Quick Facts
Biography
Issad Rebrab (born 1944), is an Algerian billionaire businessman, CEO of the CEVITAL industrial group, the largest private company in Algeria, active in steel, food, agribusiness and electronics.
According to Forbes, Rebrab is the ninth richest person in Africa, with an estimated net worth of US$3.1 billion, as of January 2016.
Early life
After graduating from a professional school, Rebrab taught accounting and commercial law. He soon left teaching, and started his own accounting firm.
Career
His industrial career started in 1971, when one of his clients proposed he take shares in a metallurgical construction company. He took 20% of the shares in Sotecom. After that, he created other companies in the steel industry: Profilor in 1975 and Metal Sider in 1988.
In 1995, his main installations were destroyed in a terrorist attack. Feeling in danger, he left Algeria. He came back in 1998 with Cevital, the biggest group in agricultural business, which later became the largest private Algerian company. Cevital owns one of the largest sugar refineries in the world.
In 2016, Rebab acquired El Khabar media group, for $45 million. This was his second investment into media, as he already owns the French-Algerian daily paper Liberte.
Personal life
Rebrab is married, with five children.