Accra has 10th highest number of millionaires in Africa
Accra has the tenth highest number of millionaires amongst African cities – approximately 2300 as of June 2015, according to a new World Wealth Report by Johannesburg-based AfrAsia Bank.
Accra lies tenth on the report’s list of 28 African cities with 500 or more millionaires. The list however excludes Libyan and Tunisian cities due to political instability.
Millionaires, as operationalised by AfrAsia Bank, are individuals living or working in a country, with net assets of US$1 million or more, excluding their primary residences.
The World Wealth Report says there are approximately 163,000 millionaires in Africa as of June 2015, with a combined wealth of US$670 billion.
Johannesburg tops the list with 23,400 millionaires and Cairo lies second with 10,200 millionaires, followed by Lagos with 9,100.
Cape Town and Nairobi rank fourth and fifth with 8,900 and 6,200 millionaires respectively.
The figures point to South Africa as the African country with the highest number of millionaires – about 37,500 – across the cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria alone.
The figures also point to a concentration of the continent’s millionaires in the top five cities on the list. Johannesburg, Cairo, Lagos, Cape Town and Nairobi hold approximately 57,800 millionaires whilst the following 23 African cities hold only about 32,500.
With a projected growth rate of 78 per cent for the next decade, the number of millionaires in Accra is expected to nearly double by the year 2025 to 4,100.
The top five cities are however expected to retain their slots, come 2025.
Johannesburg is expected by AfrAsia Bank to grow by 39 per cent to a total of about 32,600 millionaires in 2025; Cairo is expected to increase its number by 33 per cent to 13,600 and Lagos by 46 per cent to 13,300 in the next decade.
The projection for Cape Town is 38 per cent from 8,900 to 12,300 millionaires and for Nairobi 71 per cent which will translate into an increase of 4,400, from 6,200 to 10,600.
By Emmanuel Odonkor
Editor’s note: All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.