Economy
Global Investors Hunt for Yields from Africa’s Property Markets
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
With Africa’s resurgent economies and property markets increasingly viewed as a smart destination for investors, global business leaders are beginning to hunt for yields and growth from the markets.
On September 20 and 21, 2018, stakeholders in the real estate sector in Africa will gather in Johannesburg, South Africa on how to chart a new course for the industry.
During the two days, senior African property investors, developers and decision makers will be at the 9th API Summit & Expo.
This year’s Summit promises to be the most robust and optimistic gathering in recent years as more than 600 executives representing 250 companies from 30 countries seek to capitalise off 3-4% continent-wide GDP growth, rising commodity prices headlined by $70 oil prices and greater political stability in Africa’s major bellwether economies.
According to Summit host, API Events’ managing director, Kfir Rusin, “Africa’s resurgent economies and property markets are increasingly viewed as a smart destination for investors as global business leaders hunt for yields and growth.”
As he adds, “This year’s theme – Building a Smarter Future for African Real Estate – will build the platform for influential property stakeholders to connect with each other and discuss issues around optimal sizing and restoring global confidence, while also unpacking innovations in building, identifying new funding avenues, and fostering better market transparency.”
The innovative far reaching theme and achievable objectives have gained traction with some of Africa’s largest pan-African property brands. These include its largest bank, Standard Bank, Africa’s most active acquirer of diverse property assets, Grit – Real Estate Income Group, Africa’s largest multidisciplinary property services company, Broll Property Group, and Ethiopian Airlines signing up as this year’s official airline sponsor.
Noted for her bullish views on African investment and rapid acquisition of assets in multiple African geographies, Bronwyn Corbett, chief executive officer of Grit, says, “The most significant factor contributing to a smarter future for Africa real estate is a change in perception around Africa in general and Africa real estate specifically. In 2018, foreign direct investment, political stability and infrastructure improvements have all been catalysts for creating more depth in Africa’s real estate markets, and the world is slowly figuring out the opportunities present on the continent. Real estate has a big role to play in tapping into these opportunities.”
Accessing and ‘waking to the continent’s opportunities’ has been a business advantage and imperative for the Summit’s lead sponsor, Broll Property Group, whose regional and continent leaders attend each year to share insights, debate and network with their peers. As the group’s head of African operations, Leonard Michau says, “Broll is proud to sponsor what is recognised as the leading real estate seminar within sub-Saharan Africa. The API Summit & Expo is well organised, and provides a range of high-quality content, speakers, and panellists.”
The accrual of speakers and ability to interact is a crucial objective for one of Africa’s most exacting funders, Standard Bank’s head of real estate finance, Gerhard Zeelie, as he adds, “The API Summit & Expo achieves impressive high-level participation from attendees across the continent while providing an important platform for delegates to showcase the trends and themes driving opportunity in real estate.”
Global and regional trends and their relevance and learnings to the API’s Summit’s shareholders – Africa’s real estate stakeholders – is what positions the Summit at the forefront of innovation and driving Africa’s markets forwards by delivering new and relevant presentations and case studies, says Rusin.
“This year, from a new trends perspective; we have some of Africa’s leading innovators including Respublica, The Capital Hotel Group and the Zero Carbon Group delivering first time case studies to African stakeholders on student housing, serviced apartments and prefabricated affordable housing solutions, respectively.”
Additional case studies and presentations unique to this year’s two-day conference include presentations by the Washington State Investment Board, the UN General Council on the future of Africa’s cities, Mauritius’ Smart Cities, the first African Index Real Estate Index Fund and bespoke retail and consumer insights and panel discussions with Novare, Massmart and Sagaci Research.
With Africa’s consumer and retail market estimated to be worth over $1 trillion in two years, the evolving and growing sector is of major concern to the continent major moneymen and the overall economy. As Standard Bank’s Zeelie says, “We are seeing growing consumerism in Africa, with increased use of mobile. The retail market, for example, is rapidly evolving and responding to changed consumer behaviour.”
Having successfully doubled its property investment and development conference portfolio across the continent in 2018 from four to nine conferences due to investor demand and sector activity, the interest in African real estate development is rising and reflects a changing view of the continent’s emerging markets, as Rusin concludes. “Our team’s experience and personal equity with international and African property decision makers has enabled us to attract executive delegates, speakers presenting new data and case studies from across the continent and internationally and we look forward to laying the foundation for a Smarter Future for African Real Estate.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the south territory with a decline of 0.56 per cent on Wednesday, April 2.
