Industry leaders and investors will once again unite on the 23rd and 24th of October 2017 at Eko Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria for the 6th edition of their annual flagship real estate summit Real Estate Unite (REU). They will be gathered to exchange views guided by the theme “Africa’s Real Estate; What’s new?” The game has changed. Being faced with this new reality, how do we create new sources of growth? Are we rethinking business strategies? What’s are the new roles and responsibilities? What entirely is NEW? Solutions will form the basis of this year’s conversations says Ruth Obih, Founder, Real Estate Unite and Chief Executive, 3INVEST.
Real Estate Unite is the largest Real Estate event in Africa that provides an important platform for residential, office, retail, healthcare, hospitality and industrial sectors of Africa’s property market to network, learn, transact, showcase and discuss opportunities and issues in global real estate yearly.
In recent times, the African real estate market is beginning to show signs of recovery and stability. However, the industry needs to take into account geopolitical, economic, societal and technological challenges. The recent economic downturn has caused the sector in Africa to fall below the projected 2.6 percent regional growth. The economic indicators show that Nigeria is gradually coming out of recession but balancing short-term indicators with long-term structural change will reinstate investor confidence, which is paramount to the success and continued growth recovery process of the sector. Other West African states are showing continued growth and democratic progress. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ghana’s GDP stood at 6.6 percent by the first quarter of 2017 while Gambia and Ivory Coast are also showing stable economies.
“The Nigerian economy finally seems to be coming out the recession. The impact on real estate markets, particularly in the retail space has been clear with many of the country’s larger shopping malls suffering from persistently high vacancy rates as footfall comes under pressure. The impacting on the confidence of retailers to expand is self-evident according to Tom Mundy Director, Research and Strategy, JLL, sub-Saharan Africa.
To throw a spotlight on the economy, Dr. Doyin Salami, foremost economist, professor at Lagos Business School and 2nd term Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) monetary policy committee member will through his keynote presentation give an insightful examination of key trends in the sub-Saharan and global economy with a specific view towards the future direction over the short and medium terms, including the outlook for GDP growth, interest rates and currency performance. On tackling global issues and its effects, JLL, one of the global leaders in real estate will make a key presentation highlighting the global issues, its effects, and solutions for the industry in Africa.
Other speakers at the conference sessions include:
Yemi Idowu – Managing Director, AircomValentine Ozigbo – CEO, Transcorp HotelsAdeniyi Adeleye – Head, Real Estate Finance (West Africa), Stanbic IBTC Bank PLCObi Nwogugu – Head of Real Estate, Africa Capital AllianceRonald Chagoury Jr. – Vice President, South EnergyxHakeem Oguniran – Managing Director, UPDC (Nigeria)Ernest Hanson – Director, Beaufort Properties (Ghana)Tom Mundy – Head of SSA Research & Market Intelligence Group, JLL (South Africa)Mustapha Njie – MD/CEO TAF Africa Global (Gambia)Andrea Geday, Managing Director of EL-ALANBolaji Edu- CEO Broll NigeriaChinwe Ajene-Sagna – Head, West Africa Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL)Funke Okubadejo, Director, Real Estate at Actis
During the summit, REU in partnership with W-Hospitality and HTI Consulting will launch a dedicated Hotel, Tourism and Leisure (HTL) meeting place for the hospitality community. Real Estate Unite HTL will connect global business leaders and local markets to invest in Nigeria. The key focus areas for this year’s conversations will include; Annual market and economic update; Global issues and effects on local markets; Emerging disruptors in African Real Estate; Housing Market; Ground breaking technologies built for Africa; SSA future cities and Infrastructure; Healthcare as the most important priority for improving SSA; Capital market trends; Overview of the Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure (HTL) sector in Africa; Retail Revolution; and Office market. Other features of the summit will include the launch of the Real Estate Unite Network (RUN), a platform designed to foster interaction between active local real estate investors, developers, lenders and policymakers with a view to identifying the right partners for your business and building high-value relationships.
“ 2017 Real Estate Unite Conference has been designed to offer the greatest possible value and flexibility to operators, owners, users and players in all sectors of real estate including the residential, office, retail, healthcare, hospitality, logistics, leisure and industrial sectors,” says Ruth Obih-Obuah, Chief Executive, 3INVEST.
Engr Roland Elijah
