Research Archive

To download the research reports please Register or Login

2016 (8)

2015 (2)

2014 (1)

2013 (1)

2012 (5)

2011 (4)

2010 (4)

2009 (4)

2008 (4)

2007 (2)

Research Files

2007 Q3 - Dakar Senegal Offices

An overview of the office sector in Dakar - Senegal. Q3 2007.

The main office locations in Dakar are Downtown (Plateau) to the south, Point E just to the north of Downtown and Les Almadies/Ngor in the north. Downtown is the location of most of the State's Ministries, many of the Embassies, Senegal's utility companies, and the national and regional banks.

Demand is reasonable but not particularly strong in terms of international corporate occupiers. There is a reasonable amount of residential development taking place, but less in terms of offices.

2007 Q4 - Accra Ghana Offices

An overview of the office sector in Accra - Ghana. Q4 2007

Historically Accra's Central Business District runs along the north side of High Street and is the location of Standard Chartered Bank, Ghana Commercial Bank and Barclays. To its eastern half the CBD is also home to many Government Ministries.

Because of congestion issues in this area of the city, much of the new development has focused to the north of High Street in the Ridge area, and particularly along Independence Avenue. Additionally there is a pocket of development in Airport City, adjacent to Accra International Airport.

2008 Q1 - Kigali Rwanda General

An overview of the real estate market in Kigali - Rwanda. Q1 2008

Residential
The city of Kigali is located over several hills often with steep gradients. The prime residential locations are just south of the Central Business District, where a number of the embassies and the Hotel Rwanda are situated. Another important district is to the north of the Boulevard de l'Umaganda where most of the ministries are located along with the US Embassy.

Offices
There is a very restricted supply of Grade A to B+ office space in Kigali. Some corporate businesses have created high specification offices in stand-alone buildings.

One of the features of this market which is unusual for Africa, particularly given proximity to the equator, is that it is rare to find air-conditioning, because of Kigali's temperate climate.

Industrial
The industrial park is to the south of the main route between the Central Business District and the airport. It comprises dated, often dilapidated, warehousing stock with low eaves and. Coca-Cola and Crown Paints are big local industrial employers.

2008 Q2 - Freetown Sierra Leone General.

An overview of the real estate market in Freetown - Sierra Leone. Q2 2008

Residential
In general the best residential districts are to the west and south of the city. To the west there is the upmarket and touristic area of Aberdeen and Lumley beach. To the south there are the hills, views and a slightly cooler environment and a less frenetic pace of life.

In particular to the south there is an ex-pat focus on the area around Spur Road and Hill Station. There is a reasonable level of development activity.

In terms of supply, generally the majority of the available stock is not up to international standards aesthetically nor in terms of specification and finish.

Offices
The Central Business District in Freetown is located close to Tower Hill and particularly on roads suchas Boston Street, Stevens Street and Independence Avenue. This is the banking area, including such regional and global operators as UBA, Ecobank and Standard Chartered. Government properties tend to be in a more elevated position on Tower Hill.

Owner-occupation is a feature of this market and it has not yet developed to the extent that there are large, good quality office buildings available for commercial leasing.

Industrial
Manufacturing consists mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. One of the largest enterprises is Star Breweries, which produce one of the most popular beers in West Africa.

Most of the industrial activity is to the east of the city where the port is located, and the lower-grade housing stock – in particular areas such as Cline Town and Kissy.

2008 Q3 - Colombo Sri Lanka General

An overview of the real estate market in Colombo - Sri Lanka. Q3 2008

Residential
There was an explosion of upmarket apartment block development in Colombo post-Tsunami, fuelled by an influx of foreign money and an emerging residential investment market. The resurgence of the civil war and unrest brought a halt to development market and weakened the residential market.

Offices
While there are offices located throughout Colombo, in terms of central locations there is a focus on Fort, Union Place and Galle Road/Duplication Road.

Outside of the city centre there are various other clusters particularly along the Beseline Road – the location of Colombo's first Business Park, Orion IT Park, and at Battaramulla which is the location of the country's Parliament.

Industrial
Almost all industrial activity in Colombo has been removed from the city and is focused around the Port, Airport and in satellite locations such as Biyagama.

2008 Q4 - Tripoli Libya General

An overview of the real estate market in Tripoli - Libya. Q4 2008 (prior to Civil War).

Residential
The best residential ex-pat areas are located to the east of the city centre (eg Bin Ashour, Noufleen), and to the west of Tripoli in Gargaresh, Alsirraj and Janzour. There are new upmarket residential areas developing along the Airport Road.

The market is relatively balanced in terms of supply and demand, demand being not just for residential use but also for offices. However, we have noticed that landlords are now asking for much larger upfront rental payments of between one and two years.

Offices
In general international businesses choose to locate in Tripoli's main office towers just to the west of the Medina, and also in converted villa buildings in the central upmarket residential area, and around Gargaresh Road. Many Libyan businesses are located to the south of Green Square and the roads that radiate from it.

Industrial
The best industrial locations are out towards the airport and along the airport road. Other areas of activity are out to the east of the city towards Tajora, and to the west at Alsirraj and Gorgi.

2009 Q1 - Malabo Equatorial Guinea General

An overview of the real estate market in Malabo - Equatorial Guinea. Q1 2009

The residential property market in Malabo is dominated by the oil companies, oil support companies and construction sector. Many of the oil companies lease or own land on which they have constructed residential compounds. The best residential locations outside of the compounds are generally to the south of the Airport Road near the Paraiso Hotel, Caracolas and Abayak.

