The East Africa Property Investment (EAPI) Summit was held in Nairobi from the 24th to 25th April 2018, with Broll Property Group as the Platinum Sponsor. The Summit was driven by industry professionals, fast growing economies, exciting projects, the potential and great opportunities rife in the East Africa real estate sector. Various real estate players including developers, investors, consultants, policy makers from both private and public sectors addressed strategies on paving forward to the next level for East Africa’s Real Estate Market.

Leading executives from Broll’s sub-Saharan Africa team joined other speakers in providing insights and expert analysis on the various real estate sectors. Kenya’s market continues to stay buoyant despite the election uncertainties in H2: 2017 with the main economic indicators remaining fairly unchanged.

Different delegates discussed the following key topics;

• The East Africa macroeconomic picture

• Shaping the future of East Africa real estate

• International real estate trends, local and global occupier demand and their Impact on East Africa's real estate sectors

• East Africa retail shake up

• The A-Z of project Investment, structuring and delivering in East Africa

• Uncovering pension and Institution fund appetite

• Overview of global and EMEA banking markets and its effect on East Africa lending climate

• Reviewing the performance and pipeline of the region’s hospitality markets, and identifying possible new growth sectors for the hospitality industry.

• Unpacking green certified projects in East Africa

• Real Estate Investment Trusts

• East Africa’s warehouse building boom

• Affordable housing as one of the “Big Four” policy agendas in Kenya

• Doing business in Kenya's Counties

• Kigali City masterplan revealed

• Unlocking the Real Estate opportunities of Dar’s New bus rapid transit system

• Laying the foundation for the Kampala City Transformation

The opening remarks from Leonard Michau, Director – Head of Africa Operations, offered a snapshot of the East African Countries’ major economic indicators.

Broll Kenya’s Managing Director Peter Small participated with Nick Langford Country Head of Rendeavour in a Panel discussion moderated by Aly-Khan Satchu looking at ‘State of the Market Q&A’ that examined evolving global trends likely to impact the East African Real Estate sector. The growing need for more flexible space, impact of online services on conventional retail operations and imminent availability of high quality industrial warehouse/logistics space connected to improved infrastructure will all have an influence on real estate development within the East African region.

Robert Broll launched the session on ‘The East African Retail Shake up: the race for space is on’ with an overview of the existing status and the changes afoot. Robert identified the increased interest in extending operations to include suburban and regional mall development opportunities both from the Developer and Tenant perspectives. Following his initial introduction of the retail scene in East Africa Robert continued as Moderator of two panels - one representing the Developers and the other the Tenants. Both parties endorsed the view that heading forward multiple retail development opportunities existed in the East African region. 

Vivian Ombwayo, Head of Research and Valuation-Broll Kenya, as a panelist addressed importance of low cost housing as one of the Kenya Government Pillars in the various counties. She contributed on the importance of having a clear definition of affordable housing which then translates to tailor made financing packages to purchasers like Tenant Purchase Scheme (TPS). Additionally, she mentioned the importance of record keeping in the various county government offices to aid in developing supportive planning regulations.  

Moses Lutalo, Country Manager - Broll Uganda, as a moderator for a focused discussion on Uganda addressed the new infrastructure projects currently on going as well as how large scale mixed use development opportunities can be unlocked in Kampala. Together with a panel of industry experts throughout the real estate investment value chain, pointed out the key demand and supply drivers in the nascent Uganda Real Estate sector, discussed existing bottlenecks from a developer and financier perspective as well as providing solutions. The panel pointed out a broad range of opportunities awaiting investors with regards to the Uganda real estate sector underpinned by sound economic fundamentals, improving corporate governance and security.  

Pieter van Rooyen, CRES Hub Lead East Africa, participated in the logistics session, discussing ‘Unpacking of the Current & Future Supply’ with regards to the East African market. His talk was mainly focused on the future of flexible warehousing in East Africa and the disruptive nature of the management companies entering the market offering tailored solutions for e-commerce startups. The topic also covered drone technology, robotics warehousing and distribution.