El nuevo informe sobre la riqueza en África revela que solo cinco países poseen el 50% de la riqueza total del continente

The research firm New World Wealth, in collaboration with Henley & Partners, has just published a new report on wealth in Africa for 2022. According to the document, there are five countries where 50% of the continent's wealth is concentrated. These are South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco and Kenya.

The content of the report points out some more facts about the reasons why these countries accumulate so much wealth. Firstly, it highlights that South Africans have the greatest combined wealth. They hold more than 651 billion dollars. The list is followed by the Egyptians with 307 billion dollars and the Nigerians, who own around 228 billion dollars in total.

In addition, South Africa has the two richest cities on the entire continent, with Johannesburg, the first, being the richest and having a total private wealth of $239 billion. The second is Cape Town, with a wealth of $131 billion. These are followed by Cairo and Lagos, with $128 billion and $97 billion respectively. 

In second place, Egypt is highlighted as having the largest number of billionaires of any country on the continent. Finally, the report confirms that there are currently more than 136,000 high net worth individuals in Africa. For these individuals to be considered as such, they must have private wealth of $1 million or more. Alongside these are 305 centimillionaires (who have more than $100 million) and 21 billionaires living on the continent.

On the other hand, and although it does not appear in the list of the five richest countries, Mauritius has the highest level of wealth per capita in Africa. The country has $34,500. The islands are followed by South Africa with $10,970 and Namibia with $9,230 per capita.

Experts point to the Republic of Mauritius as one of the countries that will experience the most growth in terms of wealth over the next decade. It is expected to increase by a further 80% from current levels. Thanks to these good prospects, the islands will become one of the fastest growing high-income markets. It joins a ranking dominated by Australia, Malta, New Zealand and Switzerland. 

However, the report reveals that Africa's total private wealth is growing. "Total wealth refers to the private wealth of all individuals living in a country, including their assets (property, cash, shares and business interests) minus any liabilities. We exclude public funds from our figures," the document clarifies.

The continent currently holds $2.1 trillion, which is expected to increase by 38% over the next ten years. The increase is expected to be driven by the adoption of frontier economies and their performance. These will start to be driven by the need to diversify sources of wealth creation and thus enter other markets generating more wealth.

"Africa is home to some of the fastest growing markets in the world, such as Rwanda, Uganda and Mauritius. Our forecast is for private wealth to grow by more than 60% in all three countries over the next decade driven by particularly strong performance in the technology and professional services sectors," said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth. 

Similarly, Dominic Volek, head of private client at Henley & Partners points to well-established wealth centres on the continent such as South Africa, Morocco and Egypt. These have a growth forecast that will shape Africa's future economy.

"Significant private wealth growth of more than 50% is expected in Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique and Zambia in the coming years. The mobility of high net worth individuals in Africa is enormous, and their movements give us valuable insights into future economic trends in each country," says the director.

It is worth noting that, despite recent global events and the situation on the continent, South Africa ranks 28th in terms of total private wealth globally. This is ahead of other economies such as Argentina, Malaysia, Thailand and Turkey, for example.