Namibians third richest in Africa
Namibians third richest in Africa

Namibians third richest in Africa

Ellanie Smit
Despite a struggling economy, Namibia is still ranked as one of the wealthiest countries in Africa per capita.

Namibians are the third wealthiest individuals on the continent with average assets of U$9 400 (N$143 385) per person.

However, the wealth per capita in Namibia has decreased from 2017 when it was on average US$12 600 (at that time N$182 070) per person.

In 2015 the wealth per person in Namibia was N$132 600.

This is according to the Afrasia Bank's Africa Wealth Report, which says at the end of last year the average wealth per capital globally was N$412 533.

While Namibia's wealth per capita is still significantly lower than the world average, it is much higher than the average African wealth per capita, which stands at approximately N$29 050.

The report says a country's per capita wealth includes all individuals working or living in that country, including expats.

However, the report seems to be skewed when taking into account the high level of inequality in Namibia.

Rated as a high-middle-income country, Namibia's poverty and inequality levels are among the highest.

Data from the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) indicates that more than 10% of the Namibian population lives in abject poverty, translating to about 258 259 people.

Namibia's extreme poverty line stands at N$293 per household per month.

According to the wealth report, Mauritians (N$473 955 per capita) are the wealthiest individuals in Africa, followed by South Africans (N$175 050 per capita).

The report also measures the total wealth of African countries and in this case Namibia was ranked 13th.

The report says total wealth refers to the private wealth held by all the individuals living in each country. It includes all their assets such as property, cash, equities and business interests, less any liabilities. Government funds were excluded.

According to the report Namibia's total wealth amounts to US$24 billion, while it has 1 700 high-net-worth individuals (HNWI), 70 multimillionaires and three centi-millionaires.

High-net-worth individuals are defined as people with wealth of US$1 million or more, multimillionaires have wealth of US$10 million and more, while centi-millionaires have wealth of US$100 million and more.





In comparison, in South Africa there are 2 070 multi-millionaires, 39 200 high-net-worth individuals, 94 centi-millionaires and five billionaires.

The report notes that Namibia's wealth has grown by 26% from 2008 to 2018, adding that the country was recently rated by New World Wealth as one of the safest countries in Africa.

“Notably, safety is one of the key drivers of wealth growth in a country,” it says.

Furthermore, Windhoek was ranked as one of the major cities when total wealth is taken into account, with US$12 billion in total wealth. This excluded government funds.

Windhoek was 16th among African cities where the super-rich live, with 1 200 high-net-worth individuals and 50 multi-millionaires.

Meanwhile, a recent report by Oxfam International indicated that the wealth of the world's billionaires had increased by US$900 billion in the last year alone, or US$2.5 billion a day. During that time, the wealth of the poorest half of humanity, 3.8 billion people, had fallen by 11%.

“Billionaires now have more wealth than ever before. Between 2017 and 2018, a new billionaire was created every two days,” the report said.

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ELLANIE SMIT

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-22

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