A total of 20 United States (US) immigrants from African countries have been named among the 250 most successful immigrants, according to a BusinessDay analysis of the latest Forbes 250: America’s Most Successful Living Immigrants.
Some of these immigrants include notable individuals like Adebayo Ogunlesi, Angélique Kidjo, Elon Musk, and many others.
The list was recently compiled in commemoration of America’s 250th independence anniversary on July 4, 2026, to highlight immigrants who have helped shape the country through business, science, sports, public service and the arts.
Only 20 Africans account for only eight percent of the total number of immigrants, with South Africa having the highest representation of six, followed by Nigeria with three individuals, Kenya and Morocco with two each, while Egypt, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Sudan, Benin, Senegal and Cameroon each have one representative.
Immigrants from Asia/ Middle East had the highest number of representation overall with 101 individuals (40.4 percent of the list), followed by Europe (Russia and Turkey included), with 87 individuals (34.8 percent), North America has 28 individuals(11.2 percent), then South America has nine individuals listed (3.6 percent), while Oceania (Australia) has five individuals (2 percent).
