7) Anna Phosa (South Africa)
Anna Phosa is one of Africa’s most successful pig farmers. She’s often referred to as a ‘celebrity pig farmer.’
But her business journey wasn’t rosy.
In 2004, after a close friend introduced her to the business, Anna started her pig farm in Soweto with $100 contributed from her personal savings.
She started with only 4 small pigs.
In 2008, Anna was contracted by Pick ‘n Pay, the South African supermarket chain, to supply its stores with 10 pigs per week. This was a first breakthrough and the request grew quickly to 20 pigs per week.
in 2010, she signed a huge contract with Pick ‘n Pay to supply 100 pigs over the next five years under a 25 million Rand deal – that’s nearly $2.5 million.
With a contract in hand, Anna received funding from ABSA Bank and USAID to buy a 350-hectare farm property.
Today, her farm employs about 20 staff rearing 4,000 pigs at a time.
8) Aliko Dangote (Nigeria)
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, currently worth $18.3 billion, is a role model to entrepreneurs on the continent.
While his business interests currently spread across Africa, Dangote’s impressive fortune was built from very humble beginnings.
He started his business in 1978 with 500,000 Naira borrowed from his grandfather.
Yes, his grandfather.
And because business flourished, he paid back the loan in just six months.
In the early years, Dangote focused on importing soft commodities, especially rice, frozen fish, sugar and baby food into Nigeria. Today, his business interests have expanded into local production of cement, salt, flour and very recently, petroleum refining.
His aggressive business expansion and diversification efforts have led to huge investments in Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa, Togo, Tanzania, and Zambia.
Dangote is really consolidating his wealth and may just remain Africa’s richest man in the coming years.
9) Fred Deegbe (Ghana)
Fred Deegbe is the brain behind Heel The World, a luxury footwear brand that’s wholly made by hand by skilled craftsmen in Ghana.
In 2011, he quit his bank job to found the business, which he started from his parents’ house in Accra, Ghana.
Fred’s startup story is another classic example of bootstrapping at work.
Using savings from his bank job, and the help of his business partner, Vijay Manu, he bought shoe machines and equipment, and hired the first set of workers.
Today, Heel The World has an impressive range of footwear – anything from retro brogues and elegant loafers, to stylish dress slippers and eye-catching Oxfords.
Fred Deegbe has been featured on the BBC and CNN. In 2012, he was on the panel at the World Economic Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
10) Desmond Mabuza (South Africa)
In an industry dominated by white South Africans, Desmond Mabuza is the first black person to own and successfully operate a fine dining restaurant business that serves his country’s rich and famous people.
Born and raised in a poor neighbourhood in Soweto, and trained as a civil engineer in the United States, Desmond returned to South Africa before the end of the Apartheid era to start a small civil engineering firm.
After a few years, he abandoned his engineering practice and invested the money he had made into the fine dining restaurant business.
He opened his first restaurant in 2001 (at age 28) and currently owns two remarkably profitable and well-run restaurants – Signature and Wall Street – both situated in Johannesburg.
In 2014, he opened another Signature restaurant in Abuja, Nigeria and is already making moves to expand the brand across Africa.