There are many African millionaires who grew up very poor. These men and women defied all odds and rose to make something from the nothing that life offered them.
From entertainers to media moguls, miners, models, and entrepreneurs, these individuals made their millions in different sectors. All they have in common is starting life with nothing and building something worth noting through sheer hard work and determination.
Here are some of the amazing African millionaires who grew up very poor
1. Xolane Ndhlovu
- Age: 40 years old
- Country: South Africa
- Net worth: $300 million
- Source of Wealth: Business and Investment
South African entrepreneur, Xolane Ndhlovu, was born and raised in Burgersfort, Riba Cross, a valley in Mpumalanga-Limpopo. While growing up in extreme poverty, he put his hand to many things to make ends meet.
As a teenager, the South African entrepreneur worked as a dishwasher and later as a DJ. Although he was gradually making it out of poverty thanks to his DJing, he got involved in gang violence, which made him serve a jail term in 2013.
It was at this point that he decided he needed to break free from the yoke of poverty. Xolane decided to embark on a self-redemption journey in which he focused on getting a diploma certificate.
After earning a bachelor’s degree and a Master’s in Business Administration, Xolane Ndhlovu founded the UMEH Group, and in no time, the company merged with DafriGroup PLC.
With all that he has achieved, he was recognized as the new black billionaire of South Africa in 2022 with an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion.
2. James Mwangi
- Age: 63 years old
- Country: Kenya
- Net worth: $1 billion
- Source of Wealth: Equity Group Holdings
Born in 1962, Mwangi was still a little child when his father died, leaving his mother to cater for him and his six siblings in the rural setting of Kangema in Kenya. He spent his childhood watching his mother struggle to provide for them, and having a first-hand experience of what poverty was, he decided early enough that he would break free of it.
While children his age were playing in open fields, he was deep in the bush tending to the livestock, in his mother’s kitchen making charcoal, or out on the streets selling fruits.
After his primary and secondary education, thanks to a government scholarship, he went to the University of Nairobi, where he graduated with a degree in commerce. He would later go to Spain, where he attended the IESE Business School in Barcelona.
He started his career as an editor and later moved into banking. He then joined Equity Building Society as a director of Finance and Operations before becoming its CEO. His ownership of the company is what has made him a wealthy man today.
3. Reginald Abraham Mengi
- Age: 75 years old (at death in 2019)
- Country: Tanzania
- Net worth: $1 billion
- Source of Wealth: Diverse business ventures, media, and mining
While he may no longer be alive, Reginald Abraham Mengi has a very interesting story among other African millionaires who grew up very poor. He was born in 1944 in Northern Tanzania, living in a mud hut that his family shared with livestock.
The Can, I Must, I Will author grew up having just a meal a day and often none, going to school barefoot. He struggled to get an education in the United Kingdom and, upon his return, started working with a company called Coopers & Lybrand Tanzania. Due to his hard work and diligence, he became one of the company’s chairmen.
In no time, Reginald created his own company, IPP Limited, which would later become one of Tanzania’s largest companies. He also has a media empire, ITV, which is one of the first private television stations in the country.
His net worth as of 2014 was estimated at $560 million, as per Forbes, which his net worth at the time of his death in 2019 was over a billion dollars.
4. Lebo Gunguluza
- Country: South Africa
- Net worth: $19 million
- Source of Wealth: Entertainment, Media, and entrepreneurship
Like many others who had to endure poverty at childhood, Lebo Gunguluza lost his father when he was a child of only 6. His mother was left to fend for him and his two siblings, all on her own.
Born in a shack behind a funeral parlor, he attended rural school and was fortunate to go to a private school called Woodridge College. He declared to himself after matriculation that by the time he was 25, he was going to be a millionaire, and by the time he was 35, he would be a multimillionaire, and by 45, he would be a billionaire. Although things did not turn out the way he wanted, at the age of 27, he became one of South Africa’s youngest self-made black millionaires.
Before he became an entrepreneur, he worked in advertising. Besides being an entrepreneur, he is now a motivational speaker.
5. Olajumoke Orisaguna
- Age: 36 years old
- Country: Nigeria
- Source of Wealth: Modeling
Also known as Nigeria’s Cinderella, Olajumoke Orisaguna was born and raised in Ire, Osun state, Nigeria. She married her husband, Sunday Orisaguna, in 2010 before she moved to Lagos to sell bread.
