Africa Real-Estate Investors Had Strong Fundraising, Then a ‘Pause’ in Deployment
The Wall Street Journal
Read the full article in The Wall Street Journal here.
By Emily Nonko | 3 October 2017
Last year Actis, a London-based investor with a focus on emerging markets, closed its Africa Real Estate Fund with more than $500 million, surpassing its $400 million target.
But then the real work began. The fund buys and develops retail, office and industrial real estate in capital cities across sub-Saharan Africa, according to Funke Okubadejo, director of real estate for the Actis Lagos office.
But slower growth for some African economies, particularly in Nigeria, has made capital more difficult to deploy. “The slowdown in projects is due primarily to capital drying up both for debt and equity and also the weakening of demand for space as a direct consequence of the recession,” Ms. Okubadejo said. “There’s been a pause as investors allow the economy to come back.”