Inherited riches doesn’t count as much as what you make of it. This saying depicts Salwa Idrissi Akhannounch, the richest woman of Moroccan descent and wealthiest female in North Africa.
Born in Casablanca into the rich Boulajoul Idrissi family, Salwa inherited her father’s wealth but didn’t stop there. She took the hard route to acquire her wealth and make a mark in the North Africa market.

Salwa began her career in 1993 with the launch of a distribution company that supplies floor laying materials. Since then, she has launched various companies and gained strides in different ventures.Topping her companies is the Aksal Group, a leading luxury department store and shopping mall in Morocco. Aksal Crown is the largest shopping centre in Africa, constructed in 2007 at a cost of over $240 million. The group currently generates over 5 billion Moroccan dirhams yearly, with Salwa holding a fifty per cent stake in the retail juggernaut. Salwa also holds the exclusive franchise to distribute fashion brands like Zara, Ralph Lauren, Banana Republic, Gucci and Gap in Morocco.

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She is currently listed as one of the women shaping Morrocco’s fashion industry by BoF500, and as one among the world’s 100 influential Arab women by Arabian Business Ranking Publication.
She won the 2017 New African Woman Award in Business by Pan African Magazine and was written about in 2013 by Forbes publication as one of the Multimillionaires you’ve never heard of. Salwa is married to Aziz Akhannouch. They were both listed as the 1168 richest persons on the Forbes list