More than half (56%) of dollar millionaires and more than 90% of billionaires are concentrated in South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and Morocco, according to the "Africa Wealth Report 2023" published on Tuesday by the British firm Henley & Partners, consultant specialists in the area of residence and citizenship by investment.
South Africa, the continent's most industrialized nation, is the country with most millionaires (37,800 people) with a sum of at least one million dollars, followed by Egypt (16,100), Nigeria (9,800), Kenya (7,700) and Morocco (5,800).
In line with the report, Rwanda has become the country with the highest increase in the number of millionaires in Africa: 72% more in 2022 than in 2012.
In total, Africa has 138,000 millionaires, 328 centimillionaires and 23 billionaires, the report revealed.
According to the report, the number of millionaires on the continent has fallen by 12% over the decade 2012-2022, due in particular to the weak economic growth of the top three of the major economies in Africa: Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa.
Mauritius might become the biggest provider of millionaires over the next decade (+75%). As poverty increases on the continent, an increase of more than 60% in the number of wealthy people is also expected in Namibia, Rwanda, Zambia, Seychelles, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Morocco.
The publication also highlights Africa's top 20 passports by their access to other countries. Thus, Seychelles has become the first country on the list with 153 visa-free destinations. The island state is followed by Mauritius (146), South Africa (106), Botswana (86), and Namibia (78).
Along with that, there is a list of the wealthiest cities in terms of the continent's millionaires. South African Johannesburg and Cape Town have taken the first and the third places with 14,600 and 7,200 millionaires respectively, second place has been occupied by Cairo, the capital of Egypt, having 7,200 of them. These countries are followed by Lagos, Nigeria (5,400), and Nairobi, Kenya (4,700).
The report also provides a forecast for possible future trends in Africa. It underlines that ecologically friendly hobbies such as bird watching and catch-and-release fly-fishing might become popular on the continent, as well as astronomy.
Ecotourism could gain a boost in the future in the form of jungle and rainforest lodges, especially among high-net-worth individuals, the report says.
Another trend in the spotlight is classic car collecting, in particular in countries with more established car markets such as South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, and Morocco.