Kenya's wealthy move away from 'lifestyle' investments – Report – Citizen Digital

An aerial view shows the skyline of downtown in Nairobi, Kenya October 8, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo
The country’s high net-worth individuals are changing tack, moving away from foreign homes and luxury residential property in favour of local, income-generating investments.
A new report by global property consultant Knight Frank shows a growing preference for investments in renewable energy and technology here in the country.
The report shows that the growth in number and wealth of the very rich tapered significantly in 2024. A majority of wealth managers reported an increase of less than 10 percent in high-net-worth-individuals heading into 2025.
But even as wealth expansion cooled, Kenya’s wealthy are showing renewed confidence in local money minting opportunities.
Boniface Abudho, Research Analyst, Knight Frank, said: “Investors are now trying to diversify their investment portfolio, moving away from just residential property investments to alternative asset classes such as the REITs. We also have other financial instruments such as Treasury bonds, or Money Market Funds. Some are also going into other high growth sectors including agriculture and renewable energy.”
The share of wealth tied up in homes dropped dramatically from 60 percent in 2023 to just over 20 percent in 2024.
Foreign home ownership also declined, with only one in ten high-net-worth-individuals owning property abroad.
“We feel that this slow pace of buying homes is attributed to a number of factors. Some may include the low mortgage penetration in the country, we also feel that the rising land and construction costs could also be a factor that scares people away from buying homes,” Mr. Abudho added.
“And then we have domestic and global concerns, we all know the issues to do with taxes and what have you which are probably scaring away people from buying homes.”
Additionally, Knight Frank notes that a majority of the very rich are entrepreneurs, with only a small portion of their wealth coming from inheritance.
A majority of fund managers say inherited assets make up less than 40 percent of their clients’ wealth. But legacy still plays a part, mainly in the form of land and residential property.
“Though many of the wealthy individuals start from somewhere, the inherited wealth, we also have a good portion of people who start from scratch,” noted Mr. Abudho.
The report identifies data centres and development land as top investment choices for 2025. Other attractive areas include farmland, hotel and leisure, logistics, and office spaces.
At the same time, sustainability is becoming a priority, with the rich investing in energy-efficient upgrades and reducing their carbon footprint.
Mark Dunford, Knight Frank CEO, said: “We expect almost 50 percent of clients’ wealth to increase in 2025, which is slightly more optimistic than we saw in 2024.”

The rich also continue to favour art and classic cars as investments of passion. 
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