Photos courtesy of The Star Newspaper

Former powerful cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott is apparently the second richest Kenyan currently, at least that’s according to the latest Africa rich list by Ventures Africa.

The list of Africa’s 55 wealthiest billionaires has Biwott (net worth $1.1 Billion) at number 47 only second to industrialist Manu Chandaria ($1.7 Billion) ranked at number 28. The only other Kenyan on the list is the president’s mum Mama Ngina Kenyatta ($1 Billion) at number 51.

Biwott’s wealth is mainly from commercial and residential properties in Nairobi, London and Australia.  Last year, he sold his majority stake in Kenol Kobil, one of Kenya’s largest petroleum marketing companies to Puma Energy, a Swiss-based oil company.

Mama Ngina Kenyatta is East Africa’s richest woman with vast interests in real estate. She currently holds over 200,000 hectares of land in trust for her family. She also owns, along with her children, stakes in several of Kenya’s successful companies including Brookside, Kenya’s largest manufacturer of dairy products.

Surprisingly none of the men who have served as Kenya’s presidents (including Biwott’s former boss Daniel Moi) features directly on the list.  Some may however argue that Mama Ngina’s presence on the list covers for at least two of them – her husband, Kenya's first president the late Jomo Kenyatta and her first born son, current President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt dominate the list of billionaires. Nigeria leads the pack with 23 while South Africa and Egypt both contribute eight each. In total twelve African countries are represented on the list.

Africa’s wealthiest individuals provide jobs for almost half a million people within the continent.

See the full list here: