Affluent Africans working on a sustainable growth plan for Africa

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Significant findings include:

• Social responsibility and being environmentally friendly are top-priorities for Africa’s most wealthy, as they work towards a long term sustainable strategy.
• African millennials are breaking economic barriers and joining the affluent elite.
• Media and personal/wearable technology are vital to the ‘African Affluent’.

The Ipsos Affluent Survey Africa maps the behaviour and media consumption of the individuals within the Top 15% in terms of income across seven African countries. The Ipsos Affluent Survey Africa is conducted in Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. With a sample of 2,561 it covers a universe of about 3.5 million Affluent Africans.

It is part of the Ipsos suite of Affluent surveys which now covers Europe, Middle East, Asia/Pacific, Latin America and the USA, spanning 50 countries and reflecting approximately 147 million adults.

Earlier this year United Nation’s Economic Commission for Africa released its Economic Report on Africa 2016, which stated the big opportunity for Africa, as a latecomer to industrialisation, is adopting the green pathway towards sustainable and inclusive development.

It will create jobs while safeguarding the productivity of natural resource assets. For the African affluent, investing for the long-term is of great importance. Their progressive vision is confirmed by the involvement in their community: nearly nine out of 10 African Affluent think it is important to contribute to the community they live in, while amongst the European Affluent it is 64%.

In line with the investment in their own, and their communities’ potential, the affluent African endorses a responsible, durable way of empowering Africa’s economy. Seven out of 10 take a company’s commitment to corporate and social responsibility into consideration when purchasing products.

Not only is a company’s commitment important to them but they actively engage in pro-eco initiatives. 15% of affluent Africans were involved in an environmental/conservative group, while amongst European affluents this is only 5%.

On the lookout for millennials

The millennials (aged 21-34 years) are the young entrepreneurs of the continent. As income generally grows as a career progresses, for a millennial to be among the top 15% of income earners is unusual. It is therefore significant that 40% of all African affluent are millennials - by comparison only 17% of Europe’s Affluent are millennials.

Affluent millennials are an important group for marketers:

• Tend to take the lead in decision making (eight out of 10).
• Are confident about the future of their standard of living (84%).
• One out of three already owns a gold/platinum credit card with which they go shopping for well-known brands (79%).
• Two out of three affluent millennials bought luxury products of one kind or another in the past year.
• Nearly two out of 10 made six or more air trips in the past 12 months and an equal amount stayed in upmarket hotels or upscale resorts.
• To keep up with their upscale lifestyle, gaining knowledge and becoming better informed is a priority to the millennials (82%). This is also confirmed by their media behaviour.

Digital consumption

The African affluent consume digital for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Affluent Africa Survey 2016 proves once more that the usage of mobile technology in Africa is vital for everyday life. While 52% of the Affluent Europeans are so called ‘three screen users’, an impressive 66% of the African affluent own all three of the main mobile devices: a smartphone, a tablet and a PC/Laptop.

Over a half of the upscale population considers themselves as early adopters, by saying they are “always one of the first to have technologically innovative products”. One out of eight African affluent owns a wearable device, like a smartwatch or smart glasses vs. a modest 5% of affluents in Europe. They are not passive users of new tech with 37% of the affluent Africans having bought products and services via their phone in the past year, which is over double the number for Europe (15.5%).

It will come as no surprise that digital takes a fair share of the media consumption for affluent Africans. Affluent Africans have high consumption levels of international media: 45% of affluent Africans consume international media digitally every week; 40% read an international title in print;  and nearly nine out of 10 watch international TV on a weekly basis.