Top Ten Richest Women in Africa
Africa has always been described as one of the most resource-laden continents in the world. From its vast natural resources to the immense youthful population that offers the much needed human resource for growth. It is no wonder that the white colonialists partitioned and scrambled for the continent. Even when the natives rose up in arms and resisted the imperialism and the exploitation, many colonial masters could not live with the idea that they could leave such a rich continent. This explains the reasons why the whites couldn’t leave South Africa for such a long time. It is a historical fact that South Africa gained independence very late(1994) compared to other African countries because of her vast resources, more so the gold of Joburg and the diamonds.
Despite the fact that the word is dominantly patriarchal more specifically in Africa, some women have risen above all these odds to take their rightful positions at the table. They have become true trailblazers to the womenfolk across the globe by distinguishing themselves as ingenious entrepreneurs in the continent. They have rightfully exploited the vast African resources to their advantage creating great wealth and riches much to the help of their immediate societies and the world over. Some of these great women entrepreneurs are:
.Folorunsho Alakija- Nigeria
She is one of the richest women in Africa with a net worth of $1.5 Billion.
She is the owner of the much known Rose of the Sharon group Company
She was born in Nigeria , in Lagos State.
She is also a family lady with four children to her name.
In essence she is the executive director of the company- The Rose of Sharon group.
It worth noting that she started out quite humbly as a secretary of a firm by the name Sijuade Entreprises in Nigeria.she also worked for the First National bank of Chicago.
She quite and was brave enough to venture into entrepreneurship starting her own tailoring business-Supreme Stitches.
Isabel dos Santos-Angola
She has a net worth of $2.8 Billion to her name
Her company brand name is Zon Multimedia group.
She was born in Luanda in Angola to Angola’s president so it is correct to say that she was born in royalty.
She received her education from Kings College in London. This quality education perhaps catapulted her to a level where she was able to run her enterprises to great success.
She is the first woman in Africa to attain the billionaire status.
Ngina Kenyatta-Kenya
She has a net worth of $1 Billion
Her company brand name is CBA
Her business interests range from farming to manufacturing and even banking.
She was born in 1933 in Ngenda, central Kenya.
With her business acumen she has transformed the business ventures to a great empire with holdings in most well to do companies in and outside her country.
Naija Bola Shagaya-Nigeria
She is one of the richest women in Africa with a net worth of $630 million.
Her company goes by the brand-Bolmus Group International
She is not only a great entrepreneur but also a renowned fashionista.
Her business ventures have great fortunes in the real estate sector
She got her education from Armstrong College in the United States of America.
She has been an auditor before and she has sat in many board memberships.
She currently sits in board membership of Unity bank.
Wendy Appelbaum-South Africa
Her company Liberty investors, where she serves as the executive director is worth $259 million.
Her business has vast interests in wine farming and processing.
She is also a great philanthropist who has set up breast examination clinics for the local farmers in a bid to mitigate the far-reaching effects of cancer by encouraging and enabling early testing/screening
She is known for her media interviews where she has been captioned saying clearly that her riches do not define her.
Tiwa savage- Nigeria
She is a famous Nigerian pop star born in Ikeja Nigeria.
She is a talented musician who has accumulated a net worth of $500 million.
She exhibited her love and passion for music quite early in life. She did play the trombone while in high school as one of the band members.
She shone to the limelight in 2006 after signing a recording deal with Sony and later with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label.
She has had numerous collaborations with great African and American acts.
She believes in charity and she has been focusing on African Youth development.
Wendy Ackerman –South Africa
She is the executive director of Pick n Pay holdings limited.
A company that has a net worth of $190.2 million.
She is an elite educated in the prestigious universities of cape town and UNISA.
She had quite a great heart for she did teach at Soweto for a while before joining her husband who had just both the company-Pick N Pay. She operated a human resource manager and later became the Company’s director in 1981. Since then she has made the company to sore to greater heights of success.
She has a great heart especially for the underprivileged in society. She has charities that focus on offering education trust funds to this group of people from her community.
Irene Charnley-south Africa
She is the executive director of Smile Telecoms that is worth $150 million. She is one of the richest African woman entrepreneurs.
She has a background in labor unions where she did excel in representing and ensuring the well being of the common worker. For quite a while she was at the helm of the National Union of Mineworkers.her wealth of experience here enabled her to run the MTN-a telecommunications company as the director.MTN Group is one of the largest telecommunications companies in Africa. She currently holds the position of the CEO in the company that has interests in the Congo, Nigeria, Uganda among other several African countries.
Bridget Radebe- South African
She owns the great Mmakau Mining holdings that have a net worth of $ 100 million.
The company has interests in mining. It provides logistics in producing gold, chrome and platinum among other precious stones.
Among her other duties she is the president of South African Programme-SAMDA, which oversees mining contracts with companies to ensure mutual benefit for both the foreign multinationals and the locals.
Sharon Wapnick-South Africa
She runs the Octodec investments company that has a net worth of $ 43.1 million.
She did inherit much of this company from her extremely wealthy father but she has been able to keep the business up and running to greater success. The Octodec investments and the premium properties are both ventures that deal with offering financial solutions.
She features as one of the top ten richest women in entire South Africa. Her companies have shares in top leading businesses like the Pick n Pay limited, Netcare –a health care enterprise, among others.
She is a Witwatersrand graduate for both her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. This perhaps explains her ability to run the business ventures successfully.
