Mohammed Dewji of Tanzania tops the list of richest men in East Africa according to Forbes Real time Net Worth. He is the owner of MeTL Group and has an estimated net worth of US$1.6 billion.
Top Richest Men in East Africa (2024)
1. Mohammed Dewji – Net Worth: $1.8 Billion
Source of Wealth: diversified
Age: 49
Country: Tanzania
Mohammed “Mo” Gulamabbas Dewji is a Tanzanian billionaire businessman, former politician and the richest man in East Africa. He is the owner of MeTL Group, a Tanzanian conglomerate founded by his father in the 1970s. As of January 2023, Dewji has an estimated net worth of US$1.8 billion, making him the richest man in East Africa, the 15th richest man and the youngest billionaire in Africa.
Aside from business, Mohammed Dewji is also big on philanthropy, Dewji established the Mo Dewji Foundation in 2014.
Fast Facts
• The richest man in East Africa, Mohammed Dewji, is the CEO of METL, a Tanzanian conglomerate founded by his father in the 1970s.
• METL is active in textile manufacturing, flour milling, beverages and edible oils in eastern, southern and central Africa.
• METL operates in at least six African countries and has ambitions to expand to several more.
• Dewji, Tanzania’s only billionaire, signed the Giving Pledge in 2016, promising to donate at least half his fortune to philanthropic causes.
2. Strive Masiyiwa – Net Worth: $2.1 billion
Source of Wealth: telecom, Self Made
Age: 63
Country: Zimbabwe
Strive Masiyiwa is a London-based Zimbabwean billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and executive chairman of international technology groups Econet Global and Cassava Technologies.
His other assets also include stakes in mobile phone networks in Burundi and Lesotho, and investments in fintech and power distribution firms in Africa.
As of January 2023, Strive has an estimated net worth of US$1.3 billion, making him the second richest man in East Africa and one of the richest man in Africa today.
Like Mo dewji, Strive Masiyiwa is also big on philanthropy and has provided scholarships to more than 250,000 young Africans over the past 20 years through his family foundation. He also supports more than 40,000 orphans with educational initiatives and sponsors students at universities in America, the United Kingdom, and China.
Fast facts
• Masiyiwa owns just over 50% of the publicly-traded Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which is one part of his larger Econet Group.
• Masiyiwa also owns just over half of private company Liquid Telecom, which provides fiber optic and satellite services to telecom firms across Africa.
• His other assets include stakes in mobile phone networks in Burundi and Lesotho, and investments in fintech and power distribution firms in Africa.
• Masiyiwa is the only African member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Committee on Conscience. Masiyiwa also served on two UN Advisory Panels
• He and his wife Tsitsi founded the Higherlife Foundation, which supports orphaned and poor children in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Burundi and Lesotho.
• Masiyiwa is a member of the Bill Gates and Warren Buffett initiative known as the Giving Pledge.
Top 10 Richest People in Africa (2024)
| Rank | Name | Country | Net Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aliko Dangote | Nigeria | $11.7 billion |
| 2 | Johann Rupert | South Africa | $10.3 billion |
| 3 | Nicky Oppenheimer | South Africa | $9.5 billion |
| 4 | Nassef Sawiris | Egypt | $9.3 billion |
| 5 | Mike Adenuga | Nigeria | $6.7 billion |
| 6 | Abdulsamad Rabiu | Nigeria | $4.4 billion |
| 7 | Naguib Sawiris | Egypt | $3.8 billion |
| 8 | Mohamed Mansour | Egypt | $3.3 billion |
| 9 | Patrice Motsepe | South Africa | $3 billion |
| 10 | Koos Bekker | South Africa | $2.9 billion |
Source: Forbes Africa
Revised in November 2024
