05/04/2023
5. Davido: Popularly known as Omo Baba Olowo, OBO is the fifth richest musician in Africa with a net worth estimated at $19 million. David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido is the 53rd highest paid celebrity on Instagram, and the first in Nigeria and Africa.
29 years old Davido was born with a silver spoon in Atlanta, USA, to Dr Adedeji Adeleke. His father is a very rich man who is the co-founder of Adeleke University in Osun state, Nigeria as well as the CEO of Pacific Holdings Limited.
Apart from the huge money he makes from Instagram, he earns as much as $20,000- $30,000 from his music performances and shows both in Nigeria and abroad. His YouTube channel is another thing that is going very well for him.
4. Wizkid: Nigeria’s Wizkid is an International Afrobeat star, and the fourth richest musician in Africa. Wizkid’s numerous endorsements deals with different brands which pay him as much as $240,000 coupled with his singing has earned him a net worth of approximately $21 million.
Starboy or Machala as he is popularly called has songs that still make it to Billboard’s top 100 Hot music.
The 31 year old singer came to limelight with the release of his banger single “Holla at Your Boy” in 2011 alongside other songs in the successful debut album ‘Superstar’ under Banky W’s record label— Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E records).
3. Black Coffee: Nkosinathi Innocent Sizwe Maphumulo, popularly known as Black Coffee is a South African singer, record producer and award winning DJ, who is the richest DJ in Africa.
Black Coffee’s net worth of $60 million makes this 46 year old the third richest musician in Africa. Since getting into the music industry in 1994, he has released 9 studio albums which have made massive success in South Africa and elsewhere. He was the richest African musician in 2021.
Black Coffee’s career trajectory as a musician began from Durban University of Technology after which he started working as Madala Kunene’s backup singer from where he became popular.
2. Akon: In second place on our list of the 5 richest musicians in Africa is Akon who is worth $80 million. He has always been there among the richest musicians in Africa and is widely known around the world.
Born in 1973, Akon whose government name is Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam but popularly called Akon is of the Wolof ethnic group in Dakar, Senegal. He is famous as a singer, record producer, songwriter and businessman.
His career as a musician took flight in 2004 after he released his single, “Locked Up”, the first from his album titled Trouble. Afterwards, he also released “Lonely” both of which were a massive success in the music market.
However, Akon’s investment in various businesses such as AKONCITY means that he has to spend a lot of money which is why he is not number one on our list. A good portion of his wealth were the proceeds of his album sales which were up to 35 million copies worldwide. Other sources like endorsement deals and investments also made him a lot of money and fame though the 48 year old musician says he was happier when he didn’t have so much money.
1. Youssou N’Dour: Youssou N’dour is number one on our list. He is the richest African musician in 2023. His mind-blowing net worth of $145 million was amassed from his use of his unique voice and the popularization of mbalax which is a well-known Senegalese music genre.
He was born on October 1, 1959, and is a Senegalese singer, composer and songwriter. He has also done a stint as an actor, has dabbled into politics and runs a business. The strong footing which Youssou has in Senegalese music as well as his ability to infuse stories into his music are some of the qualities that endear him to music lovers.
His career as a musician started off when he came to limelight in 1972 for singing a heartrending tribute song to Late Papa Samba Diop, a leader of a famous Senegalese band in Dakar. Youssou was just 13 years old and had been in street theatre for 2 years. That song which he came up with impromptu right there at the Saint-Louis Stadium, earned him the love and admiration of many music enthusiasts in Senegal and from there his fame and wealth grew.
