New report shows Kenyan billionaires are no match for their African peers

A new report has found Kenya`s ultra-rich to be no match for their counterparts in Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and their East African neighbours in Tanzania.

Despite Kenya being listed as the fourth wealthiest African country with 365 people worth more than Sh1billion (US$10million), none of them has hit the US$1billion mark.

According to an African wealth report for 2019 published by Mauritius based AfrAsia Bank, slightly more than 20 Africans are worth more than US$1billion and none of them is Kenyan.

The report indicated that Africa, despite accounting for 16% of the world’s population, only accounts for 1% of total worldwide wealth.

It further indicated that South Africa has twice as many millionaires as any other African country.

The report, however, highlighted Kenya to be the most resilient market in Africa.

“Kenya had a difficult 2018 (Kenyan wealth went down by around 10% during the year) as the local stock market lost significant value. However, if one looks over the longer term, the trend there is still quite positive with wealth growth of 64% over the past 10 years. This shows that Kenya is still probably the most resilient market in Africa, among the traditional `big 5`” read the report.

Some of the countries with individuals who have reached the billion-dollar mark from the report include; South Africa – 5, Egypt – 6, Nigeria – 4, Morocco – 3, Angola – 1, Tanzania – 1.