By Andrew Amoils, Head of Research at NW Wealth
A new report from AfrAsia Bank and New World Wealth reviews the top spending habits of the wealthy in Africa.
Prime property trends:
Prime residential property is a popular asset class for Africa’s wealthy, especially luxury apartments, homes of residential estates and beachfront villas. The most expensive cities for prime residential property in Africa are ranked below.
City (ranked in US$ per square meter):
• Cape Town (Bantry Bay and Clifton): $6 100
• Durban (Lagoon Drive in Umhlanga): $2 900
• Johannesburg (Central Sandton) : $2 800
• Nairobi: $1 900
• Marrakesh: $1 800
• Tangier: $1 800
• Mombasa: $1 700
• Luanda: $1 700
• Casablanca: $1 500
• Accra: $1 200
• Lagos: $1 100
• Abidjan: $1 000
• Alexandria: $1 000
• Maputo: $900
• Cairo: $900
• Kampala: $800
Note: Figures for Dec 2017. Refers to the US$ price of a prime 200-400 square meter apartment/villa in best part of each city/town. For our purposes Durban includes Umhlanga.
As reflected, South African cities dominate the above list. It should, however, be noted that residential prices in South Africa are coming under strain as the threat of land redistribution begins to sink in. The ongoing drought in Cape Town has also had a negative impact on prices.
Luxury travel destinations:
The report also reviews the top travel destinations for the wealthy in Africa.
South Africa is the main luxury tourist destination in Africa. Major SA destinations for wealthy people include: Kruger Park area, Cape Town, Umhlanga and Franschhoek.
Major destinations for them in the rest of Africa include: Mauritius, Seychelles, Marrakech in Morocco, Casablanca in Morocco, Cairo in Egypt, the Serengeti in Tanzania, Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, the Masai Mara in Kenya, Livingstone in Zambia and the Okavango Swamps in Botswana. Gorilla safaris in the Virunga Mountains and the Bwindi Forest (Uganda) are also popular.
Popular hotels for wealthy people visiting Africa include: La Mamounia in Morocco, the Four Seasons in Seychelles and the 12 Apostles Hotel & Spa in Cape Town.
Popular game lodges for them include: Ngorongoro Crater Lodge in Tanzania, the Royal Livingstone in Zambia, Cottar’s 1920s Safari Camp in Kenya and Singita in South Africa.
Luxury clothing & accessories:
Items commonly found in the wardrobe of a HNWI in Africa are listed below (ranked by average price in US$):
• Patek Philippe watch: $25 000
• Breguet watch: $20 000
• Vacheron Constantin watch: $15 000
• Ulysse Nardin watch: $13 000
• Franck Muller watch: $11 000
• Rolex watch: $10 000
• Breitling watch: $6 000
• Tag watch: $5 000
• Louis Vuitton handbag: $3 000
• Prada handbag: $2 200
• Gucci handbag: $2 200
• Dolce & Gabbana dress: $2 000
• Christian Louboutin shoes: $1 300
• Zegna suit: $1 200
• Canali suit: $1 200
• Georgio Armani suit: $1 200
• Burberry handbag: $1 000
• Paul Smith suit: $900
• Jimmy Choo shoes: $700
• Hugo Boss suit: $700
• Ferragamo shoes: $600
• Prada shoes: $500
• Gucci shoes: $500
• Paul Smith shoes: $400
• Gucci sunglasses: $300
• Prada sunglasses: $300
• Ray-Ban sunglasses: $200
Other interesting findings from the report:
• Safest countries in Africa: Mauritius, Botswana and Namibia.
• Top African country by average wealth per person: Mauritius at $32,700.
• Top African country by total wealth: South Africa at $722 billion.
• Top African city by total wealth: Johannesburg at $276 billion (includes Sandton).
All figures in US$ terms.
