Owner of Car Company Joins Dangote, Otedola, Others in Billionaire Club

• Africa now has 23 dollar billionaires, with Zak Calisto of Karooooo Ltd recently joining the exclusive group
• South Africa leads the continent with eight billionaires, followed by Egypt and Nigeria with four each
• Meanwhile, Aliko Dangote reclaimed his status as Africa’s richest man, largely due to his majority stake in the Dangote Oil Refinery

Africa now boasts 23 dollar billionaires after welcoming a new member to its exclusive group.

The elite group of dollar billionaires now includes Zak Calisto, founder and CEO of Karooooo Ltd, a company that provides fleet management and vehicle tracking services.

Karooooo Ltd, formerly known as Cartrack, has grown significantly since adding AI-powered fleet management and driver monitoring services to its portfolio.

Zak Calisto has become a dollar billionaire as a result of this strategic change.

According to Bloomberg, almost two-thirds of Karooooo Ltd (previously Cartrack) is owned by its founder, Zak Calisto, who was born in Portugal.

The company’s stock jumped after it announced a 25% increase in earnings per share for the year ending February 2025, along with double-digit growth in subscription revenue.

Calisto’s transformation from a regional businessman to a global billionaire exemplifies Africa’s expanding role in the digital economy. His business views Asia as essential to its future growth goals, and in 2020 it relocated its headquarters to Singapore.

Karooooo Ltd has 2.3 million customers, primarily in South Africa. The company intends to focus on organic expansion but remains open to strategic acquisitions.

“There’s significant potential for even faster growth,” Calisto said in an interview.

more billionaires in Africa’s

There were 22 billionaires in Africa as of March 2025, with wealth in industries including manufacturing, retail, real estate, fashion, and petroleum.

In the previous year, when the continent had 20 billionaires, the aggregate wealth of these African billionaires rose from $82.4 billion to a record $105 billion, surpassing $100 billion for the first time.

The country with the most billionaires, South Africa, has consistently maintained a firm grip on the list.

South Africa had seven billionaires (now eight) in the 2025 ranking, followed by Egypt and Nigeria, each with four. Three billionaires each from Morocco, Algeria (Issad Rebrab), Tanzania (Mohammed Dewji), and Zimbabwe (Strive Masiyiwa) are also on the list.

Africa now boasts 23 billionaires thanks to Zak Calisto’s admission into the exclusive club, with South Africa continuing to dominate the continent’s ranks.

Forbes names Dangote as Africa’s richest

Legit.ng reported that Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian billionaire, has reclaimed his position as the richest man in Africa and transformed the continent’s energy sector about a year after his $20 billion Dangote Oil Refinery went online.

His 92.3% interest in the refinery is a major factor in Forbes’ current assessment of his net worth at $23.9 billion. This solidifies his position as one of the world’s leading corporate figures and places him ahead of South African billionaire Johann Rupert.

The refinery is further boosting Dangote’s reputation outside Nigeria by creating ripples in the global energy market.

Source: Legit.ng