Kenya's elite splurge billions on Dubai property to dodge scrutiny at home

Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world towers over Dubai.

Kenya’s wealthiest individuals are parking tens of billions of shillings in Dubai’s luxury property market, a major new investigation report reveals, using the offshore haven to shield assets from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and public scrutiny.

The 97-page newly released report obtained by The Sunday Standard titled “Who Owns Offshore Real Estate? Evidence from Dubai” is authored by Annette Alstadsaeter, Matthew Collin, Bluebery Planterose, Gabriel Zucman, and Andreas Økland and analyses confidential property data in Dubai.

It positions Kenya as the top African nation for such hidden investments, with its elite pouring over Sh33.7 billion into offshore-owned Dubai homes by the end of 2019.

This sum, equivalent to 0.3 per cent of Kenya’s GDP, dwarfs investments from other African nations and underscores Dubai’s role as the premier destination for capital flight from the continent’s economic elite.

The report states: “The ranking ... is dominated by low-income countries ... This measure underlines the importance of Dubai real estate for elites in low-income countries.”

Kenya leads this African list, ahead of Nigeria (Sh67.3 billion) and South Africa (Sh49.6 billion).

For Kenya’s wealthy, Dubai offers a potent cocktail of financial secrecy, minimal taxation, and luxury living far from the reach of local regulators.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has no personal income tax, and its property market is notoriously opaque, the report states.

The study highlights that “Dubai does not have a public property ownership register, making it challenging for foreign tax authorities ... to determine if someone being targeted for investigation owns a property.”

This lack of transparency is  a glaring gap exploited by Kenya’s economic elite, according to the report.

The Standard could not immediately reach Dubai authorities for comment by press time.

The report says while automatic information exchange agreements like the Global Common Reporting Standard (CRS) cover bank accounts, “automatic exchange-of-information reporting does not currently extend to physical assets,” the report notes.

This makes bricks and mortar in the desert emirate a preferred vehicle for concealing wealth from Kenyan authorities and the wider public.

Geographical proximity

The tax evasion rates uncovered by researchers are staggering. By matching leaked  Dubai property data to Norwegian tax records, they found “nearly 80 per cent of properties in Dubai are not declared for wealth tax purposes.”

Evidence from Italy, Spain, and the UK showed similarly low compliance for rental income.

The report estimates that globally, “Sh351 billion per year in rental and capital gains income from Dubai is not declared to the relevant tax administrations,” a pipeline that likely includes billions of shillings.

For Kenyan elites, this environment is irresistibly safe for splurging billions earned at home.

The study identifies a “strong gravity relationship,” where geographical proximity also drives investment.

With direct flights from Nairobi taking under five hours, Dubai is a convenient vault for questionable wealth, says the report.

“When you have wealth whose origins might attract uncomfortable questions from Kenyan regulators—from government contracts, opaque deals, or corruption—Dubai offers a sleek solution,” said a Nairobi-based financial analyst who requested anonymity.

“You splurge Sh100 million on a flat in the Burj Khalifa. It’s an asset that doesn’t show up on KRA’s radar, appreciates, and comes with a golden visa lifestyle.”

The report specifically names Dubai’s upmarket districts of “Marsa Dubai and Palm Jumeirah” as the most exclusive districts, where offshore ownership is nearly 50 per cent.

These are the playgrounds where Kenyan capital, running from local scrutiny, is splurged on ultra-luxury real estate, note the researchers.

The plan is straightforward.

The study explains that investors can use the UAE’s “golden visa” scheme, which grants long-term residency for property purchases over Sh70 million.

This can be used to “help skirt existing automatic exchange-of-information reporting requirements ... when they are in fact based elsewhere,” effectively creating a financial blind spot for Kenyan regulators.

This massive outflow of capital—billions of shillings splurged on foreign luxury—stands in stark contrast to Kenya’s domestic economic pressures.

The country is grappling with high public debt, a weakening shilling, and austerity measures.

The tens of billions tucked away in Dubai towers represent lost tax revenue that could fund critical public services.

The researchers of the report say their EU Tax Observatory’s findings are a clarion call for global and local reform.

The researchers argue that “expanding the forms of international cooperation currently existing for financial assets to real assets could help address this issue.”

They say that without such measures, “jurisdictions like Dubai will remain key facilitators of hidden wealth.”

Until that gap is closed, the authors of the report say the Dubai desert metropolis will continue to be the luxury bank vault of choice—a sun-drenched haven where billions of shillings disappear from view, far from the prying eyes of Kenyan tax collectors and regulators.