We study the affine quasi-Einstein equation, a second order linear homogeneous equation, which is invariantly defined on any affine manifold. We prove that the space of solutions is finite-dimensional, and its dimension is a strongly projective invariant. Moreover the maximal dimension is shown to be achieved if and only if the manifold is strongly projectively flat.2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. 53C21, 53B30, 53C24, 53C44.