Report Shows Kenya Has 8,500 Dollar Millionaires

A new report shows that Kenya has a total of 8,500 individuals with a net worth of over $1 million (Sh116 million).

The Africa Wealth Report 2022, which was published by research company New World Wealth and Henley & Partners, ranked Kenya at position four in terms of the number of dollar millionaires.

South Africa has the highest population of dollar millionaires on the continent with 39,300, followed by Egypt (16,900) and Nigeria (10,000).

Egypt was found to have the highest number of dollar billionaires with 7, ahead of South Africa (5), Nigeria (4), Morocco (3), while Tanzania and Angola have one each. Kenya does not have any dollar billionaires.

“Notably, South Africa is home to over twice as many millionaires as any other African country, while Egypt has the most billionaires on the continent,” the report says.

At the same time, the report ranked Kenya’s capital Nairobi as the sixth richest city in Africa with a total private wealth of $48 billion.

Johannesburg (South Africa) is the wealthiest city on the continent, with a total private wealth of US$239 billion followed by Cape Town (South Africa) which has a total private wealth of US$131 billion. Cairo (Egypt) is fourth followed by Lagos (Nigeria), Durban (South Africa), and Umhlanga (South Africa).

Kenya was ranked fifth on the continent in terms of wealth held by private citizens (Sh10.5 trillion). South Africans have the greatest combined wealth at $651 billion, followed by Egypt ($307 billion) and Nigeria ($228 billion).

“Total wealth refers to the private wealth held by all the individuals living in a country, including all their assets (property, cash, equities, and business interests) less any liabilities. We exclude government funds from our figures,” the report adds.

In terms of the wealth of the average citizen, Kenya was ranked eighth, with wealth per capita in the country at $1,700 (Sh197,000).

Mauritius is the richest country on the continent with a wealth per capita of $34,500, followed by South Africa ($10,970), Namibia ($9,320), Botswana ($7,880), Morocco ($3,380), Egypt ($3,000) and Ghana ($1,890).

“Strong growth is also forecast in Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, and Zambia (over 50% growth rates),” the report states.

The report was based on data from New World Wealth as well as Henley & Partners’ wealthy individuals’ database.