It is reported that Isabel Dos Santos of Angola is the richest woman in Africa. She is the eldest daughter of the president of Angola, Jose Eduardo dos Santos. Using connections through her father, she made a name for herself in business. She owns 10% of Zon Multimedia, a huge media company based in Portugal, which she brought for €164 million. She also has major stakes in Portuguese banks and energy companies.
There are other rich women in Africa, of which the top few are highlighted below:
- Bridgette Radebe of South Africa
Bridgette Radebe is the eldest sister of Patrice Motsepe, the South African Billionaire. Radebe began her career as a contract miner in the 1980s. This job involved procuring things for larger mining establishments, as well as managing the individual shafts in her mine. This background in mining led her to found the Mmakau Mining company. The Mmakau Mining company is the largest mining business in South Africa, and is majorly successful in the mining of uranium, coal, gold, chrome and platinum. Alongside this, she performs the role of president of the South African Mining Development Association (SMMDA). She also happens to be married to Jeff Radebe, the Justice Minister of South Africa.
Elisabeth Bradley of South Africa is well connected in the car industry - her father Albert Wessels brought the Toyota car company to South Africa in 1961. A company that Elisabeth owned, Wesco Investments, sold its 25% stake in Toyota in 2008, back to the Japan-based Toyota Motor Corporation. This 25% stake was bought back by Toyota for $320 million, of which she took for herself at least $150 million of it.
Wendy Ackerman of South Africa is also very rich. She gained most of her fortune through owning almost 50% of the large leading retail chain Pick 'n' Pay. The $3 billion company has stores in 6 other African states, of which Wendy performs the job of executive director.
