The top 10 richest women in Africa show how women are building real wealth and influence. They run businesses in oil, finance, real estate, media, healthcare, fashion, security, farming, pharmaceuticals, mining, tech, cocoa, beauty, and construction. From Lagos to Nairobi, Johannesburg, Accra, and Cairo, they turned ideas into successful companies in industries once dominated by men.
Most of the richest women in Africa didn’t start rich. Some built wealth from scratch, others grew inherited money, and their success creates jobs and sparks innovation in Africa’s economy.
Folorunsho Alakija moved from fashion into one of Nigeria’s biggest oil businesses. Mama Ngina Kenyatta blends business and politics in Kenya, and Hajia Bola Shagaya built her mark in oil, finance, and real estate. Lynette Saltzman works in healthcare, Patricia Poku-Diaby in cocoa, Bridgette Radebe in mining, Azza El-Sewedy in infrastructure, and Sue Youcef Nabi in beauty.
They invest in schools, healthcare, scholarships, small businesses, and women-focused projects, creating opportunities and lasting change.
Richest African Women 2026 – Net Worth & Rankings
FirstNigerian ranks the richest women in Africa using net worth figures from Forbes and Business Daily Africa, which can change over time. Their stories are about leadership, legacy, and shaping Africa’s business future.
Dr Stella Okoli — $80 million
We start off this list of the richest women in Africa with Dr Stella Okoli. She is a Nigerian pharmacist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist born in Kano. She is 81 and worked with Middlesex Hospital, Boots the Chemists, and Pharma-Dexo before founding Emzor Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company in 1977, where she remains CEO.
Dr Stella also started the Chike Okoli Foundation in 2006. Emzor makes over 140 pharmaceutical products and has grown into a multimillion-dollar company. Her leadership ensures a steady supply of affordable healthcare products across Africa.
She still works in healthcare.
Hajia Bola Shagaya — $110 million
Hajia Bola Shagaya is a Nigerian businesswoman and fashion enthusiast born on 10 October 1959 in Ilorin, Nigeria. She’s 66 years old as of 2025. She started in banking at the Central Bank of Nigeria and moved into business in 1983.
She’s CEO of Bolmus Group International and founded Practoil Limited in 2005. She made her mark in photography as the sole distributor of Konica products in West Africa and founded Fotofair Nigeria. Hajia Bola later expanded into oil and gas with Practoil and Voyage Oil and Gas Limited.
She also invests in luxury real estate in Nigeria, Europe, and the US. She serves on NEPAD’s board and is part of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria. She’s known for her business sense and style. She works in oil and gas, real estate, finance, and photography.
Wendy Appelbaum — $150 million
Wendy Appelbaum is a South African businesswoman and philanthropist. She is 64 years old and is the daughter of Sir Donald Gordon, founder of the Liberty Group.
She started at Liberty Investors and co-founded Women’s Investment Portfolio Holdings in 1994. Wendy and her husband bought the De Morgenzon Wine Estate in Stellenbosch in 2003.
Wendy won Forbes Africa Woman of the Year in 2015 and is the richest woman living in South Africa. She owns the 224-acre estate, which produces 500,000 bottles annually and exports 85 percent. She works in finance and winemaking.
Ngina “Mama Ngina” Kenyatta — $210 million
Ngina “Mama Ngina” Kenyatta is Kenya’s former first lady and is 92 years old. She is the widow of founding president Jomo Kenyatta and the mother of former president Uhuru Kenyatta.
She has built wealth through family investments in banking, hospitality, media, agriculture, and real estate. The Kenyatta family owns 500,000 acres of land, a 13.2 percent stake in NCBA Group, full control of Brookside Dairy, and Mediamax Network Limited, which runs K24 TV and The People Daily. They are also working on Northlands City in Nairobi.
Billionaires.Africa estimates Mama Ngina’s wealth at $210 million. She works in a diversified sector.
Mo Abudu — $600 million
Mo Abudu is a Nigerian media mogul born on 11 September 1964 in London, UK. She’s 61 in 2025. She started in recruitment in 1987, then led HR at ExxonMobil in Nigeria.
