The African continent has produced many wealthy people; with over 28 known billionaires, according to Forbes’ 2015 list of Africa’s richest. While we celebrate their great achievements, we have persistently failed to acknowledge the strong pillar behind these billionaire husbands. These women are silent achievers that prefer to operate from the background. They are hardly seen or talk about but without their input theses men might not be where they are today. In this piece, TheCapitalng brings you a list of 10 African Billionaire wives we hardly talk about.
Salwa Idrissi Akhannouch
Salwa Akhannouch is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Aksal Group, Moroccan leader in the domains of Retail, Luxury, shopping malls and department stores. Her group Aksal holds 50 % of Morocco Mall, the biggest shopping mall of Africa that attracts well over 15 million visitors and generates a turnover estimated at 5 billion dirhams yearly. Salwa possesses, via her empire, the exclusivity in Morocco for fashion brands such as Zara, Banana Republic, Pull & Bear and Gap GPS. She is described as the queen of the franchise. Akhannouch’s success is born from a family of entrepreneurs and state allies. She is the grand-daughter of Haj Ahmed Belfiqih, a wealthy businessman who dominated the tea trade in Morocco. She is also the wife of Billionaire businessman and current Moroccan Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Aziz Akhannouch. The Akhannouch’s are blessed with 3children.
Mrs Jyotsna Ruparelia
Jyotsna has been instrumental in the growth and expansion of the Ruparelia family business where she has actively participated in operations and management. She heads the grant division of the Foundation while her husband, Sudhir Ruparelia is the Chairman and majority shareholder in the companies of the Ruparelia Group. According to Forbes, he is reported to be the wealthiest individual in Uganda and the East African Community with an estimated net worth US$1.1 billion. His investments are mainly in the areas of banking, insurance, broadcasting, real estate, hotels and resorts. Sudhir recently admitted to owning a quarter of the buildings in Kampala’s Central Business District alone. Sudhir Ruparelia is married to Jyotsna and they have three children.
Titi Adenuga
Ebony skinned and profoundly pretty Titi is the wife of Otunba Mike Adenuga, GCON, Nigeria’s second richest man. Her billionaire husband has investments in mobile telecom and oil production. The Adenuga’s are very conservative when it comes to their private lives. Titi attributes her quintessential style to her late mother, Mama Susannah Okome (fondly called ‘Sister’). Her close friends and family members fondly address her as The Tizzle Girl. Her path and that of Adenuga, crossed at the defunct Devcom Merchant Bank while she was job-hunting. Mesmerized and perplexed by her stunning beauty and brains, the stupendously wealthy businessman who rules and glows on all fronts decided to have her for keeps. Rarely sighted together in public, they are nonetheless very much in love with each other.
Orcillia ‘Strilli’ Lasch Oppenheimer
After her husband, South African businessman and philanthropist, Nicky Oppenheimer cashed out of the diamond business, he moved into investing. The family ended its 85-year reign atop diamond giant De Beers in 2012 when he sold his 40% stake to mining conglomerate Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash. Nicky together with his family are estimated to worth $6.7 billion and Forbes ranked him as the third richest African. Not much is heard of Orcillia because she prefers to takecare of the home front and maintains a quite lifestyle. Their marriage is blessed with a son, Jonathan.
Dr Awele Vivien Elumelu
She is married to billionaire banker and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu. Chairman, Heirs Holdings, UBA, Transcorp and The Tony Elumelu Foundation. She plays an active part in her husband’s conglomerate as the Chief Executive Officer of Avon Medical Services Limited and oversees the healthcare investments of the group. She holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Benin. Her experience as a medical doctor includes medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology and emergency medicine. In Nigeria, The mother of five girls has worked with the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and, in the UK, with Grantham and District Hospital, Grantham.
Gaynor Rupert
Gaynor is married to Luxury goods billionaire Johann Rupert, Chairman Swiss luxury good, Compagnie Financiere Richemont and South Africa-based Company, Remgro. The luxury goods company is best known for such brands as Cartier and Montblanc. Johann together with his family are estimated to worth $7.3 billion and Forbes ranked him as the second richest African. Gaynor breeds race horses and their marriage is blessed with three children.
Dr. Leïla Mezian Benjelloun
Leila is a graduate of the University of Madrid Medical School, where she specialized in Ophthalmology. After graduation she practiced medicine for more than 25 years in Moroccan public hospitals and in her private surgical clinic. During this period she was President of the Alaouite Organization for the Protection of the Blind and the Moroccan Red Cross, she was also Vice President of the Association of Medical Doctors in Morocco and President of the Benjelloun-Mezian Foundation, whose objectives are restoring national monuments and granting scholarships to Moroccan students worldwide. She is presently the President of BMCE Bank Foundation with presence in Senegal, Congo Brazzaville and Mali. Unknown to many, she is married to Moroccan billionaire, Othman Benjelloun. A businessman with interests in banking, insurance and telecom. The family have interest in over 20 African countries through their holding company, FinanceCom. The Benjelloun are blessed with two children, Dounia and Kamal.
NaNa Otedola
She is the wife of oil and gas magnate, Femi Otedola, CEO Forte Oil Plc. She’s not a personality you get to see at just any social circles, the soft-spoken but very stylish Nana, steps out when necessary and when she does, it has to be in a grand style. Nana is the CEO, Garment Care. A company she started in 1999. Her husband is the son of former Lagos State governor, Late Sir Michael Otedola. Femi Otedola is married to Nana, and the couple have three daughters and one son, including International DJ Florence “Cuppy” Otedola and Temi (a Fashion, Beauty & Travel Blogger).
Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe
One woman that has really used her strength to fill a much-needed gap in the African fashion market is the wife of South Africa’s first Black billionaire, Patrice Motsepe, founder and executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, which has interests in gold, ferrous metals, base metals, and platinum. He also sits on several company boards including being the non-executive chairman of
Harmony Gold, the 12th largest gold mining company in the world. In 2015 his net worth was estimated by Forbes to be $2.9 billion, making him the richest black South Africa. Dr. Precious Moloi Motsepe is a Doctor by profession, businesswoman and chairman of Southern Africa’s leading Fashion Weeks Company, African Fashion International. The Moloi-Motsepe are blessed with 3 children.
Karen Roos Bekker
Her husband, Jacobus Petrus “Koos” Bekker is Chair of leading emerging markets media group Naspers. The company operates in 130 countries and is listed on the London and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges. It has the largest market capitalization of any media company outside the US and China. Five years ago, Karen Roos and her husband made their first step into commercial property by buying a 600-acre Babylonstoren estate in South Africa’s Western Cape region. A year later, she transformed the property into an acclaimed restaurant, an outstanding kitchen garden, hotel and a fledgling wine business. The Bekker’s have an estimated net worth of US$1.1 billion and blessed with 2 children.
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