Africa is home to more than 20 dollar-denominated billionaires per the Forbes report index.
With fortunes made in oil, banking, telecoms, consumer goods, real estate, and technology, these business leaders have built companies that not only power economies but also stand among the largest employers of labour across the continent.
Yet beyond boardrooms and balance sheets, many of Africa’s wealthiest individuals have chosen to redefine their legacies through philanthropy.
From funding hospitals and universities to creating endowments that support entrepreneurship, education, health, and poverty alleviation, these billionaires are channeling their resources into transformative social impact.
While some of these philanthropists often give quietly, with little publicity, this report focuses on the most significant contributions that have been documented in the public domain.
Methodology
Nairametrics attempts to capture the biggest donors amongst African billionaires, leveraging on data available in monetary terms on their foundation websites as well as publicly verifiable coverage of such philanthropic acts as recognized by bodies such as Forbes, Bloomberg and the Times 100 within the period of the Covid-19 era, which elicited a lockdown in 2020 to present day 2025.
- Donation: $20 million +
Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga, more popularly known as Mike Adenuga, is Nigeria’s third-richest man and founder of Globacom, the country’s leading indigenous telecommunications company. Beyond his reputation as a telecoms and oil magnate, Adenuga is also one of Nigeria’s most impactful philanthropists.
Through the Mike Adenuga Foundation, he channels resources into health, education, rural development, and entrepreneurship. Fiercely private about his personal affairs, Adenuga is known to keep many of his donations away from the spotlight. Nevertheless, his influence in philanthropy is wide-reaching, spanning scholarships, humanitarian relief, and support for national causes.
Ongoing Contributions
- $20.5 million annually – One of his foundation’s landmark initiatives is its scholarship program, which annually awards nearly $20.5 million in aid to undergraduate, master’s, and PhD students across Africa, the United States, the UK, Canada, Australia, China, Japan, Indonesia, and India.
Key Donations:
- $250,000 – to Nigeria’s football team, the Super Eagles.
- N1billion (2020) – listed among contributors to the CACOVID Relief Fund as of June 30, 2020.