She founded Vic Lawrence & Associates, EbonyLife TV, and EbonyLife Films. Mo Abudu created Moments with Mo, Africa’s first daily syndicated talk show. Her productions include Fifty, The Wedding Party, Chief Daddy, Òlòtūré, Blood Sisters, and Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman. She’s worked with Netflix, Sony, Westbrook Studios, and BBC Studios.
Forbes calls her Africa’s Most Successful Woman, and she’s won multiple awards, including Nigeria’s Officer of the Order of the Niger. She lives in Lagos, has two children, and was formerly married to Tokunbo Abudu.
Precious Moloi-Motsepe — $800 million
Precious Moloi-Motsepe is a South African entrepreneur and philanthropist born on 2 August 1962 in Soweto, making her 63 in 2025. She is CEO and founder of Africa Fashion International.
Precious and her husband, Patrice Motsepe, set up the Motsepe Foundation in 1999 and joined the Giving Pledge in 2013. She has a medical background with an MBBCh and diplomas in child and women’s health.
She’s also Chancellor of the University of Cape Town since 2020 and sits on advisory boards at Harvard and the Milken Institute. She supports arts, sports, and education across Africa.
Divine Ndhlukula — $809 million
Divine Ndhlukula is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur, speaker, author, and philanthropist born on 5 February 1960 in Gutu, Zimbabwe. She’s 65 in 2025.
She founded SECURICO and Zvikomborero Farms. She started her career at Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and Old Mutual, then worked 16 years at Intermarket Life Assurance before starting SECURICO in 1998.
Divine has two MBAs and a PhD in Business Leadership. She’s received awards like Forbes Africa Businesswoman of the Year in 2019 and induction into the JA International Global Business Hall of Fame in 2021.
She leads Mentorship in Practice and Woman Owned Brand initiatives, launched a library in Gutu, and funds education for disadvantaged kids.
Fifi Ekanem Ejindu — $850 million
Fifi Ekanem Ejindu is a Nigerian architect, businesswoman, and philanthropist born in 1962 in Ibadan, Nigeria. She’s 63 years old as of 2025. She’s the great-granddaughter of King James Ekpo Bassey of Cobham Town, Calabar. Her father was Nigeria’s first Minister of Health in the former Eastern Region, and her mother studied in England.
She studied at UNC Charlotte and got a B.Arch. from Pratt Institute in 1983, then took courses at MIT and worked in New York. She returned to Nigeria and founded the Starcrest Group in 1995, which includes Starcrest Investment Ltd, Starcrest Associates Ltd, and Starcrest Industries Ltd. The company works in real estate, oil and gas, and construction.
She won awards like the Nigerian Golden Book Professional Icon Award in 2015 and the African Achievers African Arts and Fashion Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.
Daisy Danjuma — $900 million
Daisy Danjuma is a Nigerian politician, businesswoman, and corporate leader. She is 73 and was Senator for Edo South from 2003 to 2007. She held the role of executive vice chairman of South Atlantic Petroleum until December 2023, when she became executive chairman. Daisy also chairs companies like May & Baker Nigeria Plc.
She studied law at Ahmadu Bello University, graduating in 1976, and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1977. She worked at Nigerian Acceptances Limited and the Nigerian Television Authority.
She’s married to former General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, founder of South Atlantic Petroleum, and they have one child.
Folorunsho Alakija — $900 million
Folorunsho Alakija is 74 years old and is the richest woman in Africa. She started her career in 1975 as a secretary and soon set up a tailoring company called Supreme Stitches, which later became Rose of Sharon House of Fashion.
In September 1991, she became the executive vice chairman of Famfa Limited, a role she still holds. Her wealth mainly comes from Famfa Oil, which has a big stake in the Agbami Oilfield, and she also owns prime real estate through Dayspring Property Development, including Famfa Towers in Lagos.
In 2008, she started the Rose of Sharon Foundation to support widows and orphans, and she works with Flourish Africa to help female entrepreneurs. She has written books like The Cry of Widows and Orphans, The Master Key, and University of Marriage.
Forbes valued her at over $1 billion in 2020, but her net worth now is around $900 million. She works across oil and gas, real estate, fashion, and printing.