sawiris and Algeria’s Issad Rebrab and family have emerged as the first and second richest Arabs in the world on Forbes’ latest annual world’s billionaire list, tagged “Facts And Figures 2021.”
According to Albawaba, 2021 saw an increase in Arab billionaires to 22 from 21 in 2020, with nine from the African continent — six Egyptians, two Moroccans and one Algerian. The combined fortune of all Arab billionaires rose to $53.4 from $47.3 billion in 2020.
Nassef Onsi Sawiris
Nassef Onsi Sawiris is an Egyptian billionaire and the wealthiest Arab globally. He is the youngest son of Onsi Sawiris, born to Egypt’s famous Sawiris family. As of April 2021, his net worth is estimated at $8.3 billion, making him the second wealthiest African after Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote. His fortune grew by $3.3 billion in 2021 from 2020.
Nassef owns the Aston Villa football club in England and manages OCI, a giant nitrogen fertilizer producer with plants in Iowa and Texas. He also has a 6-percent stake in the sportswear company Adidas and a stake in the cement giant Lafarge Holcim.
Issad Rebrab & family
Algeria’s only billionaires, Issad Rebrab and family, are the world’s second-richest Arabs, with a net worth of $4.8 billion, according to Forbes. Rebrab is the founder and CEO of Cevital, one of the world’s largest sugar refineries, with a capacity to generate 2 million tons of refined sugar per annum. Cevital is Algeria’s largest privately held company, with the Rabab family its majority stakeholders.
On April 22, 2019, Rebrab was imprisoned upon the instruction of the Algerian public prosecutor on grounds of corruption relating to tax, banking and customs offences, France24 reported. After spending more than the stipulated six months in prison, he was released on Jan. 1, 2020.
Forbes recently released its 35th annual world’s billionaires list tagged “Facts And Figures 2021” on 6 April. It recorded an unprecedented 24 percent growth to 2,755 global dollar billionaires, about 660 newcomers.
