Despite there being 937 dollar billionaires on planet earth according to the Forbes Rich List – among the high flyers are people of color albeit they count for less then one per cent. Only eight of the 937 dollar billionaires in the world reside on the African continent while only three of them are from South Africa. We take a look at Africa's richest people. 
Number 8
Samih Sawiris, the 655th richest person in the world and eighth richest African is the middle son of Onsi Sawiris, the founder of the Orascom conglomerate a construction and estate and hotel business. Sawiris (53) is the chairperson of Orascom Hotel Holdings. He has an engineering degree from the Berlin Institute of Technology and is fluent in German. Orascom's hotel business has operations in Egypt, Jordan, Oman, UAE, Switzerland, Mauritius and Morocco. Shares in the Egyptian hotel company have gone up 150 percent over the past year. The hotelier's net worth is estimated to be around $1.5-billion.
Number 7
Nigerian Aliko Dangote (52), the 463th richest man on the planet and seventh richest African became president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in August 2009. Dangote's career spans over various industries including trading in sugar, flour milling, salt processing, cement manufacturing, real estate and oil and gas. His Dangote Group is currently expanding cement operations in Senegal and Zambia. The stocks of his cement firm Benue Cement doubled in 2009 helped by demand from China. He has previously boasted that he is much richer than US talk show queen, Oprah Winfrey. The Nigerian's net worth is estimated to be around $2.1-billion.
Number 6
South African billionaire Johann Rupert (59) is the sixth richest person on the continent and the 421st richest person in the world. Head of his family business, Swiss luxury group Richemont, Rupert also owns Remgro, a local investment holding company. Rupert has interests in two prestigious wine farms as well as an exclusive golf club. Rupert holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Stellenbosch and is married with three children. His net worth is estimated at $2.3-billion.
Number 5
South Africa's first black billionaire Patrice Motsepe (48) is the fifth richest man on the continent and one of only two self-made billionaires on our list. A qualified lawyer, the Johannesburg-based mining magnate was born in Soweto and started investing in low-producing gold mine shafts in 1994. The billionaire heads up mining conglomerate, African Rainbow which has interests in platinum, nickel, chrome, iron, manganese, coal and gold. Motsepe got a massive boost from the country's BEE laws which required companies to be 26 percent black-owned in order to qualify for a government mining licence. Motsepe also holds a 6.2 percent stake in Sanlam. He is married with three children. His net worth is estimated at $2.3-billion.
Number 4
Eldest son of Onsi Sawiris and brother of Samih Sawiris (number eight), Naguib Sawiris (55) heads up Orascom Telecom, one of largest mobile providers in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. The fourth richest person on the continent and the 374th richest man in the world, Samih has investments in Italy's Wind Telecomunicazioni and Greece's Wind Hellas. The Egyptian holds a Master of Science degree and is married with four children. Samih's net worth is estimated at around $2.5-billion.
Number 3
The third richest person on the continent, the second self-made billionaire on our list and father of fellow Egyptian billionaires, Onsi Sawiris (80) is the founder of Egypt's business empire, Orascom Construction Industries. Onsi studied agriculture but found it boring and opened a small contracting firm in Upper Egypt. He remains the chairperson of the Orascom Corporation — the share prices doubled in 2009. Onsi is married with three children. His net worth is estimated at $3.1-billion.
Number 2
Local businessman Nicky Oppenheimer (64) occupies the third spot on the continent and is the 154th richest person in the world. Based in Johannesburg, Oppenheimer is the head of De Beers Diamond mines in which his family holds a 40 percent stake. He holds a stake in fellow mining giant Anglo American which was founded by his grandfather, Ernest, in 1917. Oppenheimer also owns the country's largest private game reserve, Tswalu Kalahari. He holds a Master of Arts degree and is married with one child. Oppenheimer's net worth is estimated around $5.0-billion.
Number 1
The richest African and 127th wealthiest man in the world is the fellow Egyptian and youngest Sawiris son, Nassef Sawiris (48). Nassef took over leadership of Orascom's construction and fertiliser division in 1998. The Egyptian conglomerate's share prices doubled in 2009, while a tie-up with French heavyweight LaFarge three years ago gained Nassef a seat on the board and a 13 percent stake. A joint venture with Morgan Stanley to invest infrastructure in the Middle East and Africa gave the billionaire's net wealth a major boost. Nassef holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago. His net worth is estimated at $5.9-billion.
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