Editor's Review

The Africa Wealth report has revealed Kenya is among the five wealthiest countries in Africa.

Mauritius-based AfrAsia Bank on Monday, April 26, 2021, released an annual report detailing the wealth of African Countries and the richest individuals.

Kenya, according to the report, registered 330 people with a net worth higher than $10 million (approximately Ksh1.08 billion).

The number is a drop compared to 356 billionaires reported in 2019, and 370 billionaires in 2020. This has been attributed to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

cumulatively, 26 Kenyans fell out of the general rich list, revealing the effects of the pandemic on businesses and enterprises.

Nairobi County boasts 75.8 percent of the total Kenyan billionaires .250 out of the 330 billionaires, live within the Capital City.

Read More

  1. How Kenya Tycoons Accumulated Wealth in 2023
  2. Profile: Billionaire Mohan Galot’s Controversies & Luxurious Fleet of Cars
  3. Kenya’s Under-the-Radar Billionaires

The high number of billionaires in Nairobi depicts the imbalance in regional economic development in Kenya.

Africa's wealthiest were the most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

AfrAsia's survey indicated that there was a 9 percent drop in the number of wealthy persons in Africa.

The Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) was bearish in the course of the pandemic. Several properties had to devalue, the lockdowns and closure of private companies took a toll on the economy.

The number of billionaires in Nairobi dropped by 10 percent, translating to 38 percent of people whose net worth fell to below the $10 million (Ksh1.08 billion) mark.

South Africa was ranked first as the country with the most billionaires, at 1,930, Egypt, 810, and Nigeria, 460.

Nairobi was ranked sixth in Africa among cities with the most billionaires.

The Africa Wealth report describes wealth as the net assets of a person that includes properties, equities, cash, and business interests clear of any liabilities.

The Bank uses its financial management arm, responses from private bankers, wealth advisers, and managers to track the billionaires.

The wealth report, however, did not give the individual names of the wealthy persons.

Kenya's group of high net worth individuals described as people with a net worth of at least $1 million (Ksh108 million).

The report revealed that 300 people fell out of this category where there was 8,300 people last year and 8,600 in 2019.