Africa’s Wealthiest Cities Named, Kampala Ranked 8th

Nairobi has beat Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam and Uganda’s Kampala to emerge s East Africa’s wealthiest city and the sixth in Africa after Durban, Cape Town, Cairo, Lagos and Johannesburg, a new report says.

The study by New World Wealth and AfrAsia Bank from Mauritius estimated Nairobi’s privately held wealth at Shs204 trillion with its growth driven by financial services, retail, tourism, fast moving consumer goods, telecoms, real estate and construction.

Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam is home to Shs94.6 trillion privately held wealth followed by Kampala with Shs60.6 trillion while Mombasa has Shs30.3 trillion worth of investments, notably in hospitality chains and affluent luxury beach houses.

Wealth accumulated by private individuals in Uganda and Rwanda grew at six per cent respectively while Tanzania settled for five per cent.

The report notes that wealthy individuals across East Africa adore shopping for designer clothes, rare vehicles especially Porsche for Kenyans and there is also an emerging trend where individuals own helicopters and private jets. Politicians have lately developed taste for choppers.

Nairobi attracts high Net Worth Individual ((HNWIs) for business and investments while Mombasa is mentioned as home to hospitality and luxury investments along its expansive beaches as well as highly preserved buildings recognised globally as World Heritage Sites.

Kenya’s open-ended policy allowing capital inflows and property ownership for African billionaires with easy visa regulations appears to have endeared it to HNWI individuals, but its politics adversely affected its growth in the past year recording the lowest growth in the region at two per cent.