Dar es Salaam ranked 16th wealthiest city in Africa

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s commercial capital has been ranked 16th in terms of the number of dollar millionaires, according to a report by research firm New World Wealth and Henley & Partners.

The Africa Wealth Report 2024 indicates that Dar es Salaam has 1,200 individuals with a net worth of over $1 million (Sh2.5 billion).

The Africa Wealth Report 2024 drawn from intelligence gathered by New World Wealth as well as Henley & Partners’ database of high-net-worth individuals, comprising mainly of people with the title of director, CEO, founder and partner.

Two South African cities Johannesburg (12,300) and Cape Town (7,400) lead in the number of dollar millionaires in Africa with followed by Cairo with 7200, then Nairobi with 4,400 and Lagos completes the Top 5 with 4,200 millionaires.

South Africa has the highest number of dollar millionaires at 38,000 followed by Egypt (15,600) and Nigeria (8,200), according to the latest wealth report by Henley.

Though Tanzania has dropped to number 10  for the first time it is home to some 2,300 dollar millionaires, it has 4 individuals who are worth more than $100 million behind top scorers South Africa with 102 centi-millionaire, followed by Egypt with 54, Nigeria with 23, Kenya with 16 as Morocco wraps up the top five with 32.

In the report, Tanzania is the only East African country with a dollar billionaire after it failed to identify such individuals in Kenya, Uganda and other EAC countries.

Egypt leads with seven dollar billionaires, followed by South Africa (five), Nigeria (three) and Morocco (four) and Tanzania (One).

In terms of wealth held by private citizens, Tanzania has $56 billion (Sh128.8 trillion) and is ranked seventh. South African citizens have the greatest combined wealth at $651 billion by private citizens, followed by Egypt ($307 billion) and Nigeria ($228 billion).

“Total wealth refers to the private wealth held by all the individuals living in a country, including all their assets (property, cash, equities and business interests) less any liabilities. We exclude government funds from our figures,” the report says.

Despite being the largest economy on the continent, Nigeria was also beaten by South Africa in the population of dollar millionaires and billionaires. Wealth in the country has traditionally been concentrated in Dar es Salaam, which hosted government operations until six years ago and most industries and financial institutions.

Africa’s two wealthiest cities are in South Africa. Johannesburg is the wealthiest, with total private wealth of $239 billion, followed by Cape Town with total private wealth of $131 billion.

The report says the population of the wealthy in African countries is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, fuelling the hunt for cross-border investments, residency, and citizenship.

“New World Wealth has predicted a healthy wealth growth of 38 percent for Africa in the next decade, and several Eastern African countries stand out,” the report says.

 “Currency depreciation and underperforming stock markets have chipped away at Africa’s wealth compared to global benchmarks,” said Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners, Dominic Volek.

This erosion of wealth was recorded not only in Tanzania but also in leading homes of the wealthy in Africa, including South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Morocco.

Henley & Partners says that this can be largely attributed to the typical composition of African wealth portfolios.

“African investors tend to allocate their assets equally across equities, property, and cash. With African stock markets underperforming against global peers, local property markets facing headwinds, and currencies depreciating against the dollar, African investors have seen their wealth eroded on multiple fronts,” said Mr Volek.

Amid the economic turmoil, some wealthy individuals are leaving Tanzania and other African countries in search of greener pastures, especially in countries that offer citizenship-by-investment programmes.

The report shows that about 18,700 high-net-worth individuals left Africa between 2013 and 2023 in favour of investment spots in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia that offer vast opportunities to grow their wealth.

However, the report has tipped Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Morocco, Zambia, Uganda, and Rwanda to record a growth of more than 80 percent in the number of dollar millionaires in the next decade.