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Africa is showing strong growth in data and transparency with Nigeria and Kenya leading in improvements, says the 2018 Global Real Estate and Transparency Index (GRETI). South and Mauritius still lead the continent. But Kenya and Nigeria shows remarkable improvements to underscore the pulsating growth in data and transparency in the two countries.
The 2018 Global Real Estate Transparency Index covers 100 markets and is based on 186 indicators. These variables are divided into six areas –performance measurement, market fundamentals, governance of listed vehicles, regulatory & legal frameworks, transaction process and environmental sustainability.
London-based, Jeremy Kelly, of JLL, will present the African Chapter of their market leading Global Real Estate and Transparency Index (GRETI) to 600 of the continent’s leading real estate developers and investors at the 9th annual API Summit & Expo taking place in Johannesburg on 20 and 21 September 2018.
“In this year’s version only 10 of the 15 African markets have improved, which has been led by Nigeria and Kenya,” said Kelly who is recognised as a global thought leader and advocate for transparency and data across global real estate markets. Kelly will lead the conversation on the importance of data and transparency which are vital in establishing market health and making better decisions.
JLL has been tracking the transparency of the global real estate market for 20 years and today, the demand for higher transparency is stronger than ever.
“Measuring data is challenging in Africa, but dynamic,” said Kenya based, Charles Ballard, of Sagaci Research, one of the firms credited for developing greater actionable insight into African growing retail sector.
The API Summit & Expo creats a platform for African and global real estate data and transparency experts to share insights, best practice and solidify global and regional investor confidence in Africa’s high growth economies.
“Our aim at the summit will be to draw attention to the importance of real estate transparency, not only in boosting investment, but also enhancing business efficiencies, raising living standards and safeguarding the environment,” said Kelly.
By drawing on specific regional and global parallels, Kelly will provide a unique perspective and context on how African markets can move up the “transparency spectrum” to the continent’s decision makers.
“We hope our presentation will be a catalyst for event participants to think about how they can practically contribute to enhancing transparency in Africa,” said Kelly.
However, despite this incremental movement up the transparency ladder by the continent’s markets, the most encouraging aspect of this year’s report for Kelly is the greater volume and quality of data collected by African firms such as Sagaci Research and Estate intel.
“Overall we continue to see advances made in areas such as the quality and frequency of valuations across many markets in sub-Saharan Africa, while market data availability has also continued to improve for select countries and sectors such as logistics and hotels.”
According to the host of the 9th API Summit & Expo, Kfir Rusin: “increasing data flow and transparency are absolutely pivotal to the development and deepening of investment in the continent’s property markets.”
Adding that “being able to bring global and Africa pioneers together at the API Summit & Expo and aid them in leveraging our platform to elevate the importance of data and transparency as a key driver of investment growth is a primary objective of the conference.”
