The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) in Nigeria, each with a whopping $30 million or more in net assets, is forecast to rise 90 percent by 2024 from today’s level of 210 people, according to data from the recently released Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2015.
Nigeria’s UHNWI population rose by five percent in 2014, the highest in Africa after Zambia, according to data from the report. Its economy has expanded at an average annual rate of 9.9 percent over the past 15 years, according to data from Bloomberg.
“Africa has the highest potential for growth of any region at the moment. Reforms in Nigeria have been expedited, helping the country build credibility among foreign investors. And it is an exciting time,” Deon de Klerk, Head of International Private Clients at Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank, said.
Knight Frank’s Wealth Report noted that the amalgamated growth expectations in UHNWIs, for the MINT countries (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey), was an expected average uplift of 76 percent over the next decade, narrowly beating the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), which have an average forecast growth of 72 percent.
However, they both far outstrip global average forecast growth (34%) and the average increase expected across the G8 (28%) over the next decade.
Jim O’Neill, former chairman of Goldman Sachs, popularised the acronym MINT, identifying them as the new engines of economic growth.
The global population of ultra-high-net-worth individuals grew by almost 5,200 last year, according to data prepared exclusively for The Wealth Report by the analyst firm, WealthInsight. This latest increase means 65,335 people have joined the ranks of the ultra-wealthy over the past decade, a rise of 61 percent.
In total, there are now 172,850 individuals who hold wealth totalling $20.8 trillion, an increase of $700 billion in 2014, data from the report show.
Growth in Africa’s largest economy is forecast to slow this year to 4.8 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The biggest risks and opportunities for wealth creation around the world and Africa in particular include sustained political upheaval, Africa’s young population, and narrow economic growth.
“The risk for wealth creation in many other emerging economies will arise if economic growth over the coming years is not spread across every sector of the economy, from services to energy,” said Shubhada Rao, Senior President and Chief Economist at Yes Bank, one of India’s largest private-sector banks.
“Such broad-based growth results in a quicker trickle-down effect than when the economy is relying on just a few strong pockets of output,” he added.
African cities with the greatest concentration of UHNWI residents include: Johannesburg (298), Cairo (150), Lagos (131), Cape Town (115), Dar-es salaam (36), Abuja (23), Addis Ababa (21), Marrakesh (15), and Kano (10).
The annual pace of global wealth creation also quickened in 2014 compared with 2013, the report said. The number of global UHNWIs grew by 3.1 percent last year, compared with 2.9 percent in the previous 12 months.
PATRICK ATUANYA
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