Jozi is Africa’s cradle of millionaires

JOHANNESBURG is the African city with the highest number of dollar millionaires in 2015 and is expected to continue leading the pack, with a 39 percent surge to 32 000 over the next decade.

This is according to the latest AfrAsia Bank and New World Wealth report on the top African cities for millionaires to reside in.

Johannesburg tops the 28 African cities surveyed with a whopping 23 400 millionaires.

It has more than twice as many millionaires as Cairo, which is the second on the 2015 list at 10 200 individuals.

AfrAsia Bank and New World Wealth say South Africa is currently home to 30 percent of the African continent’s millionaires or high net worth individuals (HNWIs). The country is home to 46 800 millionaires, up from 19 900 in 2000.

According to the definition by the report, millionaires are individuals with net assets of $1 million (R13.32m) or more.

In June this year, it was estimated that there were close on 163 000 millionaires living in Africa, up from 66 000 in 2000 – a staggering increase of 146 percent. Together, these magnates hold a combined wealth of $670 billion.

Nigerians are known for boasting that their father is an “oga”, a millionaire, but Lagos can only boast of 9 100 of these HNWIs, and comes number three on the list.

Not to be outdone on the rich stakes is Cape Town at number four, while Durban and Pretoria occupy positions seven and eight. According to New World Wealth, worldwide wealth held by individuals amounted to approximately $195 trillion at the end of 2004. There were 13 million HNWIs in the world and worldwide HNWI wealth stood at $66 trillion.

Colin Grieve, the chief representative officer of AfrAsia Bank, said Africa is one of the few regions globally that has the potential to grow its emerging market and with this growth, present numerous opportunities. “These patterns are in line with our expectations. African cities are merging as epicentres of growth and opportunity; places where growing numbers of consumers with disposable income are congregating.”

He said successful entrepreneurs are seizing the opportunity to provide products and services to these expanding markets and, in doing so, generating wealth for themselves and their communities.

The report says among major cities for millionaires, Accra is expected to be the fastest growing African city going forward.

Andrew Amoils, the head of research at New World Wealth, said: “Accra’s strong growth is expected to be fuelled by significant growth in the following sectors in Ghana: financial services, telecoms, real estate and construction, media and healthcare.”