Shs59.2 trillion wealth held privately in Kampala - report

An aerial view of a section of Kampala city by night. It is the third wealthiest city in East Africa after Nairobi and Dar es Salaam respectively. FILE PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • Kampala is the administrative and commercial hub of Uganda.
  • It holds about two million people during and less than one million at night.
  • The report indicate that Nairobi is the most expensive city in East Africa lettable space goes for an average of Shs7m.

Kampala. Kampala has Shs59.2 trillion privately held wealth, according to September 2018 AfrAsia Bank Africa Wealth Report.
The report, which provides insights on wealth trends in Africa in the past 10 years, indicates that Kampala’s private wealth has been growing over the years, capping at an accumulated growth of 6 per cent in the period.
The report also provides comprehensive wealth breakdowns for 17 African countries and 23 African cities.

Kampala is the third wealthiest city in the East African region after Kenya and Dar es Salaam, respectively. Mombasa comes Kampala in terms of private wealth.
Nairobi is the wealthiest city in East Africa and sixth in Africa after Durban, Cape Town, Cairo, Lagos and Johannesburg.
The report, which was compiled together with New World Wealth and AfrAsia Bank from Mauritius estimates Nairobi’s privately held wealth at Sh199.8 trillion.

The wealth growth across East Africa is driven by financial services, retail trade, tourism, fast moving consumer goods, telecoms, real estate and construction.
Dar es Salaam, which holds Sh92.5 trillion private wealth, is the second wealthiest city in the region.
Mombasa, which holds Shs29.6 trillion worth of private investments notably in hospitality and affluent luxury beach houses comes in at fourth position.

Wealth accumulated by private individuals in Rwanda, just like in Uganda grew at 6 per cent while in Tanzania, it grew at 5 per cent.
The report notes that wealthy individuals across East Africa adore shopping for designer clothes, rare vehicles and there is also an emerging trend where individuals own helicopters and private jets. Politicians have lately developed taste for choppers.
Nairobi attracts high Net Worth Individual ((HNWIs) for business and investments while Mombasa is mentioned as home to hospitality and luxury investments along its expansive beaches as well as highly preserved buildings recognised globally as World Heritage Sites.

The report also indicate that Nairobi is the most expensive city in East Africa lettable space goes for an average of Shs7m.
However, Kampala is much cheaper compared to the four cities of Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Mombasa with lettable space going for an average of Shs4.8m.
Dar es Salaam goes for an average of Shs5.6m while Mombasa’s lettable space lettable space goes for an average of Shs6.29m.

Commercial hub
Kampala is the administrative and commercial hub of Uganda. It holds about two million people during and less than one million at night. It has the highest concentration of businesses ranging from hotels to manufacturing zones. The city has experienced decades of consistent growth, especially in the real estate sector.