Check out 5 Richest Kings In Africa and their sources of income.

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 Africa might be saturated in democratically governed countries, but it is still the land of numerous kings. Sure, there are only three African countries with constitutional monarchies – Morocco, Swaziland and Lesotho — but there are several hundred traditional monarchs dispersed across Africa in urban, semi-urban and rural communities in independent countries. Mostly, these monarchs wield little if any formal political power, nevertheless they fulfill spiritual and ceremonial obligations to members of the community.

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Being truly a traditional monarch in Africa can be quite a lucrative affair. A significant quantity of these rulers are formally acquiesced by state institutions and as a consequence, most of them receive generous stipends and allowances from the government. As an example, King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, the original King of the Zulu people, South Africa's largest ethnic tribe, receives an annual allowance of about $6 million to cater to the wants of his royal household. He also gets to savor other perks like frequent private air travel and keeps an exotic assortment of automobiles, all taken care of by South Africa's taxpayers.

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Many African monarchs also earn an important income through the goodwill and generosity of the communities. It is not uncommon for wealthy members of a group or community to give substantial sums of money, cars, land or houses to their traditional Kings in exchange for spiritual blessings or unrelated favors. And since these traditional monarchs may wield significant influence in political circles, some of them get invited join boards of large corporations. 

Obi Nnaemeka Achebe, the Obi (King) of Onitsha, a mid-sized commercial town in Nigeria's southeastern region, serves as the Non-Executive Chairman of Unilever Nigeria, a sizable publicly-listed manufacturer of consumer goods, and he previously served as Chairman of Diamond Bank, a number one Nigerian commercial bank. Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, who's the Alake (King) of Egbaland, a clan of Yoruba-speaking people in Nigeria, may be the Chairman of Oando, a sizable Nigerian energy company.

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Some of these rulers control large fortunes. Some have built their fortunes from scratch by starting successful enterprises and shrewdly reinvesting their profits into a diverse range of business concerns. Others have simply had wealth transferred in their mind by their forefathers.

Who are the wealthiest Kings in Africa? I spent quite a bit of time trying to find out.  In doing the investigation because of this list, I excluded wealth held or controlled by rulers in trust because of their nation or territory. Meet with the 5 richest Kings in Africa.