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Rabat – Two Moroccan billionaires made it to Forbes magazine’s annual billionaires list.
BMCE bank owner, Othman Benjelloune, remains the richest man in Morocco. Although the 83-year old businessman is $3 million “poorer” than 2015, his net worth of $1.9 billion has put him at the 959th spot on Forbes’ list, making him the richest Moroccan man for the third year in row.
Othman Benjelloune sits at the helm of BMCE Bank, one of Morocco’s largest banks. It is active in 30 African countries, including Senegal, Kenya and Congo.
Through his company FinanceCom, Benjelloune has also investments in assurance and telecom in Morocco. According to Forbes, he is the majority shareholder of the insurance company RMA Watanya, and has a minority stake in Meditelecom, Morocco’s second largest mobile phone operator.
The second Moroccan on the list is Aziz Akhannouch. The current Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries is ranked 1367 in the global billionaires’ list with a net worth estimated at $1.25 billion.
Akhannouch is the majority owner of Akwa Groupe, a multibillion- dollar Moroccan conglomerate with interests in petroleum, gas and chemicals through its publicly-traded subsidiaries Afriquia Gas and Maghreb Oxygene.
Akwa Group was founded by Akhannouch’s father, who later established a partnership with Ahmed Wakrim. According to Forbes, while Akhannouch serves as Morocco’s Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, he has handed off day-to-day management of the group to Ahmed Wakrim’s son, Ali Wakrim.
Overall, Bill Gates topped the list of the world’s richest billionaires for the 17th time in row.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had the best year of all billionaires. The 31-year-old added $11.2 billion to his fortune and moved up to the sixth place from 16 last year.
