[size=15pt] Retail boom spikes as investors develop malls in 10 cities[/size]
May 30, 2014
Author: ODINAKA MBONU
Rising on the back of demographics, rapid urbanisation, changing shopping culture and a growing middle class, the expansion sweeping through the retail market in Nigeria is getting deeper, as the market anticipates about 200,000 square metres of real estate space in the next 24 months.
Retail centres which were before now considered for the affluent, are increasingly becoming prominent in Nigeria, with international retailers such as South African owned Shoprite, Park ‘n’ Shop, Spar, Game and Mr Price, pushing to strengthen their footholds in Nigeria’s ever rewarding retail market.
In Lagos, the country’s commercial nerve centre is a hugely underserved middle class who are limited to only two world class shopping malls – The Palms and Ikeja City mall. This is however bound to change in the next 24 months, with over 85,000 sqm of retail space in the pipeline.
Persianas Group is expected to be bullish with the extension of the prestigious Palms shopping mall, which will berth about 40,000 sqm of additional retail space and is due for delivery by 2016. Also, South African owned, Novare Private Partners and RMB Westport are bound to offer retailers more options when they both deliver their 22,000 sqm Lekki Mall and 14,000 sqm Osapa Convenience Centre respectively, by November 2015 both on the Lekki-Epe axis.
UACN Property Development Company, (UPDC), is also also poised to complete its 10,000 sqm Festival Mall which the firm believes will transform the entire Festac environment, and create a commercial and entertainment node for the community when it debuts in Q4 2014.
In FCT, Abuja, Actis and Duval Properties; an indigenous real estate investment and development firm, is nearing completion of the 27,000 sqm Jabi Lake Mall, to be delivered by 2015 in a unique waterside location on the shores of Jabi Lake.
At the heart of the city of Abuja, is an audacious plan by the the Churchgate Group to construct the N156 billion World Trade Centre project, which will include the 40,000 sqm Capital City Mall, which will be a destination offering the finest collection of luxury brands and international boutiques, as well as global dining choices and VIP cinemas.
Resilient Africa, a property development and investment company will by the end of Q4 2013 have spiced retail experience in southern Nigeria by providing over 53,280 sqm of retail space across four major cities through its ongoing; 13,800 sqm Delta mall, 13,300 sqm Benin city mall, 13,300 sqm Owerri mall and the Asaba Mall, which boasts of the same retail space.
Likewise, by the end of 2015, it is expected that the Anambra state government and African Capital Alliance would have delivered the 15,000 sqm Onitsha Mall.
South African Norman Sander, manager, Ikeja City Mall, said in an interview that “if we can offer Nigeria’s middle class the right price, product, service, quality and choice, the sky is the limit for us here”.
Market watchers strongly believe India’s retail boom will be replicated in the continent’s biggest economy in the near future. In 2001 India had 142,000 sq m of modern retail space. By 2006, the number had spiked to 2.7m sq m, moving from 30 malls in 2003 to 230 malls by 2007, a scenario quite similar to the current trend.
“The growth in the Nigerian retail market is a direct reflection of the growing sophistication of the Nigerian middle class, whose shopping preference has shifted from the traditional shopping in the open market, to a more organised and convenient shopping experience offered by retail malls, Hakeem Ogunniran, managing director, UACN Property Development Company (UPDC) plc, said, when he earlier spoke to BusinessDay.
http://businessdayonline.com/2014/05/retail-boom-spikes-as-investors-develop-malls-in-10-cities/#.VI8P5SvF8_I |
