Meet the five wealthiest businessmen in Morocco
Africa’s fourth-largest economy in terms of GDP, Morocco is home to three billionaires, 200 multimillionaires and 4,500 high net-worth individuals, according to AfrAsia Bank’s 2021 Africa Wealth Report.
In terms of the living standards and economic wealth of individuals in the country, Morocco ranks twelfth in Africa with a GDP per capita of $7,296, five spots ahead of Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria.
The North African country forms part of an elite group of five African countries, which account for 50 percent of the continent’s total private wealth held by individuals.
Private wealth in Morocco is valued at $111 billion.
According to Forbes estimates, this figure is 45-percent lower than the wealth of the world’s wealthiest person, Elon Musk, who has a $203.4-billion net worth.
According to data compiled by Billionaires.Africa, here is a list of Morocco’s wealthiest people.
1. King Mohammed VI
Net worth: $2 billion
Source: Inheritance
Africa’s wealthiest monarch, King Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, is one of the wealthiest individuals in the North African country. He has a $2-billion net worth, according to information retrieved from Wikipedia.
In 2015, he had a net worth of $5.7 billion, according to Forbes.
King Mohammed derives the majority of his wealth from key stakes in the companies that he inherited from his late father, King Hassan.
He inherited a 35-percent stake in Societe Nationale d’Investissement, a leading holding company that has stakes in several publicly traded companies, including the country’s largest bank, Attijariwafa, the mining company, Managem Group, the sugar producer, Cosumar and the dairy firm, Centrale Danone.
2. Aziz Akhannouch
Net worth: $2 billion
Source: Telecommunications, Tourism and Real Estate.
According to Forbes, Aziz Akhannouch, the leader of the National Rally of Moroccan Independents, who was recently appointed as the head of government by King Mohammed VI of Morocco, is one of Morocco’s wealthiest men.
The African billionaire, who was worth more than $2 billion at the time of the drafting of this report, derives most of his wealth from Akwa Group, a multibillion-dollar conglomerate founded by his father and partner, Ahmed Wakrim, in 1932.
The Morocco-based group has interests in petroleum, gas and chemicals through the publicly-traded Afriquia Gaz and Maghreb Oxygene.
3. Othman Benjelloun
Net worth: $1.3 billion
Source: Banking
Othman Benjelloun is worth $1.3 billion, according to Forbes.
The Moroccan business leader is known for co-founding BMCE Bank of Africa, where he serves as the chairman and CEO.
Benjelloun’s father was a significant shareholder in RMA, a Moroccan insurance company that Othman took over in 1988.
After purchasing the insurance company, he expanded the business venture into the banking industry. The banking aspect of Benjelloun’s business career is worth $4 billion based solely on its market capitalization profits.
His banking enterprise, BMCE Bank, has a presence in at least 12 countries in Africa after it purchased the Mali-based Bank of Africa.
4. Anas Sefrioui
Net worth: $1.1 billion
Source: Real Estate
Anas Sefrioui, a Moroccan businessman who dropped out of secondary school to work with his father, Haj Abdeslam Sefrioui, on a project to create skincare products, made a fortune building residential and commercial real estate throughout Morocco.
Sefrioui derives a substantial part of his net worth from operations and contracts from the publicly-traded real estate developer, Groupe Addoha.
The market value of his stake in the company was valued at $326.94 million (MAD2.91 billion) on June 22. His net worth, according to Forbes, was $1.1 billion at the time of writing.
5. Alami Lazraq
Net worth: $450 million
Source: Real Estate
Mohamed Alami Lazraq is the majority shareholder in Alliances Developpement Immobiliere (ADI), Morocco’s largest home and hotel builder.
Lazraq founded ADI in 1994 to provide construction and real estate services and develop middle- and low-income homes for household families in Morocco.
According to Forbes, Lazraq had a $450-million net worth as of 2013.