NAIROBI, Kenya, April 16 – Kenya has been ranked the fourth country in Africa with the most dollar centimillionaires, behind South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria.
The latest data from the Henley & Partners Top 10 Wealthiest Countries in Africa shows that the country has 16 centimillionaires ($100 million+), which is about Sh13.1 billion and above.
South Africa leads with 102 centimillionaires, followed by Egypt with 52 and Nigeria with 23.
However, Kenya misses on the list of dollar billionaires ($1 billion+), about Sh131.25 billion and beyond.
While South Africa has five billionaires, Egypt has seven, and Nigeria has three.
‘Over the next decade (to 2033), the likes of Mauritius, Namibia, Morocco, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda are all expected to experience 80%+ millionaire growth,” the Henley % Partner report stated.
“Mauritius is projected to enjoy a remarkable 95% growth rate, positioning it as one of the world’s fastest-growing wealth markets,” it added.
Henley & Partners Head of Private Clients Dominic Volek, however, says that currency depreciation and underperforming stock markets ate Africa’s wealth compared to global benchmarks.
“The South African Rand fell 43% against the US dollar from 2013-2023, and even though the JSE All Share Index rose in local currency terms, it was down 5% in USD terms,” Volek said.
“Currencies in most other African countries also performed poorly over the past decade, with dramatic depreciations of over 75% recorded in Nigeria, Egypt, Angola and Zambia,” he added.
Head of Research at New World Wealth, Andrew Amoils, adds that the continent is also losing large numbers of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) to migration, which is eroding the continent’s wealth.
“Approximately 18,700 high-net-worth individuals have left Africa over the past decade. There are currently 54 African born billionaires in the world, including one of the world’s richest, Elon Musk, but only 21 of them still live on the continent.”
