South Africa leads in headcount, with seven billionaires, more than other African countries.
Nigeria leads in wealth, with four billionaires worth $47.5 billion, $4.5 billion more than the combined $43 billion of South Africa's seven billionaires.
Nigeria's billionaires are richer individually, with an average net worth of $11.9 billion, compared with South Africa's $6.1 billion.
North Africa punches below its weight: Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria have ten billionaires combined but just $31.4 billion in total wealth.
East Africa barely registers: Tanzania and Zimbabwe each have just one billionaire, both worth $2.1 billion.
Nigeria ranked first in Africa, with 880 H-1B visas issued in FY 2024, far ahead of Ghana (499) and Egypt (364).
East and Southern Africa featured prominently, with Kenya (320), South Africa (208), and Zimbabwe (132) among the top 10.
North African representation was modest, with Morocco (78) and Egypt (364) being the only countries in the region on the list.
Despite these numbers, Africa’s collective total is marginal globally, especially compared to India’s ~150,000 issuances and China’s large volumes.
President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee for new U.S. H-1B skilled worker visas will have limited impact on Africa, which has historically received only a small fraction of these visas.
