Africa’s stock markets have witnessed remarkable growth in recent years, presenting lucrative opportunities for investors. While many dream of striking it rich, few achieve the status of billionaires. In this blog post, we delve into the success stories of top African stock market investors who have turned their investments into massive fortunes.
By examining their strategies, investments, and market insights, we aim to inspire and inform aspiring investors looking to make a significant impact in the African financial landscape.
Before we go into the main area, let us have a look at Africa’s ten biggest stock markets by size, typically measured by market capitalization:
- Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), South Africa
- Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Nigeria
- Casablanca Stock Exchange, Morocco
- Egyptian Exchange (EGX), Egypt
- Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), Kenya
- BRVM (Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières), West Africa
- Mauritius Stock Exchange, MauritiusTunis Stock Exchange, Tunisia
- Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE), Botswana
- Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX), Namibia
These rankings can fluctuate based on market conditions and economic factors.
African investors who’ve made wealth from the continent’s stock market
Can you get rich from buying equity in companies? Let’s look at a few influential African individuals who’ve amassed wealth from buying equity.
1. Koos Bekker – South African
“During his tenure, Naspers made a number of bad investments, a few mediocre ones, a few good ones and one that shot the lights out.” – TJ Strydom
The South African billionaire saw a substantial increase in his wealth when he invested in Tencent, a Chinese internet company best known for WeChat.
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2. Strive Masiyiwa – Zimbabwean
He owns 38% of publicly traded Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, a company he founded. Econet Wireless is one part of his larger Econet Group. He also roughly owns 33% of mobile phone-based money transfer firm EcoCash. Masiyiwa also owns a stake in the private company Liquid Intelligent Technologies. The company provides fibre optic and cloud-based services to telecom firms across Africa.
Strive Masiyiwa is now the richest black man in Southern Africa, with a net worth surpassing $4.4 billion – dethroning Patrice Motsepe from the position, according to one count.
3. Mohamed Mansour – Egyptian
Mr Mansour was an early-stage investor in technology companies like Facebook and Spotify. Among his early deals are pre-IPO investments in Facebook and Twitter (now X). The Egyptian is the founder of Man Capital. The company makes investments in sectors as diverse as tech, renewable energy, education and sports.
4. Patrice Motsepe – South African
He is the founder and executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), a diversified mining company with interests in platinum, nickel, iron ore, and coal. The company is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Motsepa also owns shares in Sanlam, a financial services group in which he has significant investments. Sanlam is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Another company he owns shares in is Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. It is one of the largest gold mining companies in the world. It is also listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
His business and investor acumen earned him recognition among Africa’s wealthiest, with a net worth of $2.9 billion.