This brought down the market capitalisation by N13 billion to N2.417 trillion from N2.430 trillion, and downed the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 22.57 points to 4,062.87 points from the previous session’s 4,062.87 points.
It was observed that the NASD exchange ended with three price gainers and three price losers during the trading day.
MRS Oil Plc depreciated by N19.00 to close at N171.00 per unit compared with the previous price of N190.00 per unit, NASD Plc lost N4.14 to trade at N37.36 per share compared with Wednesday’s N41.50 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gave up N2.00 to sell at N78.00 per unit versus N80.00 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by 19 Kobo to N93.00 per share from N92.81 per share, Food Concepts Plc expanded by 15 Kobo to N2.87 per unit from N2.72 per unit, and Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc improved by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share.
Yesterday, the volume of securities dipped by 91.8 per cent to 260.2 million units from 3.2 billion units, the value of securities went down by 98.1 per cent to N154.2 million from N8.3 billion, while the number of deals soared by 53.3 per cent to 46 deals from 30 deals.
GNI Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 56.9 million units valued at N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.
The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.2 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira dropped N2.09 or 0.15 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, April 2, to trade at N1,380.79/$1 compared with Wednesday’s rate of N1,378.70/$1.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.77 to quote at N1,824.86/£1 versus the N1,836.57/£1 it was traded at midweek, and improved its value against the Euro by N10.54 to N1,591.92/€1 from N1,602.46/€1.
Yesterday was the last trading session of the week for the local currency in the spot market, as the market will be closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter Holiday.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the greenback yesterday at N1,405/$1, but gained N8 at the GTBank FX counter to settle at N1,388/$1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,396/$1.
Pressure eased on the domestic currency as strong policy indicators have helped calm the majority of worries within the financial systems. Particularly in the remittance segment, the apex bank has directed all International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to route remittance transactions through designated Naira settlement accounts in banks, a move aimed at boosting transparency and channelling more foreign exchange into the formal market.
This helps take off pressure from the foreign reserves, which have fallen below the $50 billion mark as they are gradually decreasing rather than falling sharply.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Thursday, as macro sentiment shifted against recent optimism after reports that Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns about disruptions to a key global oil route.
The remarks came after U.S. President Trump on Wednesday night vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks and that the Strait of Hormuz would “open naturally” once the war ends.
Cardano (ADA) chalked up 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.2435, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.2 per cent to $0.0912, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $2,066.37, Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.5 per cent to sell at $67,080.53, Solana (SOL) increased by 0.5 per cent to $79.91, and Ripple (XRP) jumped 0.2 per cent to $1.31.
Conversely, Binance Coin (BNB) dipped 0.7 per cent to $586.90, and TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3147, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market was relatively flat on Friday, as the bears and the bulls shared the spoils of war, though investor sentiment turned bullish compared with the preceding session’s bearish posture.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was marginally down by 4.66 points as it ended at 201,698.89 points versus Wednesday’s 201,703.55 points, and the market capitalisation slightly contracted by N3 billion to N129.806 trillion from N129.809 trillion.
Customs Street was shut on Friday because of the public holidays declared by the federal government today and next Monday.
Business Post reports that John Holt declined by 9.91 per cent to N15.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank shed 9.60 per cent to trade at N8.95, International Energy Insurance slipped by 6.48 per cent to N3.32, Chams shrank by 5.30 per cent to N3.75, and Tantalizers depreciated by 5.18 per cent to N4.03.
On the flip side, Unilever Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N103.40, Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.82 per cent to trade at N1.23, Multiverse appreciated 9.81 per cent to N20.15, Legend Internet advanced by 9.38 per cent to N6.30, and Zichis grew by 9.02 per cent to N14.14.
The market breadth index was positive during the trading session, as there were 35 appreciating stocks and 24 depreciating stocks.
Yesterday, investors traded 560.0 million equities valued at N19.3 billion in 49,676 deals, in contrast to the 815.5 million equities worth N33.3 billion transacted in 52,641 deals in the preceding day, representing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 31.33 per cent, 42.04 per cent, and 5.63 per cent, respectively.
Secure Electronic Technology dominated the activity log with 59.7 million shares valued at N61.1 million, Wema Bank exchanged 52.0 million equities worth N1.4 billion, VFD Group transacted 36.0 million stocks for N410.5 million, Access Holdings sold 35.3 million shares valued at N914.8 million, and Chams traded 31.0 million equities worth N115.0 million.
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