Insights and analysis
‘Malls for Africa’: Retail property development in Africa
Is it time for a reality check for developers?
Published in
1 min readDec 23, 2016
Last week fashion brand F&F opened its first store in Africa, choosing Nairobi for its maiden store. Formal retail in Kenya represents about 25% to 30% of total retail activity, placing the country second after South Africa (about 60%). Several malls have set up in Kenya’s capital city. Two Rivers — the largest yet — is expected to open its doors in February 2017 despite delays in the development. At the same time, real estate analysts say that the market in either country is over-crowded.
The rush to put up retail developments across Africa’s major cities was driven by the promise of a rapidly growing middle class. But is it time for a reality check for developers? Have developers mis-understood the market?
