Moroccan property magnate Miloud Chaabi is Africa’s richest real estate tycoon, according to the 2015 Forbes Billionaires List. Chaabi is currently one of the four African businessmen with significant interests in real estate worth an estimated $1B and more.
Global real estate network Lamudi takes a closer look at the property portfolios of the region’s top billionaires who have made all or part of their fortune in real estate.
Miloud Chaabi, Morocco
Net worth: $US 1.3 billion
Miloud Chaabi is the founder of Ynna Holding and its property division, Chaabi Lil Iskane, which has a vast real estate program of over 50,000 diverse properties across various cities in Morocco. He also owns the Ryad Mogador hotel chain, which opened its first four-star hotel in Essaouira in 1999, and the Aswak Assalam supermarket group.
Sudhir Ruparelia, Uganda
Net worth: $US 1.1 billion
Uganda’s Sudhir Ruparelia is reportedly the wealthiest businessman in the country, and across the entire East Africa region. He is the majority shareholder of the companies in the Ruparelia Group, including the real estate firm Meera Investments which focuses on property development and construction in Uganda’s capital, Kampala . He is said to own a quarter of the buildings in Kampala’s central business district.
Samih Sawiris, Egypt
Net worth: $US 1.05 billion
Samih Sawiris is head of Orascom Development, which builds resorts in Egypt, the Middle East, Montenegro and Switzerland. The group’s flagship project is El Gouna, a private town built along the Red Sea coastline in Egypt. His business interests were hit hard by the Egyptian uprising in 2011 but have since recovered. Sawiris also owns about 10 percent of the construction firm OCI N.V. which was founded by his father and is currently run by his brother Nassef.
Anas Sefrioui, Morocco
Net worth: $US 1.1 billion
As the head of the homebuilding company Groupe Addoha, Anas Sefrioui has focused his property business on building low-cost housing for Moroccans. After his interests were hit by recent government cutbacks, Sefrioui has announced plans to expand across Africa. New projects include the construction of a cement factory and low-income housing in countries including Mali, Ghana, and Chad.
In Kenya, the real estate tycoon is Peter Muraya together with his wife Susan, who made their wealth in the real estate sector through their company Suraya Property Group Limited. Peter, a trained architect founded the property company in 2003 and currently has a property portfolio of about US $ 200 million of the property company alone.
