Africa Wealth Report 2025: Millionaires population to grow 65% over next decade, South Africa richest nation

Africa is currently home to 122,500 millionaires and the number is set to rise by 65 per cent over the next decade, according to the Africa Wealth Report 2025.

Africa currently has 122,500 millionaires, 348 centi-millionaires (more than 100 million), and 25 billionaires, according to the report, which has been prepared by wealth advisory firm Henley & Partners and its global wealth intelligence partner New World Wealth.

Of these millionaires, South Africa comprises 34 per cent (41,100), which is approximately equal to the next five wealthiest nations on the continent. The five nations of South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, and Kenya together have 63 per cent of Africa’s millionaires and 88 per cent of its billionaires.

This is a remarkable transformation for Africa from the late 20th century when there were only a few billionaires many countries were in long-term decline.

Now, on the other hand, the report noted that private wealth markets across Africa are expanding strongly despite global headwinds, underpinned by robust economic growth, with Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy forecast to grow by 3.7 per cent this year and 4.1 per cent the next year.

However, the concentration of wealth and political crises highlight the duality that Africa demonstrates where the promise of economic growth, rising wealth and high net worth individuals, and poverty coexist.

“Africa’s story remains one of dualities. Its economic trajectory reveals resilience and promise, bolstered by institutional innovation and growing investor confidence. Yet these exist alongside deep political fractures and governance setbacks. If African leadership can harness the momentum of economic growth while tackling political dysfunction with equal resolve, the continent may yet turn this moment of paradox into one of transformation,” Justice Malala, a best-selling author and political analyst, was quoted as saying in the report.

Wealth trends in Africa

Investment is now going both ways in Africa as wealth is rising among its people, according to Dominic Volek, the Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners, the firm that prepared the report.

Africa’s sustained economic expansion, combined with significant growth in high-net-worth-individual (HNWI) populations, positions the continent as a key player in the evolving global wealth landscape, said Volek.

“The investment migration sector is now working both ways, with African investors seeking greater global mobility and diversification while international investors are increasingly identifying Africa as a destination for long-term, stable capital deployment,” said Volek.

Over the past decades, Mauritius, which is the sixth wealthiest country in Africa, has recorded the continent’s strongest HNWI growth of 63 per cent, driven largely by its political stability, tax efficiency, and a robust residence by investment program, according to the report.

Rwanda (48 per cent) and Morocco (40 per cent) also made strong gains whereas some countries like Nigeria (47 per cent), Angola (36 per cent), and Algeria (23 per cent) saw a decline in their millionaire population.