While interest in student housing has been fuelled by a growing student population, actual investment has been delayed in this segment as education has not yet returned to a ‘new normal’. Lastly, Sekyere says the serviced office sector is gaining momentum as occupiers opt for more flexible options that are cost-effective and also promote the well-being of their workers. “The longer-term trends in the Nigerian property market are currently unclear and difficult to project,” says Bolaji Edu, CEO of Broll Nigeria. Lagos, in particular, has a distinct multinational and domestic market segment, with little overlap between the two. The occupancy rate of Grade A office buildings is currently under 40%, as workers continue to work from home or opt for a hybrid model. “This is leading to a fairly downbeat short-to-medium forecast,” says Edu, with the uptake of Grade A office space in H1 2021 at its lowest level since Broll started tracking the market. “We are not projecting a significant increase in H2 2021. However, with the rollout of vaccinations and the introduction of vaccine passports, business travel should bounce back and boost commercial activity. That being said, it is unlikely that multinationals with Nigerian operations will reverse the space-consolidation plans they have already started to implement.” Any market change or disruption is likely to see the emergence of new trends, and Nigeria is no different. “Affordable and social housing remain a prominent topic of discussion. Other sectors seeing a rise in institutional activity and with long-term growth prospects include student housing, data centres and healthcare and medical offices,” says Edu.
flexible leases and improved commercial terms so as to attract tenants. “On the other hand, developers may opt for buildings with flexible floor plates so as to tap into the new requirement of occupiers for smaller spaces. At the same time, we have seen some emerging trends like affordable housing, which is being championed by the government as one of its major social development agendas, as well as the emergence of data centres,” says Kimatu. Ghana has seen a similar shift in the commercial space due to COVID-19. Multinationals are gradually returning to the office, albeit on a hybrid system, while back-office staff in particular are still being encouraged to work from home. “This trend is likely to have a negative impact on space uptake in the near-term,” says Tony Sekyere, CEO of Broll Ghana. Market intel reveals that the average space uptake has dropped from a pre COVID-19 level of 200 m 2 to 350 m 2 per transaction to a post COVID-19 level of 100 m 2 to 200 m 2 . Tenant subletting requests are, however, diminishing due to increased business confidence following a robust vaccination rollout. “In general, we have noted that the global financial crisis has eased investor appetite for real estate investment. This is likely to affect the development pipeline, with most investors deferring speculative projects,” says Sekyere. Rentals of Grade A space have been on a downward slide lately, with landlords offering incentives such as extended rent-free periods and flexible payment terms to sustain occupier interest. The key emerging sector in the Ghanaian property market is data centres, driven mainly by the digitalisation policy of the government. “We anticipate that this sector will continue to grow rapidly,” says Sekyere.
15 CONSTRUCTION WORLD JANUARY 2022
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