SHOPPING centre developers, retailers and property funds still keen to enter the rest of Africa will have to be more cautious as the continent hasn’t turned out to be as lucrative a real estate destination as was widely expected five years ago.Back then, Africa was being punted as the world’s next big growth story. Many climbed on the bandwagon to build formal shopping centres across sub-Saharan Africa to serve a seemingly strong and growing middle class.But only 25% of all the development projects envisaged for the region in 2011 have come to fruition, says Dirk Prinsloo, CEO of property research group Urban Studies. Moreover, some of the newly opened malls in places such as Lagos, Nairobi and Accra haven’t lived up to expectations, with turnover and footfall figures well below projected targets.Prinsloo says the fact that some new centres have underperformed, coupled with the significant shift in Africa’s economic growth outlook following last year’s oil and commodity price slump,...
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