Mauritius and Ethiopia are the fastest growing wealth markets in Africa, report
Mauritius, Ethiopia and Rwanda are the fastest growing wealth markets in Africa according to the ‘AfrAsia Bank Africa 2017 Wealth Report’ published by New World Wealth in association with AfrAsia Bank.
The report which details the performance of High Net Worth Individuals, HNWIs in selected African countries between the end of 2006 and the end of 2016, placed Mauritius at the top in the continent for HNWIs during this period, with growth of 230%. HNWIs refer to individuals with wealth of $1 million or more.
“This report confirms our findings that the African Continent will demonstrate encouraging growth in Wealth Creation. Mauritius is a lending hub for Offshore Financial Services and will receive this “Wealth Flow” for management and investment. We therefore expect Mauritius to be the biggest beneficiary of this developing trend. At AfrAsia we are constantly preparing to benefit from this possible “Business Growth”. We have a strategy in place to do just that and this gives us the confidence that we are on the right track,” stated Sanjiv Bhasin, Chief Executive Officer of AfrAsia Bank.
The strong growth in millionaires in Mauritius has been assisted by the country’s Strong economic, the relocation to the country by a large number of wealthy individuals over the past decade, especially from France and Southern Africa.
It is estimated that 280 millionaires have moved there from South Africa alone since 2006. Mauritius also scored highly due to its thriving and growing financial services sector, particularly in offshore banking, fund management and private banking, automatic permanent residency if one buys a $500,000+ home in the country which has encouraged wealthy people to move there, secure ownership rights which is the most critical component of successful wealth creation globally.
Ownership rights are very strong in Mauritius, which encourages locals and foreigners to invest in property and businesses in the country. Neighboring Zimbabwe offers a case in point as to what happens when ownership rights are stripped – once assets are taken away they tend to lose value as no one is willing to buy anything.
More details on the report can be found here