Olajumoke became so lucky when she was caught in the background of a picture taken by photographer TY Bello. The latter discovered” the bread seller” had the potential of becoming a model when she was editing the pictures.
In no time, Olajumoke got a modeling contract with Few Model Management, although she could not speak English fluently. From a bread seller top model, the Nigerian model has made a fortune from her career as a model. She is now rated as one of the richest models in Nigeria.
6. Herman Mashaba
- Age: 55 years old
- Country: South Africa
- Net worth: $100 million
- Source of Wealth: Entrepreneurship
South African politician and entrepreneur Herman Mashaba is also one of those who struggled their way to the top. He was brought up in poverty in GaRamotse in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, by his mother and sisters, who worked hard to fend for the family.
Due to financial constraints, his older brother dropped out of school at the age of 15. Regardless of the situation, Herman continued his educational pursuits but did not complete his tertiary education.
He continued to struggle from one sales job to another until he started selling Superkurl, an African hair care product. He was pushed to start his own company after he realized the hair products were quite profitable.
Herman Mashaba started his own company, Black Like Me, in 1985 with a loan from his friend and fellow businessman, Walter Dube. His business has since expanded into an international business.
Now a multimillionaire, the South African has ventured into politics as well. he was previously the Councillor of Johannesburg City and the Mayor of Johannesburg.
7. Desmond Mabuza
- Age: 40 years old
- Country: South Africa
- Net worth: $3 million
- Source of Wealth: Culinary business
Desmond Mabuza was born and raised in a relatively poor neighborhood in Soweto. Despite the financial challenges his family faced during his formative years, Mabuza went on to school in the United States.
Upon his return, he started a small engineering firm. He dumped that career path to venture into the dining restaurant business, which at that time was dominated by white South Africans.
At the age of 28 in 2001, he summoned courage and opened his first restaurant. At the moment, he owns one of the prestigious restaurants in Johannesburg.
8. Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, Wizkid
- Age: 35 years old
- Country: Nigeria
- Net worth: $5 million
- Source of Wealth: Music and Endorsement deals
Thanks to his musical prowess, Nigerian singer Wizkid has a net worth estimated at $4 million. He is regarded as one of the richest and most influential musicians in Africa.
However, his story was not about riches when he was growing up. He was born Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun in 1990 to a struggling family that included his father, mother, 2 step-mothers, and 12 sisters.
He grew up in a crowded area of Surulere called Ojeulegba in Lagos State, Nigeria. His difficult childhood has helped mold him into the hardworking and rich man he has become.
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9. Joseph Siaw Agyepong
- Age: 54 years old
- Country: Ghana
- Net worth: $800 million
- Source of Wealth: Diverse businesses
He is currently one of the richest businessmen in Ghana and has a conglomerate of over 60 businesses operating in 16 sectors in the country.
Joseph has an estimated net worth of $800 million. Looking at his childhood, the business mogul faced difficulty, especially concerning finances.
The difficulty constrained him from studying to become a pilot or engineer as he wanted.
He was the 5th of 17 children to a photographer father who had 3 wives. His mother was a petty trader who sold exercise books. It was when his mother was ill that he started to care for her store.
He continued with the bookstore after his mother’s death. This marked the beginning of his journey as an entrepreneur. His businesses include printing and publishing; waste, sanitation, environmental management, banking and finance, ICT, and manufacturing, among others.
10. Cosmas Maduka
- Age: 66 years old
- Country: Nigeria
- Net worth: $ 500 million
- Source of Wealth: Various businesses
About the time Cosmas Maduka was 4 years old, his father died. The family suffered, and by the time he was 6 years old, he started to hawk a popular Nigerian bean snack called Akara.
His struggle continued until he officially started business at the age of 17, until he was wrongfully dismissed with the sum of N200.
He tried other businesses but failed until later in his life when he started a motor company. He is now one of the richest Nigerian businessmen, and his Coscharis Group of Companies is worth $500 million.
His company became the major distributor of BMW in Nigeria in 2015. The Cocharis company was also the first company to build an Assembly Plant for the Ford Ranger in Nigeria.
