Economy
West Africa Property Investment Summit To Showcase Ghana Growth
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
From tomorrow, Tuesday, November 16 to Wednesday, November 17, 2016, experts in the property investment industry in Africa and the world will converge in Accra, Ghana, for the annual West Africa Property Investment Summit.
They will meet to discuss the challenges, opportunities and the future of real estate in the West African region.
The event is expected to take place at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra, Ghana’s capital city.
Despite very often receiving less coverage than its powerhouse cousin Nigeria, the summit’s host nation has emerged as a powerful real estate investment destination, and a favourable endorsement from the World Bank as West Africa’s “best place to do business.”
Ghana seems to be on the upswing despite some significant struggles in 2014 and 2015. This followed IMF approval of a $116.2 million disbursement to the country, which has resulted into significant improvements in power supply, exchange rates and the local currency, the Cedi, which is stabilizing.
These changes, coupled with the emergence of significant improvements in the housing, retail and commercial sectors, and some pioneering mixed-use developments on the horizon present the possibility for a brighter Ghanaian future. These improvements make it far easier to believe the growing sentiment that Ghana is rising and Ghana is doing well. Ghana recently received a solid credit rating from Moody’s, which was followed by equally positive ratings by Fitch as well as Standards and Poors.
The West African retail market has been revolutionized over the past ten years. There has been considerable growth in the sector which has meant a significant change in the view of retail investment in the region. But recent economic challenges have made it difficult for the sector to continue to flourish in the same way as previous years. Even the best retail spaces are struggling to incentivize the right number of tenants, but the Ghanaian market has weathered this challenge by adjusting its tactics. Broll Ghana CEO, Kofi Ampong explains.
“To ease the increasing pressure on landlords, given the prevailing market realities of higher vacancy rates, some Landlords in order to drive occupancy in their malls have adopted a strategy of subdividing larger boxes originally meant for one tenant for use by multiple tenants in order to reduce vacancy rates,” he says.
In particular, the residential market in Ghana is at its most active in recent history, registering over 85,000 transactions a year over the past decade. However, with an abundance of new residential developments both in the pipeline and coming to fruition on the back of weakened consumer purchasing power, it is difficult to know whether the market will boom as a result, or suffer from oversupply in middle to high income housing. Despite some challenges, the summit will tackle the potential for the Ghanaian housing market, and the missing links still required. General Manager at Devtraco Limited, Elvin Larkai, remains positive about the sector’s outlook.
“There are massive opportunities for Ghana’s housing sector. Demand continues to grow and this serves as an added incentive for real estate investors. Unfortunately, a lack of reliable data is impeding progress. We need such data to improve our products and services to house hunters. This would also lead to a more thriving industry, contributing immensely to the country’s economy,” he says.
While the predominant focus on real estate rests in the commercial and housing sectors, some companies are turning their attention to blends between the two. Rendeavour’s Appolonia City development is one such example – as a 2250 acre mixed-use and mixed-income in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area. The project is being developed for residential properties, retail and other commercial centres, as well as schools, healthcare and other social infrastructure. All local and national regulatory approvals have been met and a full land title certificate has been granted. The City has been planned to include key amenities and allow for the integration and flourishing of its two key elements.
“The combination of functions is the only way to create the quality people rightfully expect of urban developments in the 21st century. Mixed-use developments have been proven to stand the test of time and as future-proof real estate investments,” explains Holger Adam, Country Head for Rendeavour Ghana
While the 2016 election will play a major factor in Ghana’s trajectory, the landscape for investment is certainly more amenable than even just a year ago. With an internal structure being clearly established, and successful strategies and projects being implemented in the West African nation, current wisdom suggests the country will continue its upward real estate journey for some time.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 1.08 per cent growth was further printed by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday on improved appetite for Nigerian stocks.
Data showed that the insurance sector lost 0.61 per cent yesterday due to profit-taking as the energy space gave up 0.08 per cent, while the commodity counter closed flat.
However, the industrial goods landscape appreciated by 2.06 per cent, the banking index improved by 1.31 per cent, and the consumer goods sector expanded by 0.83 per cent.
