Mauritius-based AfrAsia Bank yetserday, April 26, 2021, released an annual study of the fortunes of African countries and wealthiest individuals.
According to the report, Kenya has 330 individuals with a net worth higher than $10 million (approximately Ksh1 billion).
However, the number indicates a drop from 356 billionaires reported in 2019, and 370 billionaires in 2020. This is evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic took a toll on the country’s economy, contributing to the number going down.
In total, 26 Kenyans dropped out of the overall wealthiest list, depicting the extent of the adversities of the pandemic to businesses.
Nairobi County is home to 75.8 per cent of all of Kenya’s billionaires revealing the county’s financial dominance over the other 46 counties.
250 out of the 330 billionaires, reside in the Capital City with Mombasa coming in second with 40.
The huge number of billionaires in Nairobi shows the existing disparity in regional economic development in the country.
Africa’s wealthiest suffered the most from the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. AfrAsia revealed that the number of wealthy persons in Africa dropped by 9 per cent.
The pandemic saw the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) become bearish, with properties being devalued, lock downs, and closure of private companies as the pandemic bit hard.
In Nairobi, the number of billionaires decreased by 10 per cent, representing 38 per cent of people whose net worth fell bellow the $10 million (Ksh1.08 billion) mark.
The Africa Wealth Report ranked South Africa 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 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.
