September 2022

We have continued to be very active in the French-speaking African markets and have just started marketing a significant office investment in Kinshasa on behalf of a European-listed investor/developer (for further details contact James Charnaud).

A broad range of projects came across our desk during September and we made proposals for work in Cameroon, Eswatini, Guatemala, Kenya, Kiribati, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Tonga and Vanuatu

In Dakar, Senegal we have been handling multiple projects including the valuation of an apartment block in Les Almadies, and a search for offices with a focus on Mermoz, Fann and Plateau.

In relation to the Dakar office market we report as follows:

Plateau, the old CBD, remains popular with some banks, insurance companies, airlines, and embassies, but in general we have seen a shift in the office market over the past 10 years to the centre (Point E) and north of the peninsula (Les Almadies). The new development zone at Diamniadio (some 25 km off the peninsular and out towards the new airport), is also starting to gain traction with many of the Ministries being located here and with UN’s huge new HQ nearing completion.

Major office requirements in this market are generally only satisfied by building-to-suit (for example, World Bank’s new carbon-neutral development at Les Almadies), and there has been a low level of speculative office construction, all of which has been undertaken by local developers. We would say that an average international corporate requirement in this market is in the range of 300-500 sq m.

Recent speculative office development has been “pushing” the market in providing space to a shell and core finish, and we are seeing quoting positions rising well above CFA 10,000 /sq m /month (where the market was “stuck” for many years) to CFA 14,000 /sq m /month and beyond. The market is anticipating a surge in rents as new high-quality product launches, the most notable of which is Sertem’s Tour des Mamelles.