“Even though the economies of Nigeria and Ghana is ever dynamic, its property industry’s is again an interest to regional and international real estate investors” says the Managing Director of API Events, Kfir Rusin, the host of the 5th West Africa Property Investment (WAPI) Summit taking place on 26 & 27 November 2019. “These are markets that are continuously progressing and evolving despite trading barriers” The MD communicated this year’s theme to be, ‘Uncovering the Next Real Estate Investment Cycle’.
He stated the theme was derived from the current estimated number of purchases of real estate from local and international stakeholders, he opined that they are impressed with the West African Real Estate Industry as they now see it as increasingly attractive to DFI’s, Private Equity Firms, institutional and global investors.
With over 400 delegates attending and 70 speakers confirmed, including several globally respected leaders, this year’s WAPI Summit will again advance the real estate agenda across the West African real estate value chain.
This year’s global investment keynote speaker is REITWAY Global’s Chief Investment Officer, Garreth Elston. With more than $75 Million under management, Elston states that while REITWAY Global’s investment strategy is centered on globally listed property stocks, he is beginning to prioritize rising asset classes. “We invest across the full range of global listed property companies, currently over twenty sectors and sub-sectors. Currently, we have a particular focus on logistics and warehousing, as well as technology sectors such as Data Centres and Communication Towers,” he says. With investment in warehousing and logistics by WAPI Summit partners such as Agility Africa and Rendeavour; the region’s real estate ecosystem is increasingly expanded and sophisticated, yet requires transparency, regulatory and policy assurance to attract and retain investment, says Rusin. A process of formalization, which is a key focus for all WAPI Events across Africa and a measurable result of all its Summit over the past five years.
Despite the vast growth in the sophistication and development in the regional market, West Africa’s markets need to observe that competition for investment is hyper-competitive and competence strained says Elston.
He also stated that “Markets are highly competitive for FDI investment globally, and if there is no regard for regulatory laws, property rights and freedom of capital movement, they will continue to play second place to markets that provide investors with the most attractive location,” Bearing in mind that the West African property markets do not have similar amount of liquidity in their markets, Rusin believes that with the high percentage of international speakers, delegates, and sponsors, as well as the more than $1 BN raised and deployed by API Events’ stakeholders this year, it is substantial proof that a new investment cycle in Africa has begun.
As Rusin comments, “In agreement with Gareth Elston, we have obtained speakers from across Africa and internationally, for example, Agility Africa’s CEO Geoffrey White, and others, who are all motivated to network with fellow partners in one of Africa and the world’s most attractive and fast-growing markets.”
The conference will offer experiential knowledge, thought-leadership, and solution-focused tools ultimately driving further advancement and interest in the local and regional real estate market.
For Elston, a first-time speaker for API Events, the WAPI Summit gives him a chance to achieve his objectives of meeting and imparting bits of knowledge on property to regional real estate stakeholders. “Sharing and learning from fellow real estate specialists, and helping to develop and grow the success of listed property as a tangible asset class in West Africa,” says Elston.
As Rusin ends, “This is API Events’ 5th WAPI Summit, and our tenth year of operating across Africa, and we’re ready to leverage our credibility of creating world-class deal-making events for investors, developers and operators. And so, this year’s Summit and Expo is our biggest West African event to date, with over 200 organizations represented and more than 40 sponsors and exhibitors with more to come.” ends
The summit centers around overcoming current challenges in the West African Property Market while uncovering the market opportunities across Nigeria and Ghana. The conference will offer experiential knowledge, thought-leadership and solution-focused tools ultimately driving further advancement and interest in the local and regional real estate market.
