242 shopping centers across the African continent in 2014. 179 new malls expected by 2017

PARIS, June 12, 2014.

Sagaci Research, a market intelligence firm dedicated to African markets, released the second edition of its report on shopping centers across the African continent. This report, the result of several months of investigation and information gathering in the field, highlights an extremely active market with important differences between countries and regions.

Across Africa, excluding South Africa, 242 shopping centers have been identified for a total surface of 4.3 million sqm (Gross Leasable Area, GLA). Of the total supply, 71 of the shopping centers are located in North Africa (29% of centers and 52% of the total surface), 29 in West Africa, 9 in Central Africa, 99 in East Africa and 34 in Southern Africa. “Shopping centers in Sub-Saharan Africa tend to be much smaller than in North Africa (or in Europe), with an average of 12,000 sqm per center vs. 32,000 sqm in North Africa” specifies Julien Garcier, Managing Director of Sagaci Research.

This report also provides a ranking of shopping centers across the continent based on their attractiveness for international tenants. The five most attractive malls, ranked “AAA” by Sagaci Research, are all located in North Africa (in Egypt and Morocco). In Sub-Saharan Africa, “AA” shopping centers are located in Senegal and Namibia, “A” shopping centers are in Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria and Zambia.

The publication also provides an analysis of the presence of international tenants in African shopping centers. A selected number of European and North American brands (Bata, City Sport, Celio, Aldo, KFC, Adidas, Nike, Mango, Etam,…) are present in leading shopping centers in North and West Africa. South African brands (Shoprite, Woolworths, Truworths, Mr Price,…), historically well positioned in Southern and East Africa, are progressively moving towards West African markets and are competing head-to-head with European and North American brands.

Since January 2013, 14 centers have been opened across Africa (4 in West Africa, 3 in North Africa, 3 in Southern Africa, 3 in East Africa and 1 in Central Africa), adding 360,000 sqm of GLA. In the coming years, boosted by the emergence of a middle class and by the expansion of international brands, the total shopping center surface should double to reach 9 million sqm by 2017. Across the continent, 179 new shopping centers projects are being developed (including 24 in Nigeria, 18 in Egypt, 17 in Zambia, 16 in Ghana, 15 in Morocco, 12 in Angola…) mainly by local players, such as Petra in Morocco, but also by a few international developers/investors such as Actis/Laurus, Novare, RMB Westport,… who are very active in the Sub-Saharan region.

“As a good indicator of the attractiveness of the industry, 60 new shopping centers projects have been announced since publication of our last report in May 2013” highlights Julien Garcier. 21 of these new projects are in West Africa, such as the Carrefour/CFAO project in Abidjan, 15 in East Africa, 11 in North Africa, 7 in Central Africa and 6 in Southern Africa. Beyond these projects, some countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Angola, Tanzania and Ethiopia remain very attractive for developers with an unmet demand of 10 to 20 shopping centers in each country between now and 2017.

The full study is available on www.sagaciresearch.com

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About Sagaci Research

 

Sagaci Research is a market intelligence firm dedicated to African markets. The firm, founded in 2012 by former consultants from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), publishes reports and databases on retail and consumer goods topics, statistical data on household consumption and conducts field studies in 20 countries of the continent. As such, Sagaci Research is the exclusive supplier of high-quality data and information on African economies for leading multinational companies and investors.

 
For more information, please see www.sagaciresearch.com
Contact : Julien Garcier, Partner & Managing Director, tel: +33 6 25 05 06 07