Côte d’Ivoire is an African nation located in the western section of the Gulf of Guinea, on the Atlantic Ocean. It covers 322,462 square kilometers. This article will discuss the richest men in Ivory Coast.
1. Jean-Louis Billon
Jean-Louis Billon was the CEO of the multinational SIFCA between 2000 and 2012. The Ivorian has committed himself to the political life of his country under the PDCI-RDA banner for many years. He was named Minister of Commerce due to his party’s RDR’s partnership, a post he will vacate after the ministerial reshuffles that have been taking place since 2017.
The SIFCA group, headed by the Billon family, now employs 33 thousand people. His net worth is believed to be 410 million dollars.
2. Jean Kacou Diagou
Jean Kacou Diagou is an Ivorian businessman and the founder of NSIA (New Interafrican Insurance Company), the first Ivorian bank-insurance group. He was a co-author of the code that governs the CIMA (Inter-African Conference on Insurance Markets), a pan-African insurance organization.
In 2019, Forbes magazine listed Jean Kacou Diagou as the second richest Ivorian on its list of the richest French-speaking Africans, where he is placed 14th. His fortune amounts to 405 million dollars.
3. Tidjane Thiam
Tidjane thiam the rich Ivorian banker. The wealthy Ivorian banker Tidjane Thiam is unquestionably one of the richest men in Côte d’Ivoire, who has been tipped for some time as a politician in the current regime, more precisely of president Alassane Ouattara; the banker is, for the moment, far from the political life to the eventful ones of his country.
Tidjane Thiam is the head of Credit Suisse from 2015 to 2020, one of the most important banking groups in the former Helvetic Republic. But the Ivorian left the presidency of the Swiss group with a nice bonus for the key, the trifle of around 14 million dollars. His fortune is therefore estimated at more than 20 million US dollars.
4. Yaya Toure
The Ivorian footballer is undoubtedly one of the titles of his generation, the former captain of the Elephants of Côte d’Ivoire, if not the most successful Ivorian football player so far, was a few years ago. Yaya Touré alone has won the African gold ball trophy four times.
Only Cameroonian footballer Samuel Eto’o had the same among African players who won this award. But the Ivorian remains the difference being the only player to win this award four times in a row.
Yaya Touré pocketed 13 million euros a year with the Citizens for several years in the ranking of African football salaries. I’ll let you do the count. A remuneration to which were added many bonuses from the best of Turin and other income generated by advertising contracts, Yaya Touré has a fortune estimated at more than 240 million US dollars.
5. Bernard Koné Dossongui
Bernard Koné Dossongui is an Ivorian businessman present in banking, insurance, telecoms, agro-industry, Cocoa through Atlantic Cocoa Corporation.
He was Minister of Technical Education and Agriculture in 1989. He is a Member of Parliament and owns several businesses taken over from multinationals. It is present in the bank through Atlantic bank. In partnership with Paul Fokam, he set up a cocoa processing unit in Cameroon.
Koné Dossongui is undoubtedly the most discreet businessman. Some online media present him as one of the richest Ivorians.
6. Alpha Blondy
Alpha Blondy is one of the richest Ivorian singers. Ranked among the legends of reggae, the singer Alpha Blondy is part of the ranking of the richest men in Côte d’Ivoire. A ranking that does not consider the Ivorian political personality except those in the business world. Today many singers dream of having a career as glorious as that of Alpha Blondy. He continues to fill the biggest theaters in the world despite his age.
In addition to music, the singer has also invested in this business. Remember that the reggae singer has owned his own radio station called Alpha Blondy FM for several years. His wealth is estimated at more than 215 million US dollars.
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7. Adama Bictogo
Adama Bictogo, CEO of Snedai Groupe, one of the biggest Ivorian fortunes of the empire built by the former minister, has grown considerably over the years. In 2007 Adama Bictogo founded Snedai Groupe, an Ivorian company now present in 8 African countries, including Senegal.
Snedai Groupe has been awarded the biometric passport publishing market in Côte d’Ivoire. According to the figures provided by the company, 2 million biometric passports have already been published by the Ivorian group founded by Adama Bictogo. The edition of biometric documents is not the only vocation of the Ivorian group Snedai; the company founded by Adama Bictogo is also present in the areas of tomorrow’s energy for public works through its muralist 1 and 2 subsidiaries.
Adama Bictogo is also present in the transport sector in Côte d’Ivoire through its subsidiary STL (Lagoon transport company). He is the executive secretary of the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), the ruling party in Côte d’Ivoire. His fortune is estimated at more than 16 million dollars.
8. Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba, the former footballer turned businessman. After a career crowned with several titles in football Didier Drogba recently put an end to his career as a professional footballer. Still, it was in 2014 that the former Ivorian captain officially said goodbye to the Ivorian selection, a year before the second continental title for Côte d’Ivoire in the African Cup. Thanks to a salary estimated at more than 8 million euros a year with Chelsea, the Ivorian football star was one of the highest-paid African footballers.
Besides football Didier Drogba also invested in the business; today, he owns a football club in the United States. In Côte d’Ivoire, the Ivorian is also very active in mining. His fortune is estimated at more than 90 million dollars.
9. Gervais Lombe Yao Kouassi (Gervinho)
A former elephant captain, he left AS Roma a few years ago to join the Asian division.
While her two-year tenure in China temporarily took her off European radars, the Ivorian soccer player will become her involvement in China. This commitment made him the highest-earning African player for 24 months.
His two-year lease in China allowed him to pocket the trifling sum of 36 million euros as salary to that; we must add the crazy bonuses that the striker receives for each meeting. According to information provided by the footballer, a bonus of 150,000 Euros was offered to him for each match against the Chinese club, and for each goal scored, a bonus of 58 thousand euros was paid to Gervinho.
10. Kouame Konan N’Sikan
He is one of the pioneers of transport in Abidjan. Kouame Konan N’siakan is the founder of the transport company UTB (union of carriers of Bouaké). In 1984, the group marked out this activity in Côte d’Ivoire. From the record, Kouamé Konan N’siakan launched this activity with two (2) coaches. Still, over the years, he continues to grow by extending this activity to almost all regions of Côte d’Ivoire.
Today, the company UTB connects almost all the country’s big cities to the Ivorian economic capital. To date, the company has more than 300 transport coaches. Unfortunately, the founder of the UTB group left us at the beginning of 2021. His fortune is estimated at more than 10 million dollars.
