Nigeria sees sharp drop in millionaires amid rising sovereign debt

Nigeria remains the fourth‑largest African country by number of dollar millionaires, with an estimated 7,200 individuals holding at least $1 million, according to the 2025 Africa Wealth Report compiled by Henley & Partners and New World Wealth. The report notes that this figure reflects a 47 percent decline in the country’s millionaire population since 2015.

At the same time, Nigeria’s broader economic trajectory has shifted from the oil‑boom prosperity of the 1970s to a situation of heavy borrowing. Successive governments treated oil revenues as permanent income rather than a temporary windfall, leading to expansive public spending, large‑scale projects and growing corruption. The consequence has been a sharp increase in sovereign debt, making Nigeria one of Africa’s biggest borrowers and raising concerns about fiscal sustainability.