Offices
The office market is very immature and otherwise smaller international businesses tend to occupy villas as offices, although there is some limited commercial space in a number of apartment buildings. The major dynamic in the Malabo market is the Malabo II development corridor where foreign businesses are being required to develop HQ buildings on at least five-stories.

Industrial
The manufacturing sector in Equatorial Guinea is very limited and the market is small. Much of the historic industries (eg vegetable oils, soap, building materials) were destroyed by nationalisation and the expulsion of ex-pat and Nigerian workers. Around Malabo there is some industrial development although almost all of this is oil related (eg Schlumberger, ExxonMobil, Marathon).

2009 Q2 - Algiers Algeria Offices

An overview of the real estate market in Algiers - Algeria. Q2 2009
The areas of Algiers that are considered safest, and therefore where most corporate occupiers have located their offices are in Hydra and Pins Maritime. Hydra is the location of many of the Embassies, hotels and some business centres. Pins Maritime is the location of the Hilton Hotel and the office building known as Algeria Business Center (ABC). Dely Ibrahim is also a location which is seeing a fair amount of development and corporate interest for larger requirements.

To download the research report please Register or Login

2009 Q3 - Dar Es Salaam Tanzania Offices

An overview of the real estate market in Dar Es Salaam - Tanzania. Q3 2009

While Dar Es Salaam is not the 'official' capital of Tanzania, it is the economic capital and, like many rapidly developing African cities, is undergoing great change in all its property sectors in terms of location, design, availability and pricing.

The city suffers from a congested and somewhat dilapidated Central Business District (CBD). While the CBD still retains the majority of businesses and commerce, the tendency for new development in recent years has been to relocate outside the immediate city centre.

2009 Q4 - Luanda Angola General

An overview of the real estate market in Luanda - Angola 2009 Q4

Angola was engulfed in a bitter 27 year civil war which ended in 2001. During that time there was virtually no real estate development in Luanda. Following the end of that civil war the country has seen massive investment, particularly in the oil sector.

Offices
The prime office area in Luanda is located along the Marginal (the road fronting the bay) and nearby streets. A second office area has developed and is continuing to be developed at Luanda Sul. This is the HQ location for a largenumber of construction companies and there has been some speculative development.

Residential
Prime areas for residential are Marginal, Mirama, Cruzeiro, Alvalade, Maianga, Maculusso, Imgobota,Quinanca, Ilha and Chicala. Out-of-town Luanda Sul has seen a huge amount of upscale development and is popular with ex-pats, although travel to the city centre can take several hours.

2010 Q1 - Cairo Egypt Offices

An overview of the office real estate market in Cairo - Egypt. Q1 2010

Cairo has two distinct office markets, a central Cairo market and that of the outer suburban office districts to the East and West adjacent to the Cairo Ring Road - an eight-lane freeway that provides a rapid link between the city centre office locations to the International Airport and suburban office centres.

Central Cairo has six sub-markets: Downtown, Zamalek, Nasr City, Ma'adi, Mohandeseen and Heliopolis.

Around 20km west of Downtown Cairo are two major business parks, Smart Village and Pyramid Heights. To the east of central Cairo is New Cairo - a popular location for back-office services for financial institutions.

2010 Q2 - Lagos Nigeria Corporate Survey

Corporate survey regarding the office market in Lagos - Nigeria. Q2 2010

EMC Real Estate undertook a survey of corporate and developer attitudes to the main business districts in Lagos.

The survey related to the impressions of occupiers and real estate developers as to which area of Lagos appeals to management and senior personnel versus non-executive personnel.

The survey also considered various key criteria relating to the choice of an office location with respondents scoring each criterion for each location in a range of 0-5, 0 being very poor and 5 being excellent.

2010 Q3 - Tunis Tunisia Offices

An overview of the office real estate market in Tunis - Tunisia. Q3 2010

The prime city office location is known as Belvédère and is located in an area bounded by Mohamed V and Belvédère Park. The secondary office area, Montplaisir has poorer accessibility and is less provided for in terms of car parking.

Central Tunis remains popular with financial and professional companies buts some businesses have looked to locate away from the historic core. Out-of-town office can be found at Tunis' "Technoparks" which have a IT-related status.

2010 Q4 - Africas Hot Spots

Africa's real estate hot spots. 2010 Q4

With Africa stabilising both politically and economically there is a surge of interest from foreign companies keen to invest in the continent and its accelerating spending potential. With many year's experience EMC RE has produced an infographic that represents the countries in which the firm has seen most Fortune 500 corporate real estate interest.

Not surprisingly the countries with most interest are the major oil exporters and the more diversified economies. However, there is also a category where corporates seem to be sensing the next surge of growth.

There is a huge variation in real estate values and practices across the continent. Office rents arguably show the broadest range from the lowest to the highest in the world.

2011 Q1 - Mauritius General

An overview of the office real estate market in Mauritius. Q1 2011

The historic Central Business District is found around Port Louis, waterfront. Barkly Warf (on the waterfront) commands the highest rental levels as it has harbour front views and provides modern office accommodation with ample car parking. The CBD is where the government and many of the major banks have many offices.

About 14 km north is Beau Plan, the former Sugar Plantation that has been converted into a small business park.

Approximately 12 km to the south-east of the city centre, on the main M2 route, lies Cyber City, which is the second major office centre in Mauritius. This business park was established by the Mauritian government as part of its drive to attract foreign technology companies.

[1] 2 3 > >>