Kenya has shed 400 dollar millionaires in just 18 months as wealthy individuals shifted assets abroad, spooked by a slowing economy, last year’s deadly youth-led protests, and tightening credit conditions.
The latest Henley & Partners Wealth Report shows that Kenya’s pool of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) whose worth at least $1 million (Sh129.2 million) fell to 6,800 in June 2025. This is down from 7,200 in December 2023 and 7,700 in 2022, marking the third straight year of decline.
The contraction reflects both political and economic turbulence at home. Kenya’s GDP growth slowed to 4.7 percent in 2024 , the weakest since the Covid-19 pandemic weighed down by floods, costly bank loans, and months of unrest following the controversial Finance Bill. More than 50 people died in the protests, which forced President William Ruto to abandon Sh.346 billion in planned tax hikes.
Amid this uncertainty, wealthy Kenyans have increasingly moved their portfolios offshore, favouring safer destinations in Europe and the Middle East. They are diversifying into Treasury bonds, money market funds, REITs, and high-growth sectors such as technology, agriculture, and renewable energy — shifting away from traditional residential property holdings.
The decline has seen Kenya slip to fifth place in Africa’s dollar millionaire rankings, overtaken by Morocco. South Africa leads with 41,000 millionaires, followed by Egypt (14,800), Morocco (7,500) and Nigeria (7,200).
Kenya’s number of centi-millionaires who are worth at least $100 million (Sh12.9 billion) remained unchanged at 16, underscoring that the sharpest losses have been among individuals at the lower end of the millionaire threshold.
The millionaire drain is not unique to Kenya. Across Africa, the number of HNWIs dropped to 122,500 in 2025, from 135,200 three years ago. Still, Kenya’s experience is notable given its sharp fall from a peak of 8,500 millionaires in 2021, when the economy rebounded strongly from the pandemic with 7.6 percent growth ,the fastest in more than a decade.
The government has sought to entice wealthy individuals and their families to repatriate billions stashed in offshore tax havens. Globally, much of private wealth is held beyond the reach of local managers in assets such as real estate, gold, art, yachts and other investments.Whether these efforts succeed will depend on restoring investor confidence. For Kenya, stabilising politics, lowering the cost of capital, and reigniting growth will be critical to halting the millionaire exodus and reversing the shrinking of its super-wealthy class.
