Mauritians are wealthiest individuals in Africa – report

Mauritius has the highest number of wealthy people in Africa with $21,700 in wealth per person, according to the latest Africa 2016 Wealth Report released by the New World Wealth group.

Other countries in the continent that make up the top 10 include “South Africa, ($10,300); Namibia ($10,200), Botswana ($8,400); Gabon ($8,100); Algeria ($6,200); Morocco ($5,800); Egypt ($4,400); Angola ($3,800);” Ghana ($1,700), Kenya ($1,700), and Cote D’Ivoire ($1,700) share the number 10 spot.

Nigeria comes in at eleventh with $1,400 per person. Zimbabweans are the poorest in Africa with $200 per person.

According to the report, “there are approximately 165,000 high net-worth individuals (HNWIs) living in Africa with combined wealth holdings of $860 billion.

“Approximately $125 billion of African HNWI wealth is tied up with wealth management companies.”

The top position for the hub of African private banking with $72 billion goes to Johannesburg, South Africa. Apart from South Africa, HNWIs in other countries “tend to keep their funds in traditional holding centres like the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and Switzerland. Dubai is another popular destination, especially for North African HNWIs,” the report noted.

Mauritius’ position at the summit of the wealth report may not come as a surprise to many analysts.

According to the World Bank, the economy of the country has a diversified economy dependent on tourism, trade and foreign direct investment (FDI). After registering impressive growth rate in 2014 at 3.2 percent, the forecast for 2015 and 2016 were 3.5 percent and 3.6, respectively, on the back of increased domestic investment and stronger external demand.

African private banking market is projected to grow by 7 percent per annum over the next 10 years. Liberalisation reforms in Ghana and Kenya, meanwhile, have seen them emerge most promising emerging African markets for private banking, according to the report. Banks in Ghana, for instance, are consciously cultivating the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Many of them have set up SME desks in order to concentrate and provide specialised banking services to SMEs.

New World Wealth is an organisation that provides information on the global wealth sector, with a special focus on high growth markets. The report made use of dossiers from over 150,000 HNWIs.

The scope of the latest report was wide ranging and included African countries ranked by HNWIs and multi-millionaires; the top performing African countries for HNWIs; fastest growing African cities; the top luxury markets in Africa by revenue; spending review of African HNWIs; including: behavioural mapping; collectibles, prime real estate; second homes review, clothing, cars, hotels, watches, liquor, private jets and yachts; and review of African wealth management sector, including major players by assets under management in each country.