Lagos 4th wealthiest city as Africa’s ‘big 5’ economies hold 50% of riches

PRIVATE BIL LIONAIRES or high-net-worth individuals with more than $1 million in private wealth in Africa are on the rise and a recent 2022 Africa Wealth Report, published today by Henley & Partners, in partnership with New World Wealth, has shown that total private wealth currently held on the African continent is $2.1 trillion and is expected to rise by 38 percent to nearly $3 trillion ($2.9 trillion) over the next 10 years.

According to the new report on private wealth on the African continent, South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, and Kenya, known as

Africa’s ‘Big 5’ private wealth markets, together account for more than 50 percent of the total wealth held on the African continent. This amount ($1.05 trillion) is equivalent to more than 38 percent of the continent’s total gross domestic product (GDP) which, according to IMF’s data, printed at $2.7 trillion in 2021.

The economy of Africa is expanding as a result of the positive growth momentum spurted by Africa’s Big 5’s over the years. Thus, there are at the moment, 136,000 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) with a private wealth of $1 million or more living in Africa, along with 305 centi-millionaires worth $100 million or more, and 21 US dollar billionaires.

The report stated that despite the tough past decade, South Africa is still home to over twice as many HNWIs as any other African country, while Egypt now has the most billionaires on the continent. Also, it reported that Mauritius has the highest wealth per capita (average wealth per person) in Africa, at $34,500, followed by South Africa at $10,970 and Namibia at $9,320.

The report further revealed that Mauritius is the fastest-growing wealth market in Africa, and it is projected to grow 80 percent over the next decade. This will also make it one of the fastest-growing high-income markets in the world over this period (in percentage growth terms), together with Australia, Malta, New Zealand, and Switzerland. By 2031, HNWI numbers in Mauritius are expected to reach over 8,000.

Also, South Africa, home to the largest luxury market in Africa by revenue, houses the two wealthiest cities on the continent, Johannesburg and Cape Town, with a total private wealth of $239 billion and $131 billion respectively. However, South Africa’s performance over the past decade has been poor, with total private wealth held in the country declining by 12 percent from $739 billion in 2011 to $651 billion in 2021.

Meanwhile, Cairo trails Cape Town as one of the wealthiest cities on the continent with $128 billion in privately held wealth, and Lagos is in the fourth position with $97 billion in private wealth.

South Africa, sitting atop the luxury markets ranking is followed by Kenya and Morocco. South Africa’s luxury sector, which includes exclusive hotels and lodges, cars, clothing and accessories, watches, private jets, and yachts, generates revenue of approximately $2 billion a year, making it the largest on the continent by a substantial margin. Much of this revenue is generated from the sale of luxury foreign brands such as Porsche and Louis Vuitton.

Speaking on some of the fastestgrowing markets across the globe, Andrew Amoils, head, research, New World Wealth, explains that private wealth refers to all an individual’s net assets (property, cash, equities, and business interests), less any liabilities.