News
Talking points from the “Unleashing Sub-Saharan
African Property Markets” Report:
GHANA:
• Rapid urbanisation, steady economic growth, and an expanding middle class are creating opportunities
for growth, not least of all in property development. Ghana’s construction industry is growing steadily,
making up over 9% of GDP in 2011, with a similar amount comprised of finance, real estate and business
services.
• There are also opportunities for developers of residential accommodation as demand for modern, highquality dwellings in prime areas by expatriates and skilled resident workers is robust.
KENYA:
• Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, is fast entrenching itself as a regional commercial hub. This has seen office
space stabilising due in large part to international corporates setting up regional headquarters there. This
has increased market absorption of the oversupply of office space in the capital city.
• Due to the rapidly growing middle class, the mortgage sector is showing new developments and increased
competition. Regardless, it still only remains accessible to a small portion of the population as the average
interest rate on a mortgage was 19% at 2012 year end.
NIGERIA:
• As is the case with many Sub-Saharan African countries, Nigeria has experienced high levels of
urbanisation, which continues to underpin the demand for both residential and commercial space at
different levels of the market. There are strong indicators that the Nigerian economy will continue to
experience strong growth of the middle-class, which should further bolster demand for middle-income
housing units.
• In 2012 a study of students enrolled in various built environment programmes in south-west Nigeria
revealed that tertiary institutions should incorporate more entrepreneurial studies that aim to increase
the skill sets and knowledge bases of the students so that they can benefit to a greater extent from
entrepreneurial activities.
SOUTH AFRICA:
• South Africa has a relatively mature property market. Despite lower economic growth forecasts, the
country is due to remain an attractive investment opportunity, often acting as a springboard to the rest of
Africa.
• South Africa’s development is hampered by a serious shortage of skilled engineers, especially in the
public sector, and has been described as one of the worst capacity crises in years. South Africa’s ratio of 473
engineers per million citizens is still very low, even when compared to other developing countries such as
Chile (1,460) or Malaysia (1,843).
TANZANIA:
• Labour force skills levels are considered to be low in Tanzania. There is, however, an increase in the
number of real-estate related tertiary courses that will support the professionalisation and credibility of
the market and its participants. • Tanzania has recorded strong growth over the past decade, despite a
slump in 2010 off the back of the global financial crisis. Growth has largely been driven by the performance
of the services sector, and investments in natural gas. The construction sector, driven by increased
buildings activity, road and bridge developments and land improvement activities, also showed robust
performance, comprising 8.8% of GDP in 2011.
Download ‘Unleashing Sub-Saharan African
Property Markets’
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