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We’ve all recently become familiar with the high schools that produce generations of top rugby players, especially now that the country’s focus is on the Boks, but a recent article grabbed our attention with a look at which of our universities are responsible for the most millionaires.

This inevitably made us wonder about the whole of the African continent – Is Africa producing enough future super-wealthy? And are we hanging on to these graduates?

Local vs International Education

Even though there are a great number of educational institutions in Africa, including over 270 in Nigeria alone, many high-net-worth Africans continue to attend and graduate from foreign universities.

According to the 2023 African Wealth Report, “Securing access to the best international education for their children has become a key motivation for African investors considering residence and citizenship by investment program options.

Over 70% of the Top 1,000 tertiary institutions ranked in the recent Times Higher Education World University Ranking are in countries that host student migration programs, with 18% in the USA and 10% in the UK.”

The report has also projected millionaire growth of 42% on the African continent over the next decade, but with 30% of Africa’s millionaires completing their studies in the UK and the US, it is at least encouraging to see 7% of our richest business people coming from the University of Cape Town – which is ranked as the top university in Africa.

According to a SAPeople article, the other incubators of wealth are the University of the Witwatersrand, Stellenbosch University, the University of Pretoria, and the University of Johannesburg.

Just how wealthy is Africa?

Africa’s millionaire population is expected to rise by 42% over the next 10 years, reaching around 195,000 by 2032. South Africa ranks 28th in the world when it comes to private wealth, with an estimated $651 billion held by local high-net-worth individuals (HNI) in 2022, so we are going to have a big slice of the private wealth pie.

The 2023 edition also reveals that the ‘Big 5’ wealth markets in Africa — South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and Morocco — together account for a significant 56% of Africa’s high-net-worth individuals, and over 90% of the continent’s billionaires.

“Africa’s story is one of polar domination, with the largest wealth management centers traditionally situated in the most extreme south — South Africa — and the most extreme north — Egypt and Morocco.”

Johannesburg is the wealthiest city in Africa, with a total private wealth of $239 billion (R4.5 trillion), followed by Cape Town, which has a total private wealth of $131 billion (R2.5 trillion). South Africa is coincidentally also home to the largest luxury market in Africa, although much of this is spent on foreign brands like Louis Vuitton and Porsche.

Notably, there are 52 African-born billionaires globally, of whom only 23 still live on African soil. This is a major concern as many billionaire entrepreneurs and company founders have the ability to create significant employment in their host countries.

Billionaires rarely move for tax reasons, they relocate to expand their businesses or because of safety concerns. Approximately 18,500 high-net-worth individuals have left Africa over the past decade, which shows that we have a way to go to retain our future-wealthy graduates.

Generational wealth begins with a good education, and once you have convinced your 12th Grader that a degree in fine arts is not the best way to grow the family empire, you might want to encourage them to innovate, grow, and get super rich right here at home.

Besides the value of a solid education, Africa’s future is very much dependent on what these graduates do after being released into the world. One of the best pieces of advice you can give your future millionaire is to seek out partnerships with homegrown wealth management experts like 123 Consulting.

They are experts at managing estates, forming new companies, or setting up trusts that protect and nurture entrepreneurs who have global ambitions. With trusted advisors right here in South Africa, you don’t need to go overseas to become wealthy.

Keep it lekker local.

[source:africawealthreport&sapeople]