Kenya’s wealthy pivot to food, tech, and homegrown ventures

• Kenya’s wealthy are leading a strategic shift from luxury homes and foreign assets to energy-efficient, revenue-generating investments in 2025.
• Knight Frank report shows they’re they are turning their attention—and billions—on home-grown opportunities in technology, agriculture, data centres, and green energy.
• Nearly 77% of wealth managers surveyed said inherited assets represent less than 40% of their clients’ wealth portfolios. For half of them, that figure is under 30%.

Kenya’s wealthy individuals are fast redrawing the roadmap to riches. A new survey shows that East Africa’s largest economy is experiencing a bold departure from traditional wealth-building norms as High Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs) abandoning their fixation on foreign property and private residential rentals. Instead, they are turning their attention—and billions—inward, betting big on home-grown investment opportunities in technology, agriculture, data centres, and green energy.

According to the 2025 Kenya Edition of the Knight Frank Wealth Report, the country’s millionaires are increasingly self-made, no longer merely beneficiaries of inherited family estates. The new class of entrepreneurs is building wealth from scratch, guided less by nostalgia and more by pragmatism and purpose.

The emergence of new breed of Kenya’s wealthy investors

According to Knight Frank’s Attitudes Survey, a growing number of Kenya’s HNWIs are rejecting the slow-yielding comfort of inherited wealth in favour of more dynamic ventures. While inheritance continues to form part of the wealth equation, its influence is rapidly waning.

Nearly 77 per cent of wealth managers surveyed said inherited assets represent less than 40 per cent of their clients’ wealth portfolios. For half of them, that figure is under 30 per cent.

Boniface Abudho, Research Analyst at Knight Frank, explains the transition: “Most of Kenya’s wealthy tend to inherit assets, but they typically hold these in relatively conservative portfolios while focusing their efforts on generating new wealth through more productive and venturesome investments.”

Much of the inherited wealth remains tied up in traditional real estate—land and private rental properties—but the money being made today is flowing into faster, leaner, more modern channels.

Where the money is going: Food, and tech ventures

With global economic headwinds threatening traditional investment paths, Kenya’s affluent are steering their fortunes into recession-resistant industries. Food production, data centres, healthcare, logistics, and renewable energy have emerged as the hottest destinations for capital in 2025.

Abudho says this redirection is strategic: “This pivot in investment highlights the adaptability of HNWIs and their assessment of the country’s strongest opportunities ahead.”

The report shows that data centres and development land now dominate first-choice investment preferences, together accounting for over 28 per cent of HNWI portfolios. Meanwhile, 83 per cent of farmland investors are focusing specifically on food production—a sector seen as both resilient and essential amid rising concerns about food security.

Property downplayed: From prestige homes to productive assets

One of the most striking revelations in the Knight Frank report is the dramatic reduction in appetite for private residential property. In just one year, the proportion of wealth held in personal homes decreased from 60 per cent in 2023 to a little over 20 per cent in 2024. Ownership of four or more homes dropped from 37.5 per cent to just 22.2 per cent.

Likewise, foreign homeownership is dropping. As of 2024, only 10 per cent of Kenya’s wealthy own homes abroad, down from 14 per cent a year earlier. Instead, two-thirds of those planning to acquire new homes now prefer to invest within Kenya.

“In global terms, Kenyan returns remain sharply ahead of the world average,” noted Mark Dunford, Chief Executive Officer, Knight Frank Kenya. “Rising uncertainty in many global markets is only serving to heighten HNWIs’ interest in their home market.”

The trend is reinforced by data showing that 44 per cent of investments planned by HNWIs in 2025 are valued under $5 million—a sign of cautious yet strategic diversification into local, high-potential sectors.

Green is the new gold

Even as they grow wealthier, Kenya’s HNWIs are demonstrating a newfound commitment to environmental responsibility. From retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency to cutting back on air travel and car ownership, the country’s elite are trading excess for impact.

“What we are witnessing, in essence, is a transition from consumption to conservation,” said Dunford. “There is a heightened focus on social and environmental gains.”

This eco-conscious mindset is helping fuel investment in renewable energy and sustainable technologies, with environmental performance now seen as integral to long-term wealth preservation.

Cautious optimism anchors 2025 wealth outlook

Despite slower overall growth in 2024—when over 60 per cent of wealth managers reported less than 10 per cent increase in their HNWI clientele—Kenya’s wealthy remain optimistic. Nearly half of respondents expect a marginal rise in wealth in 2025, and over a quarter anticipate gains exceeding 10 per cent.

This confidence is driven by smarter capital reallocation and a deeper engagement with revenue-producing investments such as REITs, treasury bonds, and money markets.

While commercial property remains a key wealth pillar, interest is softening, with only 10 per cent, of wealth managers reporting that their clients plan to invest in this asset class in 2025. Instead, the momentum is shifting to more agile sectors capable of weathering global turbulence and yielding consistent returns.

Read also: Tanzanian industrialist Mo Dewji, 49, is ranked as East Africa’s richest