Africa has produced many highly successful female entrepreneurs and investors in industries ranging from oil and healthcare to manufacturing, cocoa processing, finance, telecommunications, and real estate. However, ranking Africa’s wealthiest women accurately is more difficult than ranking its billionaires.
There is an important reason for this. Forbes’ official 2026 Africa Billionaires list contains no women. Forbes counted 23 African billionaires in 2026, but all of them were men. (Forbes)
That means claims circulating online that several African women are currently worth $1 billion or more should be treated carefully unless the figure can be supported by recent financial disclosures or a reputable wealth tracker.
For this article, the ranking below uses the most recent detailed African female-wealth estimates published by Billionaires.Africa in March 2025, supplemented where necessary by Forbes and other verifiable information. Because many of the underlying businesses are privately held, the figures should be understood as estimates rather than audited personal fortunes. (Billionaires.Africa)
1. Folorunso Alakija — Estimated Net Worth: $900 Million
Country: Nigeria
Industry: Oil and gas, real estate, fashion and printing
Estimated net worth: $900 million
Folorunso Alakija is one of Africa’s best-known businesswomen and is currently among the strongest candidates for the title of Africa’s richest woman based on credible published estimates.
Billionaires.Africa estimated her fortune at approximately $900 million in its March 2025 ranking. Her wealth is closely associated with Famfa Oil, the Nigerian oil company in which she and her family have substantial interests. The company became especially valuable through its participation in the Agbami deepwater oil field. (Billionaires.Africa)
Alakija began her career far from the petroleum industry. She worked in banking before entering fashion, eventually founding a successful fashion business. She later moved into oil after her company obtained an oil prospecting licence in Nigeria.
Forbes valued Alakija at $1 billion in January 2020, when she was still included among Africa’s billionaires. Forbes subsequently reported that lower oil prices pushed her estimated fortune below the billionaire threshold. (Forbes)
Her investments have also extended into real estate through Dayspring Property Development.
2. Lynette Saltzman — Estimated Net Worth: $500 Million
Country: South Africa
Industry: Healthcare and pharmacy retail
Estimated net worth: $500 million
Lynette Saltzman is one of the co-founders of Dis-Chem Pharmacies, one of South Africa’s largest pharmacy and healthcare retail groups.
Billionaires.Africa estimated her wealth at approximately $500 million, based largely on the Saltzman family’s significant shareholding in Dis-Chem. (Billionaires.Africa)
Saltzman and her husband, Ivan Saltzman, built Dis-Chem from a single pharmacy established in Johannesburg in 1978 into a major publicly traded healthcare retailer.
A difficulty in estimating Lynette Saltzman’s individual fortune is that the ownership interests of the couple are not always separated publicly. Billionaires.Africa therefore noted that the estimate involves assumptions about her portion of their combined holdings. (Billionaires.Africa)
For that reason, the $500 million figure should be treated as an informed estimate rather than an exact personal balance sheet.
3. Zarin Merali — Estimated Net Worth: $220 Million
Country: Kenya
Industry: Diversified investments
Estimated net worth: $220 million
Zarin Merali is associated with the business estate built by her late husband, Kenyan businessman Naushad Merali.
The Merali family has held investments across sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, banking and real estate.
Billionaires.Africa estimated Zarin Merali’s fortune at approximately $220 million in its 2025 ranking. Among the family’s reported holdings are significant interests in companies such as Sameer Africa and Sasini. (Billionaires.Africa)
Naushad Merali, who died in 2021, was for many years regarded as one of Kenya’s wealthiest businessmen.
Because much of the family wealth is held through companies and investment vehicles rather than easily valued personal assets, the current estimate remains approximate.
4. Mama Ngina Kenyatta — Estimated Net Worth: $210 Million
Country: Kenya
Industry: Diversified family investments
Estimated net worth: $210 million
Mama Ngina Kenyatta is the widow of Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, and the matriarch of the Kenyatta family.
The family has been associated with extensive business interests across agriculture, banking, property, hospitality, dairy production and media.
Billionaires.Africa estimated the wealth associated with the Kenyatta family under Mama Ngina’s stewardship at approximately $210 million in its 2025 ranking. (Billionaires.Africa)
Among the assets frequently associated with the family are interests in Brookside Dairy and banking investments.
It is particularly important to distinguish family wealth from individual personal wealth in this case. The $210 million figure is therefore better understood as an estimate tied to family-controlled holdings rather than a precise statement that Mama Ngina personally owns $210 million in liquid assets.
5. Sue Youcef Nabi — Estimated Net Worth: $180 Million
Country of origin: Algeria
Industry: Beauty and cosmetics
Estimated net worth: $180 million
Sue Youcef Nabi is an Algerian-born business executive best known for leading global beauty company Coty.
Billionaires.Africa estimated Nabi’s fortune at approximately $180 million, citing the value of her substantial shareholding in Coty. (Billionaires.Africa)
Before becoming Coty’s chief executive, Nabi spent many years at L’Oréal, where she held senior leadership positions and worked with major international brands.
