Eight African billionaires have made the recently released 2022 Sunday Times Rich List featuring the UK’s 250 wealthiest people.
South African billionaire Nicky Oppenheimer is the richest African on the list, with a fortune that the Sunday Times pegs at £6.456 billion. He ranks 24th on the list, up from the 31st spot last year. The bulk of his fortune stems from the huge windfall that he received in 2012 when his family sold off their 40-percent stake in the diamond mining giant De Beers to Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash.
Swazi retail and property mogul Nathan “Natie” Kirsch is the second richest African on the list. His £5.208-billion fortune places him in the 35th spot on the list, up from 42nd a year ago. The 90-year-old billionaire owns a 75-percent stake in Jetro Holdings, a renowned U.S. consumer products company that owns and operates Jetro Cash & Carry and Restaurant Depot locations in more than 30 states across the United States. Kirsch also controls a 54-percent stake in Abacus Property Group, a Sydney-based real estate investment trust. He also owns a real estate portfolio that spans four continents, including London’s first office tower, Tower 42 and the Jandakot Airport in Perth, Australia.
South African-born Clive Calder, a former record executive and the co-founder of Zomba Group, is the third richest African on the list. He ranks 64th on the list with a £2.75-billion fortune. Calder, 75, became a billionaire in 2002 when he sold his music company Zomba Group to Bertlesmann, a German mass media corporation, for $2.7 billion.
South African property and insurance mogul Douw Steyn ranked 84th on the Sunday Times Rich List. His £2.1-billion fortune is derived from BGL Group, a UK-based insurance and financial services company that he founded. BGL Group is the parent of Comparethemarket.com. Steyn, 69, is also the owner of the famous Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg, and Steyn City, a secure 2,000-acre parkland estate located in Johannesburg. He is the fourth wealthiest African on the list.
Zimbabwean telecom billionaire Strive Masiyiwa is the fifth richest African on the list, with a fortune that the Sunday Times Rich List estimates at £2 billion, placing him in the 89th spot on the list. Masiyiwa is the founder of Econet Group, one of Africa’s largest mobile telecom companies. He is also the founder of Liquid Telecom, an independent data, voice and IP provider.
Egyptian-born Mohamed Al Fayed is the sixth African on the list and the 107th richest person in the UK with a fortune that the Sunday Times Rich List places at £1.699 billion. Al Fayed is the former owner of Harrod’s, the globally-famous London department store that he sold to Qatar in 2010. He also owns the Ritz Paris hotel.
Sudanese-born telecom tycoon Mo Ibrahim is the seventh African on the list. The Sunday Times pegged his net worth at £889 million, making him the 194th richest person in the United Kingdom. Mohammed “Mo” Ibrahim founded Celtel International in 1998, one of the earliest mobile phone companies serving Africa and the Middle East. He sold the company to Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Company for more than $3 billion in 2005.
South African businessman Manfred Gorvy takes the 200th position on the list, with an £861-million fortune. He is the founder and chairman of Hanover Acceptances, a holding company that owns large stakes in companies like Dorrington Plc, Refresco Gerber, African Realty Trust and Fresh Capital.
The UK’s Sunday Times Rich List records the country’s 250 wealthiest individuals. The list covers individuals and families in the United Kingdom, and includes many businessmen and women who have dual citizenship through business, investments or residency in the country.
Sri and Gopi Hinduja, who sit at the helm of Hinduja Group of India, topped the list with their £28.472 billion fortune, while businessman and inventor Sir James Dyson and his family came in second in the list with a fortune estimated at £23 billion.
