After two years of down-turn in business activities, the Nigerian real estate sector has shown a positive growth outlook for the country following the easing of inflationary pressure, improvement of foreign exchange liquidity and improvement of investment inflow.
Speaking at the opening of a two-day West Africa Property Investment Summit in Lagos on ways to overcome current obstacles and uncover the countless opportunities across Nigeria and the broader West African region, Mr. Kfir Rusin, Managing Director of API Events, organisers of the summit, declared, “With a population of over 185 million people, strong real estate development fundamentals and a +6 per cent contribution of real estate to GDP, we believe in the long-term potential of Nigeria’s real estate sector.”
Rusin noted “While there have been some short-term headwinds, there are encouraging signs of market improvement and the summit will provide a vehicle in driving back prosperity into the local and regional property market. This presents Nigeria and the West African region with an opportunity to re-invigorate the country’s commercial and residential real estate sectors, and once again, position itself as the number one investment destination for local and global capital.”
Objectives of the event included highlighting new funding and building solutions tailored towards West Africa’s property market, uncovering emerging and untapped opportunities within the West African market, defining a new agenda for private and public sector partnership as a bolster for growth in the local and regional property market.
Others were outlining a sustainable framework for pricing rent and services in West African retail, creating a platform for dialogue and knowledge sharing between local and international stakeholders and improving market transparency and efficiency through regulations, data capturing, technological and government interventions.
The Summit which was attended by 350 delegates and 175 companies, offered insights, thought-leadership and solution-focused tools with an emphasis on driving further development and investment in the local and regional real estate market.
Before the event, the World Bank had predicted an exit from recession this year and economic growth of a one per cent, which was later reviewed to 1.2 per cent by mid-year.
