says Accra, the country’s capital, is the main retail hub for
international retailers and home to the modern shopping
malls in operation offering a diverse and buoyant
informal retail landscape. He says A&C Square in 2005,
followed by Accra Mall in 2007, set the pace for modern
retailing. A&C Square in the East Legon area of Accra is
largely a neighbourhood centre with a recent addition of
substantial office space. Accra Mall changed the face of
retail considerably with 21 000 square metres of lettable
area, anchored by Shoprite and Game. “The success of
A&C Square in East Legon has confirmed the need for
neighbourhood retail centres in Accra.”
Melcom and Maxmart, local general merchant retail
stores, have capitalised on this emerging demand by
opening stores in almost all the major areas of Accra.
Koala, a local grocery retailer, has also responded
to this trend by recently opening another shop in the
Airport Residential Area to add to its flagship outlet in
Osu.
On a regional level, Kumasi and Takoradi, the next
two most populous cities in Ghana, have no formal retail
centres even though the fundamentals look right. There
is a huge opportunity for first time movers to develop
shopping centres in these regions, says Bobie.
Space supply and development
With Accra Mall and A&C being the only formal retail
centres available in the market, occupancy rates are near
100 percent.
Movenpick Hotel’s 2 000 square metre retail space
offering 26 shop units is also fully occupied by a variety
augment the current 30 000 square metres of formal
retail space. Since the completion of Accra Mall in
2007, surprisingly no formal retail shopping mall has
been built. However, a number of small to medium
schemes are under construction in Accra, including
retail and office developments of Marina Mall, Nester
Square, One Airport Square and Icon House in the
Airport area, The Octagon in Ridge plus the Oxford
Street Mall and hotel development in Oxford Street,
in Osu.
Menson says notable inclusions are Oxford Street
Mall and Marina Mall, which are both expected to
complete in the coming months, and One Airport
Square, an ambitious Green Star compliant project
that will set the bar for environmental standards.
In addition, numerous pipeline projects are in
the planning stages. These include some sizeable
developments: West Hills, Project Sunrise and Gold
Coast City in Accra, Apolonia in Tema, King City
in Takoradi (all mixed-use developments), Accra
Mall extension retail development in Accra, and
various developments in Kumasi. West Hills Mall,
if completed by 2014, is anticipated to be the largest
purpose-built mall in Accra offering about 26 000
square metres.
Bobie says the retail occupier market has
transformed in the last seven years with the entry of
international retailers such as Shoprite, Game, Bata,
Hi-sense, Mr Price, Woolworths, TM Lewin and
Stellar Deluxe, while KFC and Deli France are recent
new additions to enter the Ghanaian market.
“South African retailers currently dominate the
of boutique shops while Shoprite’s solus unit on the
western corridor of Accra is also self-occupied with no
available space to let. “Although there is a high demand
for retail space from both foreign and local occupiers,
supply of space has been sluggish,” says Bobie.
international retailers but there are clear signs that
European and American retailers are also eyeing the
market and with the right space we believe the market
will become competitive and diverse in the very near
future,” says Bobie.
With a growing population of 2.5 million plus in
Accra, the city has capacity for more retail centres to
RESOURCES
www.reimag.co.za
Property24
Offshore Handbook 2013
49