Marrakech – Morocco secured three spots on Forbes’ 40th annual World’s Billionaires List, released Tuesday. Othman Benjelloun, Aziz Akhannouch, and Anas Sefrioui represent the country on a list that reached a record 3,428 names. It is a mixed picture for the three – two held steady, while one saw his fortune shrink considerably.
Othman Benjelloun, 93, is the wealthiest Moroccan on the list. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.7 billion, placing him 2,386th globally and 18th across Africa. He is the CEO of BMCE Bank of Africa, a financial institution with assets exceeding $12 billion and operations spanning West, Central, and East Africa.
His business empire extends well beyond banking. Through his holding company FinanceCom, which largely operates as O Capital Group, Benjelloun holds a stake in the Moroccan arm of French telecom firm Orange.
His father was a shareholder in RMA, a Moroccan insurance company, which Benjelloun later built into a leading insurer. In 2014, he launched a $500 million plan to construct the 55-story Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat, one of the tallest buildings in Africa.
FinanceCom is also part of a project to develop a multibillion-dollar tech city in Tangier, expected to host 200 Chinese companies. Benjelloun and his wife received the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award in 2016 for building schools in rural Morocco.
A Casablanca resident with a diploma from the École Polytechnique de Lausanne, Benjelloun also co-owns Ranch Adarouch, one of Africa’s biggest cattle breeders.
Aziz Akhannouch, 65, follows with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion. He ranks 2,481st globally and 19th in Africa. Akhannouch is the majority owner of Akwa Group, a multibillion-dollar conglomerate founded by his father and partner Ahmed Wakrim in 1932.
The group operates in petroleum, gas, and chemicals through publicly traded Afriquia Gaz and Maghreb Oxygene.
On the political front, he has served as Head of Government since September 2021. He holds an MBA from the Université de Sherbrooke and is based in Casablanca. His wife, Salwa Idrissi, runs her own company, operating franchises for Gap, Gucci, and Ralph Lauren in Morocco.
The picture is more difficult for Anas Sefrioui. The 68-year-old founder and CEO of listed homebuilder Groupe Addoha ends the year as the weakest performer among Morocco’s billionaires. His fortune dropped by $300 million after shares in Groupe Addoha fell more than 30%. Forbes now values him at $1.3 billion, ranking him 2,858th globally and 22nd in Africa.
He ties Nigeria’s Femi Otedola as the least wealthy billionaire on the continent’s list. Sefrioui built his fortune developing low-cost housing in Morocco, largely through government contracts. His daughter Kenza serves as the company’s deputy chairman.
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Across Africa, Morocco ranks fourth in total billionaire count, behind South Africa with seven, Egypt with five, and Nigeria with four. The continent’s 23 billionaires collectively added $20.3 billion to their fortunes, bringing their combined wealth to $126.7 billion – up 21% from 2025.
Globally, the 2026 list broke records across every major metric. The total number of billionaires rose by 400 from last year to 3,428, the highest figure since the list launched in 1987. Their combined wealth hit $20.1 trillion, up $4 trillion year-on-year. The planet added more than one new billionaire every single day over the past 12 months.
Elon Musk leads the list for the second consecutive year, with an estimated fortune of $839 billion – the highest ever recorded for any individual. His wealth surged by roughly $497 billion over the past year, driven by Tesla’s rising valuation and SpaceX’s anticipated public listing in 2026. He is the first person to surpass the $800 billion mark.
Google cofounder Larry Page follows at $257 billion, with fellow cofounder Sergey Brin at $237 billion. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos ranks fourth at $224 billion, and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg rounds out the top five at $222 billion.
A record 20 people now hold 12-figure fortunes – up from 15 last year and zero in 2017. The United States leads all nations with 989 billionaires, worth a combined $8.4 trillion. China, including Hong Kong, follows with 610, and India ranks third with 229.
Among the 390 newcomers this year are musician Dr. Dre, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, tennis legend Roger Federer, and Berkshire Hathaway’s new CEO Greg Abel. At least 86 billionaires on the list owe their fortunes significantly to artificial intelligence.
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