{"id":65559,"date":"2025-12-22T20:36:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T20:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026"},"modified":"2025-12-22T21:44:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T21:44:53","slug":"africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026","title":{"rendered":"Africa\u2019s power list: Tycoons to watch in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. <\/strong> <\/span>At the close of the first quarter of 2025, Africa\u2019s economic landscape continues to be shaped by bold entrepreneurship, strategic investments, and a growing focus on regional integration. Despite global economic headwinds and shifting trade dynamics, a select group of billionaires is not only holding their ground but also redefining Africa\u2019s position in the global economy.<\/p>\n<p>According to wealth rankings from respected global trackers such as Bloomberg and Forbes, the following individuals are the top billionaires in Africa this year\u2014business titans whose influence reaches far beyond their industries.<\/p>\n<p>Still reigning supreme as Africa\u2019s richest man, Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote has built a diversified empire under the Dangote Group, covering cement, sugar, and food processing. His crown jewel, however, is the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery near Lagos, which is expected to significantly boost Nigeria\u2019s fuel self-sufficiency. With a refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, the facility positions Nigeria as a potential exporter of refined petroleum products.<\/p>\n<p>South African luxury goods mogul Johann Rupert holds the second spot, courtesy of his role as chairman of Compagnie Financie\u0300re Richemont\u2014parent company to iconic brands like Cartier and Montblanc. His strategic investments and leadership have placed him at the top tier of the global fashion and luxury industry.<\/p>\n<p>Another Nigerian industrialist in the top five, Abdulsamad Rabiu is the founder of BUA Group, a diversified conglomerate with interests in cement, sugar, and real estate. Rabiu has been instrumental in supporting West Africa\u2019s infrastructure boom, cementing his place as one of the continent\u2019s most dynamic entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n<p>An Egyptian telecom magnate, Naguib Sawiris built his fortune through Orascom Telecom, which he sold in a multibillion-dollar deal. He now chairs Orascom TMT Investments and has diversified into asset management and luxury real estate, including a Caribbean resort in Grenada.<\/p>\n<p>Prateek Suri is the Chairman of <b>Maser Group<\/b>, a continental powerhouse that has redefined how technology, capital, and ambition converge across Africa. Widely recognized as the Richest Indian in Africa, with an estimated net worth of US$1.9 billion, Suri is often hailed as the \u201cTechnology Tiger of Africa\u201d for building and scaling businesses in some of the world\u2019s most dynamic emerging markets.<\/p>\n<p>He is the founder of MDR Investments, a venture capital and strategic investment platform focused on Africa and the Gulf, deploying capital into high-growth startups as well as large-scale assets across mining, infrastructure, ports, shipping, artificial intelligence, and luxury yacht trading. MDR Investments has positioned itself as a bridge between global capital and Africa\u2019s long-term development story.<\/p>\n<p>Suri\u2019s entrepreneurial journey is anchored in the success of Maser, his consumer electronics brand that evolved into a pan-African leader. In 2024, Maser crossed US$1 billion in annual revenue, culminating in a landmark US$5 billion acquisition, one of the most prominent technology exits on the continent. Beyond business, Suri leads the Maser Foundation, reflecting his belief that true power lies in giving back.<\/p>\n<p>Mining tycoon and philanthropist Patrice Motsepe is the founder of African Rainbow Minerals and Africa Rainbow Capital. He is also the president of CAF (Confederation of African Football) and owner of Mamelodi Sundowns FC. His influence spans business, sports, and public service.<\/p>\n<p>Credited with transforming South Africa\u2019s Naspers into a global tech investor, Koos Bekker was behind one of the world\u2019s most lucrative tech investments: a stake in Tencent. He now chairs Naspers and Prosus, overseeing a sprawling portfolio in e-commerce and entertainment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Lesotho<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. At the close of the first quarter of 2025, Africa\u2019s economic landscape continues to be shaped by bold entrepreneurship, strategic investments, and a growing focus on regional integration. Despite global economic headwinds and shifting trade dynamics, a select group of billionaires is not only holding their ground but also redefining Africa\u2019s position [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":65558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-65559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Africa\u2019s power list: Tycoons to watch in 2026 - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Lesotho. At the close of the first quart ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Africa\u2019s power list: Tycoons to watch in 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Lesotho. At the close of the first quart ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-22T20:36:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-22T21:44:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1766439014.169151.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"470\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Africa\u2019s power list: Tycoons to watch in 2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-22T20:36:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-22T21:44:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026\"},\"wordCount\":591,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1766439014.169151.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026\",\"name\":\"Africa\u2019s power list: Tycoons to watch in 2026 - Lesotho\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1766439014.169151.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-22T20:36:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-22T21:44:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"-article-header-tag\\\"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. At the close of the first quart ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1766439014.169151.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1766439014.169151.jpg\",\"width\":780,\"height\":470,\"caption\":\"Africa\u2019s power list: Tycoons to watch in 2026\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Africa\u2019s power list: Tycoons to watch in 2026\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\",\"name\":\"Lesotho\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Africa\u2019s power list: Tycoons to watch in 2026 - Lesotho","description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. At the close of the first quart ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Africa\u2019s power list: Tycoons to watch in 2026","og_description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. At the close of the first quart ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026","og_site_name":"Lesotho","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-12-22T20:36:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-22T21:44:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":780,"height":470,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1766439014.169151.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Africa\u2019s power list: Tycoons to watch in 2026","datePublished":"2025-12-22T20:36:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-22T21:44:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026"},"wordCount":591,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1766439014.169151.jpg","keywords":["Lesotho"],"articleSection":["all news","miscellaneous"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026","name":"Africa\u2019s power list: Tycoons to watch in 2026 - Lesotho","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1766439014.169151.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-22T20:36:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-22T21:44:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. At the close of the first quart ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1766439014.169151.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1766439014.169151.jpg","width":780,"height":470,"caption":"Africa\u2019s power list: Tycoons to watch in 2026"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/africas-power-list-tycoons-to-watch-in-2026#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Africa\u2019s power list: Tycoons to watch in 2026"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/","name":"Lesotho","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}