James Whitmee

I am in Port of Spain in Trinidad looking at the office market. I have come here on a plane that island hops, and by the time I get back to the UK I will have been in five Caribbean countries.

The major users of office space in Port of Spain comprise Government and the oil companies. BP is probably the largest single corporate user of offices with 150,000+ sq ft.

Government is now mostly located to the south of the city, and in particular in the new, high-rise development which has taken place on the waterfront around the Hyatt and Radisson hotels at Downtown Port.

James Whitmee

I am in Bamako in Mali. I am reviewing the residential market, particularly in the areas of ACI 2000, Badalabougou, and Cite du Niger. They are all very good areas, but quite different at the same time.

ACI 2000 is the site of the old airport. When I first started coming here, twelve years ago, it was a relatively new area and the Americans had just moved their embassy there. It is now a major commercial area and along the main boulevards there are some of Bamako’s biggest office buildings. Here is a photo over part of ACI 2000 which I took today.

Arturo Pavani

Sitting exactly halfway between Cairo and Cape Town, on a lush and green elevated plain, is Arusha. This quiet and little town is home to the East African Community Offices, and the point of departure for the many safaris in the area, like the ones to the famous Ngorongoro crater, or as starting point to climb mount Meru (4562 m), which is commonly considered to be a good warm up hike for those who then want to move on to the more challenging Kilimanjaro (5895 m).

Ian Lawrence

Street protests resulting from teacher pay disputes have meant being confined to the hotel for my first few days in Conakry, Guinea with the only consolation being that the new Sheraton is excellent in terms of service, design and quality. The quality of the Sheradon design and construction is in stark contrast to the majority of buildings on the market with the exception of several apartment buildings that have recently completed after a period of inactivity during the Ebola outbreak.

Charles Hector Whitmee

This week I am in the outskirts of Lisbon, where, despite it being September, it has consistently been over 30° C. I have been studying the residential market in two areas, namely, Amoreira and São João do Estoril. Amoreira is an up and coming location which has seen significant development over recent years with demand in Cascais and Estoril having outstripped supply forcing buyers and developers to look further inland. São João do Estoril, on the other hand, is a well-established, coastal location popular with expats and high-income Portuguese who work in the capital.

James Whitmee

I am in Morocco looking at the retail market. Yesterday I was in Casablanca where I visited AnfaPlace, Morocco Mall and Tachfine Center.

I hired a car and last night I drove down to Marrakech. The road is good and it took me about 2.5 hours. Today I have been looking at Menara Mall, Carre Eden and Al Mazar.

James Whitmee

I am in Oran which is Algeria's second city after Algiers, and around 400 km from the capital.

There has been a lot of luxury apartment and touristic development here, and there is some major public construction taking place including new roads and the Stadium at Bir El Djir which is being built for the Mediterranean Games (taking place in 2021). There is a much wider choice of hotels here than in Algiers and they are generally better and cheaper.

James Whitmee

I am in Dhaka in Bangladesh. I have travelled here from Mali and have brought the rain with me. It is monsoon season here and that’s a challenge as this is very much a walk-the-streets project. I am here looking at the office market. I was in Dhaka late last year when I was focussed on the Farmgate/Sonargaon area of the city. I am now a bit further north in the “international corporate” area of Gulshan, Banani, Tejgaon (also an industrial area) and Mohakhali.

James Whitmee

I am in Nouakchott in Mauritania. I was last here one year ago and there continues to be a lot of progress.

Most of the recent construction they have done here is of infrastructure. The new Nouakchott-Oumtouncy Airport is one of the best I have been to in West Africa, and it is efficient with a visa-on-arrival system.

Michael Lowes 

I am back in Ulaanbaatar visiting with our client following an initial visit last month. Continuing my theme of providing a geographical fact on each city I visit I can inform you that Ulaanbaatar is classed as the world’s coldest capital city with an average annual temperature of -0.4°C. It is now spring time but the weather can still be very changeable, yesterday it was sunny and 24°C and this morning it has been snowing!