One capital city is home to 4,200 millionaires and two billionaires, making it the richest city in West Africa, and the fifth wealthiest city in the whole continent. In this sprawling city, 4,200 residents have over $1million to their name, 12 have more than $100million, and there are two billionaires, according to the Africa Wealth Report 2024 by Henley and Partners.
Lagos, the capital of Nigeria and the most populated city in Africa, is the base for the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and multi-national giants like the Dangote Group, owned by Aliko Dangote – a man estimated to be worth over $23.9billion (£18.8billion). Nearly half of Nigeria’s wealthiest live in Lagos, as the country itself has 8,200 millionaires and three billionaires, making it Africa’s third wealthiest country, behind South Africa and Egypt. However, in the decade from 2013 to 2023, Lagos’ millionaire population shrunk by 48%, the biggest drop seen among all the top 20 cities on the list.
Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley and Partners, said that currency depreciation and underperforming stock markets have “chipped away at Africa’s wealth compared to global benchmarks”.
He added that the Naira currency in Nigeria has dramatically depreciated by over 75% compared to the dollar over the past 10 years.
Head of Research at New World Wealth, Andrew Amoils, commented that African nations are also losing large numbers of HNWIs to migration, leaving for places such as the UAE.
Conversely, the report predicts that expect Cape Town, the Whale Coast, Kigali, Windhoek, Swakopmund, Nairobi, Tangier, and Marrakech will see over 85% millionaire growth in the next decade, to 2033.
Overall, Africa’s millionaire numbers are expected to rise by 65% over the forecast period with solid growth projected in most major cities.
Henley and Partners predicts key industries to be fintech, eco-tourism, business process outsourcing, software development, rare metals mining, green tech, media and entertainment, and wealth management.
The figures gathered were rounded to the nearest 100, from December 2023.
