Egyptian singers dominate Forbes Top 100 Arab Celebrity list

The list features 23 African singers of which 17 are from Egypt. The remaining five represent Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The publication said it ranked the creatives based on their popularity and influence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, the number of years they had been active in the industry, and other influential activities such as ambassadorial roles and editorial points.

"We looked at over 500 Arab celebrities' social media platforms and took forward those with a total number of over three million followers," Forbes Middle East said. "Judging a celebrity's influence in this digital age naturally involves looking at their brands, their notoriety and the scope of their reach on social media."

The publication added: "We gave the most weight to social media, but we also calculated the length of the celebrity's showbiz career, and we explored their activities outside of their dominant field, such as whether they are employed as goodwill ambassadors for the UN and other points."

Diab, who has received the most international music awards for albums sales in the Middle East, leads the pack of celebrities with 30.26 million followers and is the only African artist in the top 10.

The second African artist is Egyptian Tamer Hosny at No 12 while Sherine Abdel-Wahab, also from Egypt, ranks at No 13, making her the highest-ranking African woman. In 2018, Abdel-Wahab was sentenced to six months in prison for offensive remarks about the Nile River. Fellow Egyptian Hassan El Shafei is the only producer on the list with 13.04 million followers and ranks at No 25.

The top Tunisian and Moroccan artists are Saber Al Rebai with 7.89 million followers and Samira Said with 8.3 million. They rank at No 20 and No 23, respectively. Cheb Khaled, who is considered the king of Raï music, is the top Algerian musician and ranks at No 39 with 5.39 million followers.

View the complete Forbes Middle East Top 100 Arab Celebrity list here.