Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi is ranked among the 16 enterprising
individuals classified as centimillionaires in the New World Wealth
report. FILE
By MUGAMBI MUTEGI, pmutegi@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- The group of dollar millionaires is on average worth Sh7.1 billion ($83 million) each, highlighting the huge inequality between the rich and the poor.
- A small group of 105 of these super-rich Kenyans own about a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), with each of them laying claim to about $93 million on average.
Nearly two-thirds of Kenya’s Sh4.3 trillion ($50
billion) economy is controlled by a tiny clique of 8,300 super-wealthy
individuals, the report by New World Wealth shows.
The group of dollar millionaires is on average worth Sh7.1
billion ($83 million) each, highlighting the huge inequality between the
rich and the poor.
The survey, which was conducted over a span of five
years, paints a grim picture of wealth distribution in Kenya where 46
per cent of the country’s 43.1 million people live below the poverty
line, surviving on less than Sh172 ($2) a day.
“Kenya’s high networth individuals (HNWIs)
outperformed the worldwide HNWI average during the review period, with
Kenyan HNWI numbers increasing by 24 per cent whilst worldwide HNWI
volumes declined by 0.3 per cent,” says the report.
“The growth was positively influenced by rising
commodity prices and business growth particularly in the construction,
real estate, telecoms, banking and transport and logistics sectors.”
A small group of 105 of these super-rich Kenyans
own about a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), with
each of them laying claim to about $93 million on average.
Industrialist Vimal Shah, the CEO of edible oils manufacturer Bidco, is listed as Kenya’s only dollar billionaire
(worth over Sh86 billion), while about 16 others are grouped among
centi-millionaires (worth between $100 million and $999.9 million) and
88 are described as affluent millionaires (worth between $30million to
$99.9 million).
This small group of the super-wealthy who drive
top-of-the-range cars and own million-dollar properties abroad reflect a
stark difference from the majority of Kenyans who are struggling to
make ends meet, faced by an unprecedented rise in the cost of basic
consumables.
The World Bank in October said Kenya’s poverty
levels are likely to stand at 30 per cent of the population in 2030,
citing historical growth of the gross national product per person. Over
the years, Kenya has instituted measures hoping to bridge this gap.
The latest stop-gap measure has been the
implementation of a devolved governance system which is hoped will
hasten the trickle-down of economic and social empowerment of the
population.
Other programmes are the Constituency Development
Fund (CDF) introduced about a decade ago also to spur development across
the country, while creating new jobs.
However, the unemployment rate has perennially
remained in the double-digits, a problem worsened by over a half a
million fresh graduates exiting universities annually.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently noted that
“the chronic gap between the incomes of the richest and poorest citizens
is seen as the risk that is most likely to cause serious damage
globally in the coming decade.”
WEF, and other international organisations, have on
a number occasions stated that extreme economic disparities within
populations pose a great risk to their stability.
Joblessness, lack of opportunities and poor pay
cause citizens to get increasingly disgruntled as the costs of living
rise to unprecedented levels.
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