Ghana can now boast of 2,900 millionaires whose net worth has been estimated to be in dollars after some 200 more Ghanaians joined the list categorised as elite group in 2016.

Out of the number, at least 10 people joined the ranks of those with net wealth more than $10 million, with no addition to the pool of those worth $30 million and above. 

This revelation is contained in the latest Wealth Report by Stanbic Bank in collaboration with International Consultancy Group, Knight Frank. It revealed that the financial service sector in the country is the primary source of wealth for most of the "Ghanaian dollar millionaires."

The Editor of the report, Andrew Shirley, told JOY BUSINESS' Editor Emmanuel Agyei, the number of High Net Worth Individual (HNWIs) in Ghana is projected to almost double in the next 10 years.

“Within the Africa perspective, Ghana has performed very strongly. We’re looking at the next ten years, an increase of almost 80 percent - so it’s very strong. It’s much higher than Europe for example.

"We’re not looking at growth rates of anywhere near that in Europe or the U.S. A lot of economies in Africa are much younger than those in North America and Europe and it takes time to get things right but when you get things right, that’s when you really see the wealth creation” he said.

The report christened, Knight Frank Wealth Report, provides a unique perspective on global investment trends and investment strategies of high net worth individuals around the world.

The 2017 edition was based on responses from almost 900 of the world’s leading private bankers and wealth advisors, and 10,000 clients across Africa.

According to the report, wealth preservation (79%), followed by capital growth which is (68%) and succession planning (56%) are the three most important factors that High Net Worth Ghanaians consider when making wealth management and investment decisions.

The three factors are deemed most important as uncertainties linger on in the global and local economies. 

On education, wealth managers and advisors for Ghanaian HNWIs believe more clients are choosing to send their children overseas (47%), compared to a 28% global average and 47% across Africa.

The Head of Wealth and Investment at Stanbic Bank, Benjamin Mensah also said, “As part of our holistic wealth management proposition, Stanbic Bank Wealth and Investment have created an association with Knight Frank throughout Africa to offer our clients access to world property experts as we see Real Estate as a major asset class.

“We continue to see an evolution of the HNWI market in recent years and in the needs of our clients. With increasing sophistication, challenging markets, growing regulatory changes, wealth management has had to evolve.

"Across Africa, HNWI millennials prioritise capital growth (65%), innovative investing (65%), minimising tax (40%), ability to move wealth quickly around the world (40%) and portfolio diversification (38%), while globally, HNW millennials are prioritising capital growth (64%), innovative investing (43%), portfolio diversification (39%), income return (36%) and wealth preservation (30%) in that order.

"In Africa, you’ve got about 145,000 millionaires whilst in just one U.S City, Chicago is about135,000. So put into perspective and we can see there’s a huge potential in Africa for more wealth creation. I’ve been in Nairobi, I’ve been in Accra and you see a huge energy, innovation, and entrepreneurship” he said.

“It is a challenging environment, but the middle class is growing fastest in Africa. Million dollar businesses are created when more people are buying services and goods – that’s trickling back down the economy and that money would create new millionaires” he concluded.