Kenyans get rich even in a tough economy

Kenya defied last year’s slowdown in economic growth and diminishing corporate performance to stand among the world’s top 10 countries that increased the ranks of the super-rich at the fastest pace.

Wealth-X, the firm that publishes the annual World Utra-Wealth Report, says the number of Kenya’s ultra-rich — defined as people worth $30 million (Sh3 billion) or more — grew by 11.7 per cent last year, ahead of India, Hong Kong and the United States.

No actual figure of the ultra-rich is given for Kenya, which has in the past five years ranked among the countries that are creating the super-rich at the highest rate.

The report says the ranks of India’s super-rich grew at the rate of 10.7 per cent, Hong Kong (9.3 per cent) and the United States (8.1 per cent).

“Among the top 10 UHNW countries, China and Hong Kong have achieved the strongest gains in their ultra-wealthy populations over the past five years, with the US also recording impressive growth,” says the World Ultra Wealth Report 2018, adding that double-digit increases have also been posted by Vietnam, Kenya and India.

“In contrast, those of Japan, Canada, Italy and the UK have largely stagnated.”

Kenya’s higher rate of minting multi-billionaires is particularly puzzling given the hard economic times the country has experienced in the past three years and the resulting fall in corporate profits that has seen thousands of people lose their jobs.

Realtor Knight Frank has, for instance, published a report showing that Kenya created 180 new dollar millionaires in 2017, increasing the number of persons with net-worths of more than Sh500 million to 1,290.

Knight Frank said that out of the 1,290 dollar millionaires, less than 10 had a net-worth of over Sh50 billion, while 90 were worth Sh5 billion and above.

Kenya and other African countries are expected to mint more multibillionaires over the next five years, a development that may widen the gap between the rich and the poor.

“Our forecasts show a healthy increase in the number of UHNW individuals and their combined wealth in the period to 2022, with solid gains in each of the three global regions — the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA),” the report says.

Investment analyst Aly-Khan Satchu said Kenya’s economic performance in recent years only points to the fact that its list of the newly super-rich is likely to be dominated by politicians and the few investors in fast-growing fields such as ICT.