Nigeria Is Africa’s Richest Country But South Africa & Egypt Have More People With USD 30 Mn+

Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa are three countries on the continent that compete for a lot of things. From economy to national brand, soft power to innovation and investments to millionaires, the two nations take much of Africa’s spotlight, asides from Kenya.

The newest find, however, is that South Africa is home to ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI)— people with USD 30 Mn and above—in the continent. Despite currently being the region’s largest economy, Nigeria comes not in second, but third place.

According to The Wealth Report 2020—a new survey by real estate consultancy firm Knight Frank—there are 1,033 ultra rich individuals in South Africa. Egypt took the second spot with 764 millionaires, while Nigeria came third with 724.

The report projects that South Africa’s concentration of UHNWI will grow by 25 percent to become 1,293 in 2024. Egypt’s growth will be at 66 percent, resulting in 1,269 dollar millionaires, while Nigeria will increase 13 percent to have 819.

Currently, there are 4,501 ultra rich people in Africa, according to the report. The number will grow by 32 percent between now and 2024 to make the number 5,934.

On the East African side of the situation, Kenya no longer leads despite being the region’s richest economy. Tanzania is now the alpha UHNWI country, rising 8 percent to 5,553 from 5,118 in 2018.

In Kenya the number of UHNWI went down from 15 percent to 2,900 from 3,399, while it decreased by 13 percent to 42 from 48 individuals.

In Uganda, the number of UHNWI declined by six per cent to 137 in 2019 from 146 in 2018 while the number remained unchanged at 5 individuals.

Though this report does not name millionaires, previous wealth surveys have mentioned people like Aliko Dangote (Nigeria), Nassef Sawiris (Egypt), Nicky Oppenheimer (South Africa), Mohammed Dewji (Tanzania), Bhimji Depar Shah (Kenya) and Sudhir Ruparelia (Uganda), among others.

But do recall that there are HNWI—people with a wealth of USD 1 Mn and above—scattered throughout Africa. Egypt has 95,819, South Africa has 109,368, and Nigeria has 45,405. According to the report, there are 302,360 of them in Africa, and that will rise to 400,612 between 2019 and 2024.

Image Courtesy: workopolis.com