Millionaires next door? Inside the quiet lives of Kenya’s super rich

Richest in Kenya: It is difficult to ignore the posh cars that speed by on the country’s highways. The Bentleys, Jaguars, Chryslers and Porsches are, by nature, attention grabbing. Most of these vehicles have heavily tinted windows, so getting a glimpse of the person behind the wheel is rare. But when you do chance upon the driver, you will often find a young man.

These drivers are the kinds of people who can afford to burn Sh90,000 a night on drinks, food and entertainment, and not live to regret it. Kenyans have different ideas about how their fellow citizens can afford this kind of extravagance — from their being the ‘new money’ tenderpreneurs, to the type born with silver spoons in their mouths and able to burn family wealth. But according to the Knight Frank Wealth Report, these Kenyans that flaunt their wealth are not at the top of the wealth ranks.

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The country’s super rich rarely parade their opulence. They do not live in the obviously upmarket parts of the country — not because they abhor extravagance, but because they have seen it all and have nothing to prove. Still, they will not all go fully downmarket. Most tend to live in the leafy suburbs of Karen and Muthaiga, where long driveways hide their homes from prying eyes.

They are not young. They are the men with silver hair or receding hairlines who are prudent about their spending. And they are, by a huge majority, men; they made money in the days when it was quite literally a man’s world.

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Knight Frank describes them as high net worth individuals (HNWI). The value of their shares in public and private firms, property and passion investments (including cars and art) is at least Sh101 million ($1 million). There are 8,500 such individuals in the country. This means there is one such dollar millionaire in every 5,300 Kenyans.

A 2014 New World Wealth survey found that 8,300 HNWIs own 62 per cent of Kenya’s wealth. And then there is an even more unique class of Kenyan: the dollar billionaire. According to the wealth report, there is just one person in the country worth at least Sh101 billion. These super-rich Kenyans are not on the roads drawing attention on their way to a house party — they are in the skies flying to an evening business meeting.

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