At the close of business on Customs Street, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,563.92 points to 147,040.07 points from 145,476.15 points and the market capitalisation went up by N996 billion to N93.722 trillion from N92.726 trillion.
UAC Nigeria led the advancers’ log yesterday after it grew by 10.00 per cent to N96.80, Transcorp Hotels jumped by 9.71 per cent to N172.80, Royal Exchange appreciated by 8.89 per cent to N1.96, Ikeja Hotel soared by 8.74 per cent to N31.10, and Veritas Kapital leapt by 8.07 per cent to N1.74.
On the flip side, Union Dicon declined by 10.00 per cent to N6.30, ABC Transport slipped by 9.88 per cent to N3.10, AXA Mansard depreciated by 7.19 per cent to N12.90, FTN Cocoa lost 4.62 per cent to trade at N4.75, and Guinea Insurance dropped 3.36 per cent to finish at N1.15.
A total of 38 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 17 stocks finished on the losers’ table, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Traders transacted 361.6 million equities for N14.8 billion in 21,051 deals yesterday versus the 1.9 billion equities worth N19.2 billion traded in 23,369 deals a day earlier, showing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 80.97 per cent, 22.92 per cent, and 14.20 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock for the session was Zenith Bank with 59.5 million units worth N3.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 46.1 million units valued at N973.0 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 29.4 million units for N560.4 million, FCMB transacted 27.9 million units worth N293.9 million, and Tantalizers sold 13.0 million units valued at N29.8 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Energy stocks influenced the 4.76 per cent loss recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, December 5.
The culprits were the duo of 11 Plc and Nipco Plc,with the former shedding N32.17 to end at N291.83 per share compared with the previous day’s N324.00 per share, and the latter down by N21.00 to sell at N195.00 per unit versus the previous session’s N216.00 per unit.
Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 170.16 points to 3,401.37 points from 3,571.53 points and the market capitalisation lost N101.81 billion to close at N2.035 billion from the N2.136 trillion quoted in the preceding session.
The OTC securities exchange suffered the decline yesterday despite the share prices of three companies closing green.
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was up by N1.80 to close at N39.80 per share compared with Thursday’s price of N38.00 per share, Air Liquide Plc appreciated by N1.09 to N11.99 per unit from N10.90 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 78 Kobo to N56.57 per share from N55.79 per share.
During the session, the volume of transactions rose by 6,885.3 per cent to 18.2 million units from 4.3 million units, the value of transactions ballooned by 10,301.7 per cent to N389.7 million from N347.2 million, but the number of deals declined by 29.7 per cent to 26 deals from 37 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units valued at N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units worth N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, December 5, as FX demand pressure mounts.
The Nigerian currency lost N2.60 or 0.18 per cent against the greenback to close at N1,450.43/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.83/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency declined against the Pound Sterling in the official forex market during the session by N4.48 to trade at N1,935.45/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,930.97/£1 and shrank against the Euro by 43 Kobo to end at N1,689.17/€1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,688.74/€1.
Similarly, the local currency performed badly against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to close at N1,455/$1 versus Thursday’s N1,453/$1 but traded flat at the parallel market at N14.65/$1.
As the country gets into the festive period, pressure mounted on the local currency reflecting higher foreign payments and lower FX inflows.
However, there are expectations that the Nigerian currency will be stable, supported by interventions by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the face of steady dollar Demand and inflows from Detty December festivities that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450/$1 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
As for the crypto market, it was down yesterday due to profit-taking associated with year-end trading. However, the December 1-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation by the University of Michigan fell to 4.1 per cent from 4.5 per cent previously and 4.5 per cent expected. The 5-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation fell to 3.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent previously and 3.4 per cent expected.
With the dearth of official economic data of late, these private surveys have taken on a new level of significance and the market banks of them to make decisions.
Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.7 per cent to $0.4142, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 5.1 per cent to $0.1394, Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 3.9 per cent to $3,039.75, Solana (SOL) declined by 3.8 per cent to $133.24, and Litecoin (LTC) fell by 3.7 per cent to $80.59.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 2.6 per cent to sell at $89,683.72, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.2 per cent to $883.59, and Ripple (XRP) shrank by 2.1 per cent to $2.04, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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