From Founder To Future: Africa’s Succession Planning Shift

The succession planning shift signals the gradual maturation of African capitalism itself. 

Earlier this year, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, expanded the responsibilities of his three daughters across the Dangote Group. Fatima Dangote assumed a commercial leadership role within the group’s energy business, including the Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos refinery, while retaining oversight of corporate communications and administration. Halima Dangote broadened her responsibilities beyond managing the family’s Dubai office to include its London operations and wider international activities.  

Mariya Dangote, who joined the board of Dangote Cement after her father’s retirement as chairman in 2025, now oversees commercial strategy for the cement business alongside the group’s food operations. 

Elsewhere in Nigeria, similar transitions are becoming visible. 

BUA Foods, under the BUA Group, appointed Isyaku Abdulsamad ‘Khalifa’ Rabiu, son of billionaire-founder Abdulsamad Rabiu, as Chief Officer for Global Procurement and Strategic Operations earlier this year, further integrating the next generation into one of the continent’s fastest-growing industrial groups. 

Billionaire Mike Adenuga’s business empire has for years steadily elevated his children into senior leadership positions. Bella Disu, Executive Vice Chairman of Globacom, began her career inside the Nigerian telecoms company in 2004 and today occupies strategic leadership roles across the family’s wider investments, while other members of the Adenuga family continue to assume governance responsibilities. 

From the entertainment world, Nigerian musician David ‘Davido’ Adeleke has become involved in businesses connected to the Adeleke family empire, while his siblings oversee significant operations within the diversified enterprise established by their father Adedeji Adeleke. 

Across the continent, similar transitions are unfolding. 

South Africa’s Rupert family has gradually transferred operational responsibilities across generations within Richemont and related family interests. Morocco’s Akhannouch family continues balancing family ownership with professional management at Akwa Group. Kenya’s Chandaria family remains one of Africa’s longest-standing examples of structured multigenerational governance, while Egypt’s Sawiris family has demonstrated how defined leadership roles among siblings can sustain diversified multinational enterprises over decades. 

Taken together, these developments represent an effort to transform founder-led businesses into enduring institutions. Family-owned businesses account for a significant share of Africa’s private sector, employment and wealth creation. Yet, many have historically struggled to survive beyond the founding generation, often because succession planning began too late or governance structures remained informal. 

Barrister Abimbola Amusan, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of migration fintech company Vesti Technologies, argues that succession should be viewed not as a private family matter but as an economic priority. 

“Succession in Africa is a structural economic issue that determines whether wealth compounds or dissipates across generations,’’ he shares with FORBES AFRICA. “Too often, wealth creation outpaces the legal and institutional frameworks required to preserve it beyond the founder’s lifetime. The absence of robust trust structures and estate planning culture leads to fragmentation of assets and capital flight.’’ 

Amusan argues that many African family-owned businesses remain vulnerable because governance structures are informal and succession planning is frequently delayed until a crisis occurs. Mature economies, he notes, have long embedded wealth preservation within legal systems, trusts, family offices and professional advisory networks. 

For Africa, he says, the next frontier is “intergenerational capital architecture’’. 

Governments and financial institutions, he argues, should normalize the use of trusts, holding companies and transparent inheritance mechanisms, while founders themselves must shift from simply accumulating wealth to stewarding it across generations. 

“Without this shift, Africa risks repeating cycles where first-generation wealth becomes the ceiling rather than the foundation. True economic sovereignty will be measured not only by how wealth is created, but by how effectively it is retained and multiplied over time,’’ he says. 

The legal challenges surrounding succession often begin much earlier than many founders anticipate. 

Barrister Kenny Umenyi, Principal Partner at Nigeria-based BlackDiamond Attorneys and Chairman of BlackDiamond Homes, says one of the biggest mistakes he encounters is delaying the involvement of the next generation. “Many business owners keep their children at a distance from the family business, often believing it will prevent entitlement,’’ he says to FORBES AFRICA. “The most effective solution is early, structured involvement. Successors should earn their place by starting from the ground up, learning the operations, building relationships with employees, partners and clients, and understanding the vision behind the business.’’ 

