HNW ADVISOR | GLOBAL MOBILITY

In the latest HNW Advisor interview, David Bell speaks with Rose Muigai about why credible African jurisdictions deserve a place alongside London, Dubai and Europe – for African clients and international families alike.

For decades, the private wealth conversation across Africa has looked in one direction – outward, towards London, Dubai, Europe and North America. Rose Muigai, an advocate in Kenya and a solicitor in England and Wales specialising in immigration, global mobility and private client work – and the author of a book on Kenyan migration law – believes that conversation is overdue a rethink. Speaking to David Bell for HNW Advisor, she argues that Africa should no longer be treated as a place wealth moves away from, but as part of the global mobility map itself.

“Can the global world include Africa as well? We are not saying we compare. We are saying Africa should also be part of that global mobility.”

Rose Muigai, Advocate (Kenya) and Solicitor (England and Wales)

From looking outward to looking within

Traditionally, African families have sought opportunities abroad for familiar reasons: education for their children, property, business expansion and investment. What has changed, Rose explains, is regional connectivity. Across West, East, Southern and North Africa, economies and businesses are growing, while visa restrictions that once made intra-African travel difficult have eased considerably.

“Now they can move from country to country, region to region, to invest, to study or even to retire there,” she says. With restrictions tightening elsewhere, Africa is also emerging as an alternative destination for international families – including those from Asia with existing business ties on the continent.

A new wave of investment migration programmes

A growing number of African states are building formal routes for investors. Egypt has operated citizenship by investment for some time, at around USD250,000. Senegal has introduced its own route, Ghana is legislating, and Botswana is moving forward with a programme Rose places at around USD75,000. Mauritius remains a long-established option.

Kenya, Rose’s home jurisdiction, began the conversation in 2019. Today, an investment of USD100,000 secures an investor visa for seven years, after which citizenship can be sought, and the government has signalled plans for a dedicated citizenship by investment programme.

Her message to the investment migration industry is direct: engage early. Rather than waiting for African governments to launch programmes and then critiquing them, advisers who have helped design schemes elsewhere should work alongside authorities now – learning from programmes in the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East that closed abruptly or were poorly designed. Done well, she says, these programmes could be “a win for everybody” – channelling capital into growing sectors while giving investors a robust long-term proposition.

The case for Kenya

Rose is candid about her bias, but makes a compelling case for Kenya as a corridor worth examining. Nairobi is a regional hub for East Africa and the Horn, home to multinational headquarters, embassies and UN agencies – and a few hours’ flight from the Middle East.

Doing business is simpler than outsiders often assume. Registering a company takes around two weeks, after which a bank account can be opened and trading can begin; profits can be repatriated once taxes are paid. On succession, Kenya recognises wills made in other jurisdictions – a reflection of its long history of families holding assets in both Kenya and the UK. Tax treatment, Rose cautions, depends heavily on residence status and whether a double tax agreement exists with the client’s home country, so each case needs individual review.

The lifestyle proposition is maturing too. Luxury hospitality brands including JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton have opened tented camps in the Masai Mara, Uber now offers helicopter and safari vehicle bookings in Nairobi, and the city’s private hospitals draw patients from across the region. International schools – American, British, French, German and Nordic – are well established, serving the diplomatic and UN communities.

Kenya’s young, educated population is also fuelling growth in technology. An early adopter of digital nomad visas and home to M-Pesa, a global leader in mobile money, the country has attracted international ICT firms and a thriving start-up scene. Its coastline, meanwhile, continues to draw retirees.

Why now

The numbers underline the moment: the continent is already home to more than 120,000 resident dollar millionaires and over 300 individuals with more than USD100 million in wealth. “Not all of them will leave Africa,” Rose observes. “The majority will stay in Africa. But where in Africa will they go?”

For international advisers, the hesitation is understandable – professionals naturally advise on jurisdictions they know. Rose’s answer is collaboration, and she points to a sector conference planned for February 2027 as one forum for starting that conversation: bringing wealth managers, trustees, property developers and mobility specialists together to tackle the unknowns collectively, much as international expertise once helped unlock Africa’s oil and solar sectors. “Let’s all deal with those issues together,” she says, “and bring Africa to the table.”

Watch the full interview with Rose Muigai on HNW Advisor.