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Johannesburg ranks as Africa’s wealthiest city in the Africa Wealth Report 2025, with an estimated 11,700 residents holding at least USD 1 million in liquid investable wealth. Cape Town ranks second, followed by Cairo and Nairobi. These are modeled estimates of millionaire residents—not rankings of city GDP, property values, or total personal net worth.
Which city is the wealthiest in Africa?
Johannesburg is first in the 2025 ranking by estimated number of residents with at least USD 1 million in liquid investable wealth. The report was published on 26 August 2025 by Henley & Partners in partnership with New World Wealth. Its figures are rounded estimates, not exact population counts.
| Rank | City | Country | Estimated millionaire residents | Other reported distinction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johannesburg | South Africa | 11,700 | The report says much of the city’s wealth is concentrated around Sandton. |
| 2 | Cape Town | South Africa | 8,500 | 35 centi-millionaires, the highest reported count of this tier in an African city. |
| 3 | Cairo | Egypt | 6,800 | Five resident billionaires, more than any other African city in the release. |
| 4 | Nairobi | Kenya | 4,200 | The report describes it as East Africa’s economic powerhouse. |
Counts and distinctions in the table are estimates or claims published by New World Wealth through Henley & Partners in 2025. The ranking page presents a “Top 10,” but its accessible text does not expose the complete interactive table; the figures above are the leading four city counts directly available in the release. See the Africa Wealth Report 2025 ranking page and the 26 August 2025 press release.
What does “wealthiest” mean in this ranking?
Here, a “millionaire” or high-net-worth individual has at least USD 1 million in liquid investable wealth. The report includes listed-company holdings, ETFs, cash, bonds, gold, and cryptocurrency holdings—assets its methodology describes as quickly cashable. It does not rank total personal net worth including illiquid property, city economic output, average income, or the value of real estate.
#1 Best Overall
The report defines centi-millionaires as people with at least USD 100 million and billionaires as people with at least USD 1 billion. Millionaire counts are rounded to the nearest 100. New World Wealth says its model draws on indicators such as household income, local market capitalization, its in-house high-net-worth database, tax data, family-office counts, and prime-property statistics. For the highest wealth tiers, it says it relies predominantly on its in-house database; public sources including LinkedIn, company registers, and family-office portals help check city locations.
The publisher cautions that the figures are “modeled estimates” intended as illustrative indicators of broad trends and directional understanding, “rather than as precise counts.” Read the ranking as a comparative estimate, not a census. The report’s methodology page explains the definitions and caveats.
Rank #2
What distinguishes the four leading cities?
Johannesburg: the largest estimated millionaire population
The report connects Johannesburg’s wealth to companies in the JSE Top 40 and says wealth is concentrated around Sandton, as well as Waterfall–Midrand and lifestyle estates on the city’s outskirts. These are the report’s descriptions of wealth geography, not a measure of how wealth is distributed among all residents.
Cape Town: second in millionaires, first in centi-millionaires
Cape Town has an estimated 8,500 millionaire residents and 35 centi-millionaires in the 2025 release. The report identifies Clifton and Bantry Bay among its affluent suburbs and describes Cape Town as Africa’s most expensive prime-property market. The release gives an approximate prime real-estate figure of USD 5,800 per square metre; that property measure is separate from the liquid-wealth ranking.
Rank #3
Cairo: the most reported resident billionaires
Cairo ranks third by estimated millionaire residents, with 6,800, and the release reports five resident billionaires—the highest count among African cities in that release. Zamalek, Garden City, and Newgiza are named as affluent areas.
Nairobi: a major concentration of Kenya’s reported wealth
The release estimates 4,200 millionaire residents. The report’s analysis says Nairobi accounts for 47% of Kenya’s total wealth and more than 60% of the country’s millionaires; these are report-attributed estimates, not independently verified official statistics. Karen and Muthaiga are cited as established affluent neighborhoods.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where do Lagos and other wealth hubs fit?
Lagos remains a major business center, home to companies including Dangote Group, Access Bank, and Zenith Bank, but the report places it seventh after ranking third a decade earlier. That change is within this report’s city comparison, not a statement about Lagos’s overall economic importance.
The analysis also discusses Casablanca, Pretoria (including Centurion in its figures), the Cape Winelands, Umhlanga and Ballito, the Garden Route, the Whale Coast, and Mauritius’s Black River district. These places vary in geographic scope and are not always strict municipality-to-municipality comparisons. The report describes their business activity, affluent residential areas, retiree interest, or millionaire growth rather than presenting each as an equivalent city count.
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How large is Africa’s wealthy population overall?
The 2025 report estimates that Africa had 122,500 millionaires, 348 centi-millionaires, and 25 billionaires. Those are continental estimates, not the combined totals for the four cities in the ranking. The press release attributes the estimates to Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.
Are the rankings or growth projections guaranteed to hold?
No. The counts are modeled estimates, and the report’s geographic definitions and methodology limit how precisely cities can be compared. Its authors also forecast that Cape Town could overtake Johannesburg in total wealth by 2030, and that the Whale Coast and Marrakech could see millionaire growth of 100% or more through 2035. These are projections published in 2025, not observed outcomes or guarantees. The city analysis discusses these forecasts and the places covered.
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