Since this year, many African property markets have been experiencing high profile deals excluding Nigeria.
Whereas international property industry experts traced the observed lull in Nigeria’s investment market to confusing economic direction and policies since the beginning of 2019, Kfir Rusin, the host of the most significant annual gathering of capital investors in African real estate, the 10th annual Africa Property Investment (API) Summit taking place on October 2 & 3 in Johannesburg, said “We’re witnessing sophisticated deal structuring in Affordable Housing; Hospitality; Logistics; Office spaces and Mixed use, across countries and regions.”
The top 10 African Real Estate Deals in 2019 so far
*Growthpoint Investec African Property Fund to acquire malls in Ghana & Zambia
Deal Size: Undisclosed
*Centum RE & Nedbank ±$75M Debt Deal for their Two Rivers development project
Deal Size: $75M
*IFC invests in Hilton in Lusaka Protea Hotel (Zambia)
Deal Size: $9M
*African Logistics Properties (ALP) Signs Debt restructuring deal with Standard Bank
Deal Size: $26.5M
*Shelter Afrique in Affordable Housing Deal with Habitat International
Deal Size: $100M
*Grit buys Senegal Club Med
Deal Size: $12.5M with development plans of $28.8M
*CDC commits to mezzanine debt investment in Teyliom Hospitality
Deal Size: $30.7M
*WeWork opens its first of many African Office locations in Johannesburg
Deal Size: Undisclosed
*Actis & Shapoorji launch affordable housing Joint Venture in Kenya
Deal Size: $120M, and
*Westpark & Siemens to build sustainable industrial Park
Deal Size: Undisclosed
Regarded among local and international decision makers as Africa’s Property gathering, the API Summit is recognized as a platform for investing, but is also vital in developing deeper layers of transparency for investors looking to meet and understand the continent’s divergent and complex markets to avoid previous mistakes committed by SA developers.
real estate analyst Craig Smith of Anchor Stockbrokers, Africa’s top markets are “definitely a more attractive entry point than 18-24 months ago” but cautions that investors still need to exercise a “higher level of diligence” when investing.
And while deal many South African funds continue to look at Central and Eastern Europe for scale (sizeable transactions) and positive funding spreads, says Smith, the transaction spread by API Summit’s investors point to a market that is expanding, which is in line with his view that the “the opportunity set over the long term is immense.”
Smith argued that “Africa’s markets are still relatively opaque, and it is vital that these markets continue with their efforts to improve transparency.” Adding that, “The experience of GIAPF is crucial in my view as this will provide evidence of performance to the SA market.”
