The rich get even richer
Mbongeni Mguni | Tuesday April 11, 2017 16:51
Authored by AfAsia Bank and New World Wealth, the 2017 African Wealth Report also reports that the population of the country’s US dollar millionaires rose by 19% between 2006 and 2016, placing it among African states rapidly spawning multimillionaires.
Data for the report is sourced from interviews with intermediaries such as wealth managers, financial advisors, property agents, property registers and property sales statistics, interviews with the wealthy themselves, as well as other methods. The report provides a sliver of light on data that is traditionally closely guarded about the super rich in Botswana. While researchers know the identify of the millionaires, this is never revealed to the public.
Data from the report also indicates that of the 2,800 millionaires recorded in Botswana in 2016, 100 of them were multimillionaires or individuals with assets of US$10 million and above.
South Africa remains the country on the continent most heavily populated by millionaires and multimillionaires, with 40,400 and 2,130 individuals respectively. In the last 10 years, the numbers of the super-rich in South Africa rose by eight percent and researchers expect these to increase by 30% in the next 10 years.
Meanwhile, the report also found that Botswana was the third most favoured destination for US dollar multimillionaire tourists in 2016. According to the data, 4,000 tourists with wealth exceeding US$10 million or more visited Botswana in 2016, placing the country third after South Africa and Morocco.
“Africa received approximately 48,000 multi-millionaire visitors in 2016, up from 43,000 in 2015, with South Africa the most popular African destination for the super-rich,” researchers said.
“Major destinations for them in the rest of Africa included Marrakech in Morocco, Casablanca also in Morocco, Cairo in Egypt, Nairobi in Kenya, the Serengeti in Tanzania, Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, the Masai Mara in Kenya, Livingstone in Zambia and the Okavango Delta in Botswana.”
Africa’s super rich
The super rich in Africa also indulged themselves in 2016, according to the report, spending US$46 million on super-luxury watches, up from US$13 million in 2006. The researchers only consider watches priced at US$10,000 and above as super-luxury and sales in this category were led by brands such as Patek Philippe, Frank Muller, Breguet, Vacheron Constantin, Ulysse Nardin, Blancpain.
The top luxury vehicles for African multimillionaires in 2016 included the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, Range Rover 5.0L V8, BMW X6 and Mercedes GLE Coupe. The African super rich’s favourite liquors for 2016 included Johnnie Walker Blue Label Whisky, Dom Perignon Champagne, Hennessy, Cognac and Glenmorangie Whisky.