Unlike some fortunes on this list that depend heavily on opaque privately held companies, Nabi’s wealth can be estimated more transparently because a substantial part of it is connected to publicly traded shares.
Nevertheless, the dollar value of those shares can rise or fall with the stock market.
6. Wendy Appelbaum — Estimated Net Worth: About $150 Million
Country: South Africa
Industry: Finance, investment and wine
Estimated net worth: approximately $150 million
Wendy Appelbaum is a South African businesswoman, investor and philanthropist.
She is the daughter of Liberty Group founder Donald Gordon and previously worked in the financial sector. She later became involved in investments and winemaking and owns the DeMorgenzon wine estate in South Africa.
Billionaires.Africa estimated her fortune at approximately $150 million in 2025. (Billionaires.Africa)
However, Appelbaum is an especially good example of why private-wealth estimates should be treated cautiously. A 2026 Billionaires.Africa report noted that widely circulated estimates of her fortune are difficult to verify because many of her assets are private. The report also noted that Appelbaum herself had previously rejected an older Forbes estimate of her wealth. (Billionaires.Africa)
Consequently, her exact net worth is not publicly known.
7. Patricia Poku-Diaby — Estimated Net Worth: $115 Million
Country: Ghana
Industry: Cocoa processing and commodities
Estimated net worth: $115 million
Patricia Poku-Diaby is one of Ghana’s most prominent female industrialists and the founder of Plot Enterprise Group.
Her businesses have been involved in cocoa processing and commodities, with operations in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
Billionaires.Africa estimated her net worth at approximately $115 million in 2025. (Billionaires.Africa)
Her business career is particularly significant in Ghana because cocoa has historically been one of the country’s most important export industries.
Rather than operating only as a trader, Poku-Diaby expanded into cocoa processing, a part of the value chain that can capture more economic value from cocoa before it leaves the continent.
The $115 million estimate is based largely on the inferred value of her private business interests, meaning it cannot be verified in the same manner as wealth held in publicly traded shares.
8. Hajia Bola Shagaya — Estimated Net Worth: $110 Million
Country: Nigeria
Industry: Oil and gas, real estate, finance and photography
Estimated net worth: $110 million
Hajia Bola Shagaya is a Nigerian entrepreneur whose business interests have extended across several industries.
She began her professional career in banking before entering business. One of her earlier ventures involved the distribution of photographic equipment and materials.
She later diversified into oil, property and other investments.
Billionaires.Africa estimated Shagaya’s fortune at approximately $110 million in its 2025 ranking. (Billionaires.Africa)
Because many of Shagaya’s businesses and investments are privately held, reliable public information about the exact value of her assets is limited.
That is why substantially higher figures sometimes published by entertainment or celebrity-net-worth websites should not automatically be accepted as fact.
9. Azza El-Sewedy — Estimated Net Worth: $110 Million
Country: Egypt
Industry: Manufacturing and electrical infrastructure
Estimated net worth: $110 million
Azza El-Sewedy is an Egyptian investor whose wealth is closely connected to Elsewedy Electric, one of Egypt’s major industrial companies.
Billionaires.Africa estimated her fortune at approximately $110 million based largely on the value of her reported stake in the publicly traded business. (Billionaires.Africa)
The company operates across electrical equipment, cables, energy infrastructure and related industries.
Because Elsewedy Electric is publicly traded, the value of El-Sewedy’s stake is more readily measurable than wealth held exclusively through private companies.
However, her estimated fortune can still change significantly as the company’s share price and the Egyptian pound move.
10. Mary-Ann Musangi — Estimated Net Worth: $100 Million
Country: Kenya
Industry: Diversified investments
Estimated net worth: $100 million
Mary-Ann Musangi is a Kenyan businesswoman and daughter of the late businessman Chris Kirubi.
Kirubi built investments across property, manufacturing, media, finance and other industries before his death in 2021.
Musangi and her brother became key beneficiaries and managers of portions of the family estate.
Billionaires.Africa estimated the Kirubi family fortune under their stewardship at approximately $100 million in 2025. (Billionaires.Africa)
Reported family interests have included investments associated with Centum Investment, Haco Industries and Capital Media Group.
As with several entries in this ranking, the $100 million figure should be understood primarily as an estimate of family-controlled wealth rather than a precise calculation of Musangi’s independently owned personal assets.
Top 10 at a Glance
| Rank | Name | Country | Main source of wealth | Estimated net worth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Folorunso Alakija | Nigeria | Oil & gas, real estate | $900 million |
| 2 | Lynette Saltzman | South Africa | Healthcare retail | $500 million |
| 3 | Zarin Merali | Kenya | Diversified investments | $220 million |
| 4 | Mama Ngina Kenyatta | Kenya | Diversified family investments | $210 million |
| 5 | Sue Youcef Nabi | Algeria/France | Beauty and cosmetics | $180 million |
| 6 | Wendy Appelbaum | South Africa | Finance and wine | $150 million |
| 7 | Patricia Poku-Diaby | Ghana | Cocoa and commodities | $115 million |
| 8 | Hajia Bola Shagaya | Nigeria | Oil, property and investments | $110 million |
| 9 | Azza El-Sewedy | Egypt | Manufacturing | $110 million |
| 10 | Mary-Ann Musangi | Kenya | Diversified investments | $100 million |
Why You May See Very Different Figures Online
Readers searching for Africa’s richest women will encounter dramatically different numbers.
