Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria were among the top 20 nations globally whose nationals were making investment migration enquiries in 2022, a new report said.
South Africa and Nigeria were fourth and eighth in the world in terms of applications, with Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, and Uganda also generating rising numbers of applications, the Henley Global Citizens Report Q3 2022 said.
The investment migration sector has been on a growth trajectory for over 25 years, the report noted, but the surge in Africa is a relatively new phenomenon, with the continent recording a 23% increase in enquiries in 2022.
“With volatility becoming the norm, governments and investors want to build resilience, and investment migration is one way to do so,” the report noted.
“This trend will no doubt continue throughout the year as wealthy African investors focus on diversifying their domiciles,” Dominic Volek, Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners, said in the report.
For those who are uninitiated, investment migration is a form of legal migration used by over 80 sovereign states globally. The process involves various citizenship and residence by investment programmes which allow individuals to gain citizenship/residence rights in return for investments in their host countries.
Henley & Partners successfully assisted clients from 90 different countries in 2022, including 16 African nations, it said.
According to the report, African families’ top three choices for citizenship by investment in 2022 were the Portugal Golden Residence Permit Programme, St. Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Programme, and Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Programme.
The report forecasts a 42% increase in millionaires on the African continent over the next decade, who could embrace investment migration to improve their economic mobility.
With the launch of Namibia’s Residence by Investment Programme, the continent’s second after Mauritius’, African countries could also have the potential to attract high-net-worth individuals and the foreign wealth they may bring, the report said.