Opportunities still exist for property investment on the African continent

In spite of headwinds in many African economies, brought on by reduced commodity prices and a decline in demand from the Chinese economy, there are still indications of optimism in selected markets, says Excellerate Property Services CEO, Marna van der Walt.

JHI, a multidisciplinary property services group, has partnered with leading property research company Urban Studies, to produce its first Africa Property Report.

The Africa Property Report 2016 includes a series of property reviews that accurately reflect the situation on the ground in 12 sub-Saharan countries.

The report presents astute property research enriched with unique hands-on insight from within JHI, which is part of Excellerate Property Services, Africa’s leading provider of property services.

The report covers property markets in Angola, Botswana, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

For each country, this helpful business tool considers population and economic indicators and drivers, and then looks at the property market in context of these factors.

JHI has a footprint in 17 African countries and Adriaan Otto, General Manager of Excellerate Property Services Africa, notes one of the most revealing findings of the research which shows that: “The outstanding aspect regarding property development in sub-Saharan Africa is not to focus on the region as a whole, or specific countries with high gross domestic product growth mainly coming off a low base, but rather to concentrate on individual cities and nodes within cities where real potential exists.”

It is the ability to identify and quantify these opportunities that sets JHI apart, he says.

The opportunity for property development in individual African cities ties in with one of the major drivers of property markets across the continent tackled by the inaugural Africa Property Report — urbanisation.

The JHI and Urban Studies Africa Report 2016 shows that urbanisation and urban growth are expected to occur in the large cities of Kinshasa, Lagos and Dar es Salaam. Development in African cities is not only directed to these mega cities but more so towards the intermediate cities that are directly associated with their surrounding environment. These are also the cities where future growth in terms of shopping centre and housing development will occur.

Dirk Prinsloo of Urban Studies says the research shows that as far as urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa is concerned, it is expected that urban dwellers will increase from 400 million in 2010 to 1.26 billion in 2050. The continent’s urbanisation rate is also expected to reach 50% by 2037.

Prinsloo explains: “This growth demonstrates a great need for better urban management and planning, but most important, the creation of jobs and better living conditions. In the coming decades, migration towards Africa’s cities will account for 90% of the population movement.”

For more information about this and other drivers and opportunities in select African property markets, the JHI and Urban Studies Africa Property Report 2016 is available from EPS Group Marketing on 011 911 8049.