A few Cameroonians have built multi-million and billion dollar empires in industries as diverse as agriculture, food, construction, energy and distribution and earned multi-million dollar fortunes to boot. Their names don’t ring with the African public, and you’ve probably never heard about them before, but they are very successful — and very wealthy. Meet 7 Cameroonian businessmen, who founded businesses with annual revenues of $50 million or more.
Baba Ahmadou Danpullo
Source: Tea Estates
Baba Ahmadou Danpullo started out in business as a truck driver and as owner of a few stalls. He subsequently obtained highly coveted licensed for the import of rice and flour and built his fortune from there. Today, he sits atop the Baba Ahmadou Group, a Cameroonian conglomerate that owns the Ndawara Tea Estate, the largest privately owned tea estate in West Africa. He also owns 49% of Nexttel and the Marble Towers in Johannesburg, one of the tallest buildings in Africa.
Paul Fokam Kammogne
Source: Banking
Paul Fokam Kammogne is the founder of Afriland First Bank, one of the largest commercial banks in Francophone Africa. Afriland has branches in 8 African countries and revenues of $1.1 billion in 2016. He is also the founder of Vox Africa, an African television station based in London.
Samuel Foyou
Source: Beer
Samuel Foyou is the founder of Société brasserie Samuel Foyou (BRASAF), one of the largest breweries in Cameroon. His business empire also includes Unalor, a manufacturer of safety matches, plastic recycler Plasticam, salt manufacturer Sotrasel and Biscuiterie Samuel Foyou (BSF), a manufacturer of biscuits and confectioneries. He also owns the Krystal Beach Hotel in Cape Town.
Nana Bouba
Source: Food
Nana Bouba, 68, is the founder of the Nana Bouba Group, a company that is involved in beef processing, beverages, manufacturing of tomato concentrate and construction. The company had a turnover of $350 million in 2016. Nana Bouba’s sons run the group today.
Sylvestre Ngouchinghe
Source: Seafood
Sylvestre Ngouchinghe made his fortune trading seafood. His Congelcam SA is involved in the importation, distribution and sale of seafood products. The company has more than 2,000 employees and annual revenues of more than $120 million according to information available from the company.
Joseph Kadji Defosso
Source: Beer
Joseph Kadji Defosso, one of Africa’s greatest industrialists, is the founder of the Cameroonian Union of Breweries (UCB), the leading brewery in Cameroon. The company controls a little over 15% of the country’s beer market. Kadji group extends to insurance, hotels, flour milling, transit, maritime transport, sport and distribution.
Mohamadou Bayero Fadil
Source: Diversified
Mohamadou Bayero Fadil is the CEO of Fadil Group, an agro-industrial conglomerate which his father founded in 1944. The company is involved in soap manufacturing, edible oils, livestock farming and hotels. Fadil also owns Equatorial Media Group (EMG), a media company that publishes the Dikalo news journal and operates television station Camnews24.