According to the 2017 Wealth Report published by global property consultancy Knight Frank, out of the number, 10 individuals joined the ranks of high net worth individuals (HNWI) worth $10 million (GH¢46 million) or more, although none joined the $30 million (GH¢138 million) or more bracket regarded the ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI).

The Ghana launch of the Wealth Report 2017 took place in Accra last Monday, in collaboration with Stanbic Bank, the local partners of the leading London-based Knight Frank. Although the report is the 11th edition, it is the first time being launched in the country.

The wealth report provides a unique perspective on global investment trends and investment strategies of HNWI around the world.

Growth in horizon

“We’ve seen, over the past strong years, strong growth in the wealth population of Africa. The growth has been variable across countries, some countries have done better than others. In economies which have been more diverse, like Kenya and Ghana, we’ve seen much stronger growth,” the Editor of The Wealth Report, Mr Andrew Shirley, told the Daily Graphic shortly after the launch.

“Looking forward within Ghana, we predict we are going to see a lot more growth in high net worth individual by as much as almost 80 per cent over the next 10 years; very much stable economy here, and politically stable, a safe haven in West Africa,” he said.

Explaining highlights of the report at the launch, Mr Shirley said the Ghanaian HNWIs made their fortunes mainly from the financial services industry, as it accounted for 24 per cent of the HNWI.

Other drivers include real estate and construction, fast-moving consumer goods, mining and agriculture.

Although Ghana’s economy has seen some intermittent economic instability, activities at the individual and entrepreneurial levels (the micro-economic environment) has been buoyant, giving rise to increasing wealth among Ghanaians.

Apart from a booming financial services industry, the country’s real estate sector has picked up significantly, thus bringing up a lot of these HNWIs

Dividends

Asked how Ghana and other African countries could use the development to ensure that wealth creation permeated the economy, Mr Shirley said it was crucial that the government encouraged the wealthy to invest within the country, saying; “I think wealthy people need to feel that there isn’t anything bad in being wealthy.”

Mr Shirley explained that the transactions wealthy people made in an economy, coupled with their investments in local services, impacted the wider population.

“So governments in Africa will want to encourage their wealthy population to feel confident to invest within their country, then that money will trickle down to the middle class and lower classes, and hopefully lift the average wealth of everybody in those countries,” he posited.

Behaviour of the wealthy

The report also surveyed the behaviour patterns of the wealthy and found out that in Ghana, wealth preservation, capital growth and succession planning were the three most important factors that influenced their investment decisions.

The attitude survey results are based on responses from almost 900 of the world’s leading private bankers and wealth advisors, and 10,000 clients across Africa.

Stanbic

The Head of Wealth and Investment Unit at Stanbic Bank, Mr Benjamin Mensah, said as part of a holistic wealth management proposition, Stanbic Bank wealth and investment had created an association with Knight Frank throughout Africa to offer clients access to world property experts “as we see real estate as a major asset class”.

He said the bank continued to see an evolution of the high net worth (HNW) market in recent years, and the bank’s main focus was on helping clients to continue to generate and preserve wealth by providing them with the best breed of investment solutions.

Succession planning structures

“Our wealth management philosophy centres on managing, growing and protecting the generation wealth of our clients and their families.

“In addition to trust and other succession planning structures, our leadership academies are designed to equip our clients and their families with the best practices for the transfer of generational wealth,” Mr Mensah said

He said the bank run financial skills and wealth management academies for junior leaders (aged 10-12), young leaders (aged 13-17), future leaders (aged 18-24) and the women’s wealth academies to equip families with the financial skills to ensure the successful management and transfer of wealth from one generation to the next.