More join the super-rich ranks in Botswana

Mbongeni Mguni | Tuesday September 9, 2025 17:00

According to data released last week by Henley & Partners in partnership with wealth intelligence firm, New World Wealth, the numbers of the super-rich are growing in the country.

The Africa Wealth Report is the continent’s most comprehensive assessment of wealth at country, city and individual level. Researchers analyse household income statistics, market capitalisation data, detailed records of high-net-worth individuals from the firms’ in-house database, property sector information, tax data and other tools, to support their findings.

The research is combined in a model that estimates both the total wealth held in a country and the number of individuals in each wealth tier. Estimates of the top wealth tiers, namely, centi-millionaires and billionaires, are produced from the firms’ in-house database of high-net-worth individuals.

Researchers said the model also maps each country’s historical wealth growth trends by considering currency movements versus the US dollar, stock market movements in US dollar terms, High-Net-Worth Individual (HNWI) migration trends, prime property price movements in US dollar terms and GDP per capita trends in USD terms.

The reports do not identify individuals for confidentiality and privacy purposes.

For Botswana, the graphs have been generally on the rise and the Africa Wealth Report 2025 ranks the country 14th in Africa for the number of people with at least $1 million in liquid wealth. According to the researchers, Botswana 1,700 individuals with liquid wealth above $1 million (P13.43 million) and four individuals with above $100 million (P1.34 billion).

“The number of HNWIs living in Botswana is up by around 3% over past decade,” New World Wealth head of research, Andrew Amoils, told Mmegi. “This slow growth is mainly due to a slow down in the local mining sector and a slight depreciation of the local currency vs the USD – all our stats are in USD terms so this has an impact. “Also, some HNWIs have left the country, mainly going to places such as UAE and South Africa.”

He added that the top sectors for HNWIs in Botswana include base materials (mining), eco-tourism and financial services.

HWNIs, according to the research firm’s methodology, are individuals with liquid investable wealth of $1 million or more. Centi-millionaires have more than $100 million in wealth, while billionaires are again, US dollar billionaires. Wealth’ refers to an individual’s liquid investable wealth, which includes listed company holdings, Exchange Traded Funds, cash, bonds, gold, and crypto holdings — namely, items that can be cashed in quickly.

In the 2025 report, South Africa comfortably leads the pack with US dollar 41,100 millionaires, 112 centi-millionaires and eight billionaires. Egypt is next with 14,800 millionaires and 49 centi-millionaires, followed by Morocco and Nigeria.

In the regional neighbourhood, outside of South Africa, Botswana keeps company with Namibia (2,500 millionaires), Angola (2,300 millionaires), Zambia (1,000 millionaires) and Mozambique with 800 millionaires.

In the last decade, or between 2015 and 2025, the numbers of HWNIs have grown strongest in Mauritius, rising by 63%, while they have contracted steepest in Nigeria, falling by 47%.

Botswana’s own situation is a topsy-turvy tale. The Africa Wealth Report previously indicated that the country had 2,120 millionaires in 2012, falling to 1,900 in 2022 and later to 1,700 as at the 2025 edition of the report.

Amoils said there was potential for growth in Botswana going forward.

“We expect both Namibia and Botswana to emerge as major eco-estate hubs in the future. “This will encourage more HNWIs to move to the country. “Taxes are lower in Namibia than Botswana which gives it a slight advantage when it comes to attracting HNWIs,” he said.

On the other end of the spectrum, a separate report reveals how the gap between the rich and the poor on the continent remains stubbornly wide and is actually growing. According to Oxfam, a British network of NGOs focussing on poverty and inequality, the continent has seen the rise of the super-rich in recent times.

According to Oxfam data released in July, Africa’s four richest people – all of whom are men – have more wealth than half of the population of 750 million in the region. In addition, over the past five years, African billionaires have increased their wealth by 56%, while the five richest African billionaires have increased their wealth by 88%.

Oxfam’s research indicates that nearly half of the 50 most unequal countries in the world are African and that since 2020, the average income of the richest 1% in Africa has increased five times faster than that of the bottom 50%.

“African dollar millionaires, who account for 0.02% of the population, own nearly a fifth of the region’s wealth, while the bottom 50% own less than 1%,” researchers said. “In Africa, men own three times more wealth than women; this is the highest gender wealth gap of all regions and is double the world ratio.”

Oxfam researchers said the extreme inequality was neither natural nor desirable but was the result of unjust policies and structures – nationally and globally – that see Africa’s wealth flowing to the few rather than benefiting the many.

“Such a system of redistribution to the rich should be a major concern for all, as extreme inequality threatens to undermine democracy, hampers poverty reduction and growth, worsens the climate crisis, widens gender and other intersectional injustices, and leads to the denial of basic rights and dignity for ordinary citizens,” the report noted.

Botswana, usually cited as one of the most unequal countries in the world, received accolades from Oxfam for government’s efforts to provide support to the most vulnerable in society.

“Botswana’s welfare programmes are among the most extensive in Africa. “With prudent use of diamond money, the country has invested heavily in public services such as education, healthcare and housing, which benefit people living in poverty more than their wealthy counterparts,” researchers noted.

Oxfam said although inequality was still high, Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia had managed to significantly reduce it since 2000.

Botswana also scored points for its healthcare coverage, secondary school graduation rates and was ranked ninth amongst 48 Africa states for commitment to reducing inequality by the Oxfam researchers.