According to a new wealth survey, the number of super-wealthy Kenyans increased to 27,473 in 2020, even as the COVID-19 pandemic expanded the gap between the elite and the poor.
The percentage of adult Kenyans with more than $1 million (KSh 108 million) grew to 0.1% as some individuals defeated the COVID-19 odds to multiply their fortune.
According to a survey by Credit Suisse, the number of super-rich Kenyans increased at a time when two million Kenyans were plunged into poverty.
A World Bank report attributed the increase in destitution to the adverse effects of the COVID-19.
The Global Wealth Report 2021 estimated Kenya’s adult population was at 27.47 million in 2020, with nearly everyone (98%) valued at less than KSh 100,000.
The increase in the number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) was despite a bearish stock market that saw investors at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) lose billions in paper wealth. Kenya was among the countries where share prices declined by more than 10%.
Others countries that experienced decline include Israel, Spain, Singapore, Greece, Austria, Chile, Egypt, and Colombia.
“Severe pandemic upheaval and post-Brexit uncertainty are not an attractive combination for investors,” read the report in part.
Share prices at the NSE, the report showed, declined by 15.5% as the stock market was jolted by a pandemic that saw trading at the bourse temporarily suspended.
The rich seem to have moved most of their wealth into safe assets such as Treasury Bonds and assets denominated in US dollars, where their money grew even as COVID-19 decimated lives.
However, the number of HNWIs in the report contrasts sharply with that which was done jointly by Knight Frank and Stanbic Bank.The Knight Frank-Stanbic Bank report estimated that there were only 3,323 Kenyans worth $1 million and above, a drop of 21.5% compared to 4,235 in 2019.The report shows that most of the country’s super-rich have put their wealth in real estate, with a few being stashed in government securities.Among the African countries surveyed, Kenya had the third-highest HNWIs behind South Africa and Egypt, The Global Wealth Report 2021 showed.Source: Tuko Breaking News Latest
