Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa May 2016 | Page 49

›› ›› OFFSHORE GARY GARRETT DERRICK ROPER ROELOF BOTHA While growth has slowed in many commoditylinked markets in Africa, non-commodity driven markets, particularly in East Africa, have continued to perform well. “Developers will need to do robust feasibilities in order to understand how economic conditions can affect their returns over time” says Gary Garrett, Head of Real Estate Finance at Standard Bank. “After a tumultuous 2015, market volatility in Africa is expected to persist as economies absorb the impact of slowing growth in China and falling commodity prices. These factors present formidable challenges that are currently over-shadowing Africa’s longer term potential. However, this stage of the economic cycle will create opportunities for solid future investment returns. “ South African native Roelof Botha has been ranked among the best venture capitalists in the world. Botha became chief financial officer at PayPal while earning his M.B.A. at Stanford University. He negotiated PayPal’s sale to eBay for $1.5 billion and then jumped ship to Sequoia Capital. Real Estate Finance www.reimag.co.za Property Developer Venture Capatalist MAY 2016 SA Real Estate Investor 47