Economy
Property Experts to Brainstorm in Lagos at WAPI Summit
By Dipo Olowookere
November 15 and 16, 2018 have been fixed for this year’s West African Property Investment (WAPI) Summit, the region’s most prominent and largest real estate investment and development conference, slated for Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos.
According to the summit’s host, API Events’ Kfir Rusin, this year’s theme: RE-Calibrating Supply and Demand for Sustainable Growth, is a natural evolution of the previous year’s theme, Changing the West African Narrative, which aided more than 400 delegates representing over 200 companies to reposition the sector in a region sparked to a growth footing by Nigeria’s exit from recession.
As Rusin expands, “The market has undergone a shift, which is most evident in the changing retail and office occupier market. To help our 500 delegates unpack these changes – we’re pleased to announce that we’ve secured more than 60 well-known regional and international thought leaders to speak at #WAPI2018. These include, Broll Nigeria’s CEO, Bolaji Edu, regional legal authority, Olasupo Shasore (SAN), Ali Djire, Fraym’s Country Manager and PwC Nigeria’s Chief Economist Andrew S Nevin.”
As the head of one of the region’s largest multi-disciplinary commercial property services providers, Broll’s Bolaji’s Edu, position provides him with a unique position to gauge how the market has re-calibrated post-recession.
As Bolaji says, “If we analyse the grade-A office market in Lagos and the overall retail mall market following the economy entering a deep recession in 2016; take up dropped by approximately 40% (offices) and 55% (retail) between 2016 and 2017. However, as the economic recovery strengthens, we have seen numbers flatten out, and we expect to see an increase over the whole of 2018 from the low point of 2017.”
And while Bolaji argues that the drop-off proved challenging it did enable the market to strike a balance, especially at the height of investment – with property values reaching sky high levels. This boom, he says can be attributed to the post 2007 global recession economy whereby investors fuelled by low interest rates entered emerging markets aggressively searching for high yields.
As Bolaji explains, “We don’t expect to see the same level from the institutional international investment community, which lead to emerging market currencies being too strong and artificially inflated the size of the economies and the size of the middle class in USD terms.”
A More Sustainable Market
Following this inflation and subsequent re-adjustment, Bolaji believes that the market is now on a more long-term stable footing. Commenting that: “The market has begun to rebase itself down from a level where rent levels and capital values in parts of Lagos were comparable to the wealthiest cities in the world such as New York and the out skirts of London.” For him, this is most evident in the reducing rates in the commercial and retail sectors, which are now at “more sustainable levels,” he says.
One of the most striking results of this re-calibration are the new strategies employed by developers to cater to demand and not “copy & paste” and a change in the demographic of international retailers drawn to the market’s demanding and aspirant middleclass.
“Developers and investors in the market are examining building size and design that better reflect the target market. It is important to entertain best practices and the latest trends from around the world, but we need to tailor our projects,” says Bolaji, adding that the region’s market size and growing demand from the middleclass means that retailers and companies still wish to establish a presence in Nigeria.
“However, they are looking at this more strategically taking into consideration both the potential risks in addition to the incredible upside opportunities. International investors and retailers are seeking more partnership opportunities.”
Market Trends
As the market continues to evolve, Broll has deduced several key trends emerging within the local retail space says Bolaji. “We see local retailers driving demand for retail space especially in secondary locations, while international retailer demand is predominantly driven by retailers from Europe and the Americas, whereas historically, Asian brands were the most aggressive,” pointing out that the biggest demand driver in existing malls is food and beverage.
As the market continues to evolve and re-calibrate in line with economic development – Bolaji has noted the demand continues to be driven by the high end and budget segments. “These are the two areas that we see most enquiries from both investors/developers and retailers and corporates.”
Rising Oil Prices
While the rising oil price continues to be of benefit to overall regional GDP growth, Bolaji believes that one market seeing un uptick from oil’s surge is the office sector with occupier demand being driven by the oil and gas sector. While this may not reach the highs of previous eras, especially as many of the new firms are local oil servicing firms. The trend he believes is driven by the fact these local companies can enjoy shorter timelines when closing transactions compared to their international counterparts.
Rusin concludes sharing Bolaji’s views, “We’ve witnessed continued development across Africa and Nigeria, and as an African bellwether economy – what happens in Nigeria sends ripples across the continent from an investment and trend perspective. I believe Bolaji’s presentation and together with other leading panellists will aid us in achieving our key objectives of: identifying the critical shifts in consumer, occupier and retailer demand, and how these changes will shape the future of the industry.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.
MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.
The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.
Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.
When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.
Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.
This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.
The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.
On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.
Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.
At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.
For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.
The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.
Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.
As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.
Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.
Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.
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