Such preparation, he argues, builds institutional knowledge and trust long before leadership formally changes hands. The conversation is extending beyond traditional family conglomerates. 

Lateef Olamide Aminu, Director of Baron Inc. Sports and Entertainment Management, says Africa’s rapidly expanding sports and entertainment sectors face many of the same vulnerabilities. 

The continent has no shortage of athletes, musicians and creative entrepreneurs who generate substantial wealth, he says, but too few build institutions capable of preserving that value after their careers end.  

“Succession planning should begin the moment success starts,’’ Aminu says to FORBES AFRICA. 

That means protecting intellectual property, establishing governance systems, developing future leaders and creating organizations that can survive beyond a founder’s personal brand, according to him. “The future of African wealth lies in institutionalization. When we build systems instead of personalities, invest in mentorship and treat sports and entertainment as long-term businesses rather than short-term careers, we create sustainable economic value that benefits generations to come,’’ he says. His observation reflects a broader reality. As Africa produces more globally recognized athletes, entertainers and entrepreneurs, institutional longevity is becoming just as important as commercial success. 

The governance landscape is evolving alongside these business transitions. South Africa’s newly introduced King V Code on Corporate Governance, which came into effect this year, reinforces expectations that boards actively oversee leadership continuity, ethical governance, skills development and institutional resilience. While the code follows an “apply and explain’’ approach rather than mandatory legal requirements, it reflects a wider continental movement toward governance models that reduce dependence on charismatic founders. 

Professional advisers argue that governance must begin well before succession becomes imminent. Julie Howard, a partner at London law firm Boodle Hatfield, says families should begin succession discussions long before retirement or death. “It is very important for business owners to take professional advice on succession planning and to consider how they wish their business interests to be transferred in the future.  

Families need to have conversations as early as possible about which members of the next generation, for example, should be involved in the business and which members want to be involved,’’ she shares with FORBES AFRICA. 

Without those conversations, expectations diverge and disputes become more likely, she notes. “Family constitutions can also be prepared, covering elements such as governing family relationships, clarifying the family’s purpose and objectives, setting out how family members enter the business and manage family conflict.’’ 

Howard also notes that many wealthy African families now manage assets across multiple jurisdictions, making cross-border tax planning important. 

As international tax regimes evolve, families with assets in Africa, Europe and offshore financial centers must carefully consider residency rules, inheritance taxes and ownership structures, she recommends.  

“We are seeing a trend of South Africans leaving the United Kingdom (U.K.) to move to Cape Town and surrounding areas, and this area is also attractive to individuals from other jurisdictions.’’ 

According to her, many continue to externalize portions of family wealth through offshore structures as protection against currency volatility and political risk, while simultaneously maintaining operating businesses on the continent. “There is still a significant amount of investment flowing into Africa,’’ she says, even as families diversify internationally. 

Evidence suggests that governance is becoming a competitive advantage. The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Africa Family Business Survey 2025, based on responses from 79 family businesses across the continent, found that 87% of African family businesses can clearly articulate their purpose in a single sentence. Companies with clearly defined purpose were more likely to pursue aggressive growth, prioritize innovation and focus on long-term performance. 

The survey also found that 52% of African family businesses consider themselves agile or very agile, outperforming the global average of 45%. Yet, only 39% are prioritizing long-term investment in leadership development, below the global average of 44%. The report argues that long-term resilience depends on clarifying governance structures, strengthening leadership development, aligning capital allocation with strategic priorities and reviewing ownership arrangements to preserve value across generations. 

“Family businesses have always been defined by their long-term view. Today, that must be matched with agility. A clear purpose sets the direction, but the ability to adapt quickly will determine who continues to create value in an increasingly complex environment,’’ Duncan Adriaans, PwC Africa Private Business Leader, noted in the report. 

Africa’s founders built companies that transformed economies while the success will be measured by institutionalizing them through replacement of personalities with systems, informal authority with governance, and individual ambition with structures capable of creating prosperity long after they have left the boardroom.