More UK property investors are eyeing real estate assets in Africa’s booming economies and other emerging markets outside Europe as sentiment against property buying change for the better and buyers become willing to take on bigger risks in sub-Saharan countries.
According to Ray Withers, chief executive of investment specialist investment firm Property Frontier, the allure of international investment has returned to UK property hunters as “people’s attitude towards the risk (has) changed,”
“Good international opportunities never actually went away; it’s just that people feel confident enough now in their own finances, and the global outlook, to start investing abroad once more,” Withers told Opp.today.
“For those with the appetite, there are of course excellent opportunities in the emerging markets, especially regions in Africa that are now booming.”
Economies in sub-Saharan Africa have witnessed one of the fastest growth rate in the world over the last decade as the continent’s middle class balloons and governments invest heavily in infrastructure developments.
It is projected that 13 of 20 fastest-growing global economies over the next five years will be in Africa.
According to a recent report by Knight Frank, an increased number of international investors are investigating opportunities in African real estate markets, attracted by these startling economic and demographic growth prospects.
Africa population is expected to quadruple to over four billion by the end of the 21st century making it arguably the single most imports demographic trend that will shape the world over the course of the next few decades.
“The growth of Africa’s cities and economies will do much to define the global socio-economic landscape over the coming decades,” Matthew Colbourne, Knight Frank’s international research associate, told World Property Journal.
Peter Welborn, head of Africa at Knight Frank, said they firm had seen an increased interest in African properties from a “diverse range of international investors, developers and occupiers” in recent years.
“While many African countries remain challenging places in which to do business, there are high-growth opportunities across Africa for those able to those able to navigate their way through the markets.”