For example, some websites continue to describe Folorunso Alakija as worth $1 billion, $1.6 billion or even more. However, Forbes’ last publicly displayed billionaire valuation for her was $1 billion in January 2020, and Forbes reported the following year that her fortune had fallen below the billionaire threshold. (Forbes)
Similarly, Isabel dos Santos is still frequently placed at the top of online rankings with supposed fortunes of $2 billion or more. That is misleading if presented as a current Forbes valuation. Forbes reported in 2021 that court actions had frozen major portions of her assets and that it had marked the frozen assets at zero for the purposes of its wealth calculations. (Forbes)
Forbes’ 2026 Africa Billionaires ranking contains no women at all, reinforcing the fact that no African woman currently has a Forbes-verified billion-dollar fortune under the methodology used for that list. (Forbes)
This is why the figures in this article should not be mixed with older estimates without clearly stating the valuation year.
What Happened to Isabel dos Santos?
For many years, Isabel dos Santos of Angola was widely described as Africa’s richest woman.
Forbes first identified her as Africa’s first female billionaire in 2013 and later estimated her fortune as high as approximately $3.5 billion. (Forbes)
Her financial circumstances later changed substantially.
Forbes reported that courts in Angola and Portugal froze substantial assets amid legal proceedings and allegations concerning the origins of her wealth. Forbes subsequently removed her from its billionaire ranking and stated that it had assigned no value to the frozen assets in calculating her fortune. (Forbes)
Dos Santos has disputed allegations made against her.
For that reason, it would be inaccurate to simply take her historical multibillion-dollar Forbes valuation and present it as her current 2026 net worth.
Africa Currently Has No Woman on Forbes’ Billionaire List
Perhaps the most important fact about this ranking is that none of these women appears on Forbes’ official 2026 Africa Billionaires list.
Forbes identified 23 African billionaires worth a combined $126.7 billion in its March 2026 ranking, and none was a woman. (Forbes)
This contrasts with earlier years when Folorunso Alakija and Isabel dos Santos were both considered billionaires.
It also illustrates the limitations of describing someone as a billionaire based purely on old articles or unverified internet estimates.
Conclusion
Folorunso Alakija remains the woman with the largest reasonably documented estimated fortune in Africa among the sources examined for this article, at approximately $900 million.
Behind her are businesswomen whose fortunes come from healthcare, family investments, cosmetics, finance, winemaking, cocoa processing, oil, manufacturing and diversified portfolios.
However, there is a major difference between this ranking and Forbes’ annual billionaire list. Most of these women own substantial interests in private companies or family-controlled businesses, making their exact personal wealth difficult to calculate.
For that reason, the figures presented here should be viewed as informed estimates, not definitive statements of personal wealth.
Disclaimer
This article is intended for general informational and educational purposes only.
Net worth figures are estimates based on publicly available information and should not be interpreted as exact amounts of cash or personally controlled liquid assets. Much of the wealth attributed to the individuals in this article is tied to private companies, family holdings, publicly traded shares, real estate and other investments whose values can change.
There is currently no official Forbes 2026 ranking of the top 10 richest African women, and Forbes’ 2026 Africa Billionaires list contains no women. Accordingly, this article uses the most recent detailed estimates available from specialist African wealth reporting, particularly Billionaires.Africa, while cross-checking important historical claims against Forbes.
Readers should be cautious of websites presenting unsupported or outdated figures as exact current net worths. Readers are encouraged to independently fact-check the figures and consult current company filings, stock-market disclosures, Forbes and other credible financial sources for updates.
The information in this article does not constitute financial, investment, legal or tax advice.
For corrections, updates or modifications, please contact us.
References
Billionaires.Africa. (2025, March 21). Africa’s top 15 richest women. (Billionaires.Africa)
Billionaires.Africa. (2026, August 25). South African wine magnate Wendy Appelbaum exports 75% of her output as volumes fall. (Billionaires.Africa)
Dolan, K. A. (2013, January 23). Isabel dos Santos, daughter of Angola’s president, is Africa’s first woman billionaire. Forbes. (Forbes)
Dolan, K. A. (2021, January 22). How Isabel dos Santos, once Africa’s richest woman, went broke. Forbes. (Forbes)
Dolan, K. A. (2021, January 22). The Forbes billionaires’ list: Africa’s richest people 2021. Forbes. (Forbes)
Forbes. (2020). Folorunsho Alakija. Forbes. (Forbes)
Forbes. (2026, March 9). Forbes billionaires: Africa’s richest people 2026 list. Forbes. (Forbes)
