African billionaires are thriving in the business sphere. Their success is not solely based on their level of education but on sheer determination to succeed. Despite not having degrees, these billionaires have amassed great wealth.
Here are 6 African billionaires who have succeeded without degrees:
Johann Rupert – South Africa
Johann Rupert is a billionaire and chairman of Richemont, a luxury goods company, and Remgro, a company in South Africa. He started studying Economics and Company Law but left college to pursue business opportunities. He learned business skills in New York before returning to South Africa, where he founded Rand Merchant Bank and the Small Business Development Corporation in 1979. These ventures have created over 600,000 jobs. Rupert is now recognized as the second wealthiest person in Africa.
Justin Stanford – South Africa
Justin Stanford began his business journey at 13 by selling apple juice to classmates. He dropped out of high school because he found it uninteresting and started his first company at 18. Although his first venture failed, he kept going and became the exclusive distributor of ESET antivirus software in South Africa. His business now operates in 20 Sub-Saharan countries and makes over $10 million annually.
Cosmas Maduka – Nigeria
Cosmas Maduka, CEO of Coscharis Group, started working at age six after his father died. He dropped out of primary school to sell bean cakes to support his family. At 17, he was dismissed by his uncle and used his final pay to start a spare parts company. He later founded Coscharis Motors in 1977 with just 300 Naira. In 1982, he got a major break when he received one of ten motor vehicle import licenses in Nigeria. His company is now a multimillion-dollar conglomerate.
Anas Sefrioui – Morocco
Anas Sefrioui, CEO of Addoha Group, left secondary school to help his father in his business. He used his early business experience to start a real estate development firm in 1988. His breakthrough came in 1995 when he got a contract to build subsidised homes in Morocco. He is now a leading real estate developer in the country.
Ashish J. Thakkar – Uganda
Ashish J. Thakkar founded Mara Group at just 15 years old after leaving school. He started with a $5,000 loan, importing and selling IT hardware. Mara Group has grown into a global conglomerate operating in various sectors including IT services and real estate. Thakkar is also known for his work supporting young entrepreneurs in Africa.
Said Salim Bakhresa – Tanzania
Said Bakhresa, founder of Bakhresa Group, who started by selling potato mix at 14 after dropping out of school. He later ran a restaurant and entered the grain milling business. He built his company into Tanzania’s largest conglomerate, with businesses in food production, ferry services, and packaging. His company employs over 2,000 people and is the largest milling operation in East Africa.