The African continent is one continent filled with traditions and culture; but the when the richest king in Africa is called into question, you might begin to wonder and ask yourself which country would host such a king and what exactly does he do to be the richest personality in his/her category in the whole continent. Without taking too much of your time, let’s meet King Mohammed VI, the number one citizen in Morocco, who is the richest king in Africa.
Mohammed VI was born on August 21 1963 to King Hassan II and he is the current King of Morocco. Right on the day of his birth, Mohammed was appointed ‘Heir Apparent and Crown Prince’. He attended Royal College and obtained his Baccalaureate in 1981, after which he went on to obtain a bachelor’s degree in law at the Mohammed V University, Agdal in 1985. He ascended to the throne on 23 July 1999 upon the death of his father.
Even though, the Moroccan Royal Family has one of the largest family fortunes in the world, the King has carved a personal fortune for himself in the banking, insurance, real estate and agricultural industry. Mohammed VI is a leading agricultural producer and land owner in Morocco, where agriculture is exempted from taxes. His holding company “Siger” has shares in the large agricultural group “Les Domaines Agricoles” which was founded by Hassan II. In 2008 Telquel estimated that “Les Domaines” had a revenue of $157 million, with 170,000 tons of citrus exported in that year.
Mohammed VI is also one of Morocco’s leading businessmen and top bankers. In 2009, he was estimated by Forbes magazine to be worth US$2.5 billion. Along with his family, they hold the majority stakes in the Société Nationale d’Investissement (SNI), which was originally state-owned but was merged in 2013 with Omnium Nord Africain (ONA Group), to form a single holding. The alliance was reported to have made the King around $4.5 Billion.
The father of two; a boy (already appointed the Crown Prince) and a girl, has six national honours and well over 15 international orders. He is also said to be worth an estimated sum of $3 Billion.