Africa’s richest people are warming up to Instagram

Africa’s richest people have traditionally stayed under the radar for reasons that range from security to culture to strategy. For a long time, being unknowable was part of being powerful. Now the world is different: reputations are built online, controversies live online, philanthropy is expected to be visible, and younger audiences don’t trust what they can’t see.

Across Instagram, and to a lesser extent Facebook and X, a new version of African wealth is emerging – still powerful, still guarded, but increasingly personal. The continent’s billionaires are stepping, sometimes reluctantly, into the public square. Not as influencers chasing virality, but as human beings narrating fragments of their lives.

Africa’s billionaires are discovering that mystery alone no longer sustains influence. Social media humanizes them and contextualizes power.

Of the more than two dozen Africans who can brag to be members of the world’s exclusive “Three Comma Club,” only a tiny handful have Instagram accounts. But who gets the most likes? Meet the African billionaires who have the largest following on Instagram.

Aliko Dangote (aliko_dangotegcon)

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, remains an outlier. The founder of the Dangote Group – cement, sugar, salt, and now oil refining — posts sparingly, if at all. His Instagram presence is minimal, almost austere, despite commanding one of the continent’s largest fortunes.

Yet even his near-absence speaks. Each rare image — a factory visit, a formal engagement – reinforces the mythos. Dangote’s power doesn’t need constant visibility. He represents the old model: wealth as infrastructure, not narrative.

Abdul Samad Rabiu (@abdulsamadrabiu_asr)

Abdul Samad Rabiu, founder of BUA Group and one of Nigeria’s most consequential industrialists, spent years firmly in that same tradition. His businesses — cement, sugar, real estate — spoke louder than he did.

That is changing.

Rabiu’s Instagram feed has grown more active, offering glimpses into philanthropy, public service and high-level convenings. He posts from business summits, development forums and meetings tied to education and social investment. There is little flash. The tone is deliberate, almost careful – visibility with purpose.

Femi Otedola (@femiotedola)

Femi Otedola’s social media presence sits comfortably between wealth and warmth. The Nigerian energy investor and Geregu Power chairman posts selectively: family moments, milestone celebrations, carefully framed luxury.

There is polish, yes – private jets, artful interiors – but also intimacy. His Instagram reads like a personal archive rather than a broadcast channel. The appeal is aspirational without being aggressive, rich without shouting.

Tony Elumelu (@tonyoelumelu)

Few African billionaires have embraced social platforms as completely as Tony O. Elumelu. Through Instagram, X and Facebook, the chairman of Heirs Holdings and United Bank for Africa has turned personal philosophy into a digital ecosystem.

Entrepreneurship, African self-reliance, youth empowerment – these themes dominate his feeds. Photos from foundation events sit alongside reflections on leadership and policy. Elumelu’s net worth is substantial, but it’s not the centerpiece. His message is.

Folorunsho Alakija (@alakijaofficial)

The executive vice chair of Famfa Oil and head of the Rose of Sharon Group uses Instagram like a pulpit with better lighting: scripture, leadership, purpose, and the occasional sharply framed reminder that prosperity – to her – is spiritual before it is financial.

Her posts can be strikingly direct. One 2025 caption spells out the thesis plainly: building wealth “doesn’t start with money,” it starts elsewhere – a worldview that explains the entire architecture of her feed. Another 2025 reel is literally titled “GOD FIRST,” with the tone of a sermon distilled into a minute for the scrolling age. Alakija’s wealth is well documented, but her feed frames success as stewardship – a responsibility rather than a trophy.

Mohammed Dewji (@moodewji)

Tanzanian industrialist Mohammed Dewji may be the most “online-native” of the group. With millions of followers, the MeTL Group CEO posts with the ease of someone comfortable being seen.

His content blends philanthropy, family life, workouts and business updates. He speaks directly to followers, often motivational, sometimes vulnerable. Dewji’s digital openness contrasts sharply with the traditional African billionaire mold – and his popularity suggests an appetite for that accessibility.

Isabel dos Santos (@isabel_dos_santos.me)

Few figures embody the complexity of public life more than Isabel dos Santos. Once Africa’s richest woman, the Angolan businesswoman uses Instagram to project resilience, cosmopolitanism and control.

Her feed leans into travel, work meetings, fitness and personal reflections. It’s aspirational, but also defensive – an effort to define identity on her own terms. In a media landscape where narratives move fast, dos Santos is clearly aware that silence leaves space others will fill.