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Super rich shift cash to UK, Dubai on Gen Z protests
Knight Frank Kenya CEO Mark Dunford addressing journalists during the Wealth Report 2025 – Kenyan 2nd Edition launch event at Capital Club in Nairobi on May 13, 2025.
The number of Kenyan dollar millionaires dropped last year as the rich moved cash abroad amid uncertainty in the wake of Kenya’s slowing economy and last year’s deadly youth-led protests, which hurt fresh investments.
The pool of high-net-worth individuals (HNWI), described as individuals with a net worth of at least $1 million (Sh129.2 million), shrank by 10 percent in the wake of investors moving part of their investments to foreign capitals, according to 2025 Knight Frank Wealth report.
Knight Frank didn’t offer the absolute number of those who dropped from the rich list, arguing that the drop was captured in portfolio reports captured by wealth advisers and private bankers.
This comes amid the push by the government to entice rich individuals and their families who have billions of shillings worth of hidden financial assets in offshore tax havens.
The global private financial wealth is held in offshore bank accounts and non-financial assets such as real estate, gold, yachts and racehorses, which are outside the remit of local fund managers.
“Post-Covid, there were a lot of people looking to move their money offshore as the shilling began to weaken,” said Knight Frank Managing Director Mark Dunford.
“We saw that impact continue in 2022 and 2023. There was also uncertainty about the change of government. This saw a flight to safety, with investments moving offshore. We are still suffering from those effects.”
Knight Frank reckons that the deadly protests against the 2024 Finance Bill also prompted some investors to shift part of their wealth offshore.
More than 50 people were killed when the youth-led protests broke out last June, forcing President William Ruto to abandon tax hikes worth Sh346 billion, and causing a delay in funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The shifts in the rich individuals' portfolio emerged in a year when Kenya’s economy grew at the slowest pace since the Covid-19 pandemic four years ago, hobbled by floods, costly bank loans and disruptions that followed the anti-government protests.
The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) — a measure of all economic activities— grew at 4.7 percent compared with 5.7 percent a year earlier, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
The growth was the softest since 2020, when the economy contracted 0.3 percent because of shutdowns and travel curbs imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus infections.
Still, this year’s growth will be tested by US President Donald Trump’s tariff war.
Planned spending cuts in the fiscal year starting July 1 may also weigh on Kenya’s growth in 2025.
Knight Frank’s tracking of the rich asset movements is based on insights from private bankers as well as wealth advisers and managers who handle the super-rich people.
Findings from Knight Frank mirror the wealth trend established by Henley & Partners, which reports on the absolute number of dollar millionaires in the country.
Henley & Partners reckons that the number of dollar millionaires in Kenya has slipped since 2022 to 7,700 from 8,500 a year earlier and 7,200 in 2023. The wealth advisory firm is yet to release its 2024 findings.
Assuming these numbers and trend match with Knight Frank’s, then the number of dollar millionaires could have fallen below 6,500.
Kenya’s super-rich have favoured offshore European markets such as the United Kingdom, but the Middle East is also emerging as a growing destination for investors diversifying from the local market.
“HNWI typically floods European markets such as London. A lot of people are also sending their money to Dubai, which is a growing haven,” said Mr Dunford.
About 28 percent of wealth managers reported managing portfolios of less than $5 million (Sh646 million).
A further 17 percent of managers said they managed portfolios valued at between $21 million (2.7 billion) and $50 million (Sh6.4 billion), a range indicative of clients with more mature profiles and who require advanced financial strategies, diversified investments and bespoke wealth management solutions.
Only six percent of wealth managers managed portfolios exceeding $1 billion (Sh129.2 billion), highlighting the limited number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs).
UHNWIs are described as persons with a net worth of at least $30 million (Sh3.8 billion).
“This percentage highlights the limited number of UHNWIs in Kenya, a common pattern in emerging markets where extreme wealth remains concentrated among a select few,” the Knight Frank wealth report says.
“These UHNWIs are likely to possess globally diversified investment portfolios and substantial holdings in major Kenyan corporations.”
Kenya’s super-rich have diversified asset classes away from residential properties that also include holiday homes and tapping investments such as real estate investment trusts (Reits), Treasury bonds and money market funds.
The asset classes are deemed to offer stability in the face of market fluctuations, while REITs are seen as more accessible and a liquid entry to real estate investments.
HNWIs are also favouring investments in high-growth sectors, including technology, agriculture and renewable energy.
“The significant drop in wealth allocation to residential property suggests a strategic shift towards more liquid and income-generating assets,” the Knight Frank report adds.
Only a marginal increase in wealth is expected in 2025, partly because of heavy taxes and fiscal pressures that have been weighing on business confidence, says the report.
“The growth in the total number of the wealthy is slowing at the moment, but the wealth of the HNWI is growing pretty exponentially,” Mr Dunford said.
