Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa April 2015

Investing in AFRICA Africa Q: Which new or upcoming real estate project do you see as the most interesting in Sub-Saharan Africa? BY ANDREAS SCHÖNNING W. Britt Gwinner, Head of Housing Finance Financial Institutions Group, IFC Sub-Saharan Africa Kenya A: “Garden City Shopping Mall in Nairobi will open next month. There are promises to set the bar at a new height for the consumer shopping experience in East Africa which provides an important knock-on development impact to the surrounding neighbourhoods. On the green side, it will include Africa’s largest solar panel covered car park canopy, to generate 1,246,000 kWh per year, reducing Garden City’s CO2 emissions by an estimated 492 tons per year.” Saul Gumede, CEO, Dijalo Property Group A: “There are a number of large development projects across the continent which have the potential to alter the structure of entire towns. These for example include Tatu Village in Kenya and Eko Atlantic in Lagos. There are also a few significant developments in South Africa such as the mixed use Waterfall City development and the Modderfontein City development.” Ankush Shah, Managing Director, Sumaria Group Tanzania A: “Dar es Salaam Kigamboni or the South beach area. Dar es Salaam is a geographically constrained city with a population growing at 6% per year. You cannot build East (into the Indian Ocean!), North and West as there has been extensive growth with correspondingly high pricing and traffic problems. The Southern part of Dar es Salaam is cut off by a body of water. It has historically only been accessible by ferry (60 to 90 minutes wait each way for a five minute journey) or by driving 90 minutes around the water. A six-lane toll bridge is currently under construction to link this area directly to the port and the city centre. So we are looking at a number of residential and industrial projects in the area and in Dar es Salaam in general.” Q: Which sub-sectors are you most bullish abourt in 2015, and why? W. Britt Gwinner, Head of Housing Finance Financial Institutions Group, IFC Sub-Saharan Africa Kenya A: “Residential is the most bullish. Today, roughly 100,000 households in Nairobi’s informal settlements pay rent equal to the mortgage on a US$ 35,000 house. By 2030, 40 million SSA households will be able to afford a house priced from US$ 27,000 to US$ 135,000. Right now, these households are not well served. Most formally built housing units in markets like Luanda, Lagos, or Nairobi are priced at US$ 150,000 and above which the vast majority of the population cannot afford. Developers and banks are missing an important opportunity to move to a large scale, low cost business model.” Ankush Shah, Managing Director, Sumaria Group Tanzania A: “Residential and retail. Many of the East African markets are looking oversupplied for office or commercial stock, especially taking into account upcoming projects. In our markets, retailers are still struggling to find the right spaces and there is a lot of pent up demand for properly titled residential plots or units.” Saul Gumede, CEO, Dijalo Property Group A: “The growth of the African middle class is expected to continue providing opportunities across the continent. The continent remains under shopped. A growing middle class is also expected to continue to underpin the demand for housing. This also offers mixed use and mixed income development opportunities.” RESOURCES Africa GRI 2015 Conference www.reimag.co.za April 2015 SA Real Estate Investor 61

Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa April 2015 | Page 63