(Bloomberg) — The number of billionaires living in Africa has fallen by nearly 20,000 over the past decade as the continent's super-rich have either emigrated or seen their wealth eroded by sharply falling currencies.
Just 135,200 people are now worth more than $1 million, down 8 percent from 2013, according to a report by Henley & Partners. The consultancy estimates that the continent's 342 millionaires and 21 billionaires have a combined wealth of $2.5 trillion.
“Weak currencies and weak equity prices have reduced wealth in Africa relative to global standards,” Dominic Borek, head of the private client group at Henley & Partners, said in the report. “With African stock markets underperforming relative to the world, local real estate markets facing headwinds and currencies weakening against the dollar, African investors are experiencing wealth loss on multiple fronts.”
African countries have faced a variety of challenges over the past decade, including COVID-19, rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions that have strained their budgets and currencies. South Africa, which has more than twice as many wealthy people as any other African country, has lost 20% of its billionaires over the past decade as it battles logistical constraints, rolling blackouts and rampant crime and corruption.
Meanwhile, the South African rand has fallen 43% against the US dollar and the FTSE JSE All Share Index has underperformed the S&P 500.
Egypt and Nigeria, the two richest countries after South Africa, have grappled with soaring inflation, foreign currency shortages and repeated devaluations of their currencies in order to allow their countries to trade more freely.
Despite all odds, Africa's billionaire population is expected to grow by 65 percent over the next decade, according to the report, driven by a surge in wealth in Mauritius, Namibia, Morocco, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, where the billionaire population is expected to grow by at least 80 percent.
“Mauritius, with its stable governance and favorable tax system, is projected to achieve an impressive growth rate of 95 percent, making it one of the fastest growing wealth markets in the world,” the report said. “Namibia is also seeing strong growth in its wealth population.”
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