Nairobi has
overshadowed Africa’s cities such as Lagos and Kinshasa to become
sub-Saharan Africa’s top destination for developers setting up shopping
malls.
A report by property management firm Knight
Frank shows that Nairobi has a total shopping mall space of 391,000
square metres (sqm), with an additional 470,000 sqm in the pipeline.
The
report, which it titled ‘2016 Shop Africa’, listed Namibia’s Windhoek
capital as the second biggest retail city with a floor space of 260,000
sqm with Botswana’s Gaborone coming in third at 247,000 sqm.
Uganda’s Kampala was ranked fourth with a space measuring 182,000 sqm.
“Among
the cities covered by this report, Nairobi stands out as a major focus
for shopping centre development,” the report, which covered 47 countries
in the continent, states.
“It is ranked as the largest market by existing shopping centre floor space and it has the biggest development pipeline.”
The
report excludes South Africa which has an estimated, three million
square metre space, seven times more than the rest of sub-Saharan
Africa.
Lagos, whose population stands at 12.6 million,
has an existing mall space of 121,000 sqm with an additional space of
240,000 sqm under development.
Nairobi has over the
past decade been the scene of a shopping mall construction frenzy with
investors seeking to cash in on increased spending power of a growing
middle class population.
The
report notes economic growth across the continent has produced a
population that is “brand conscious and technology-savvy” and who
“demand access to the increasingly sophisticated retail formats” offered
by the new malls.
They include TRM and Garden City on
Thika Road, The Hub in Karen, Ananas Mall in Thika town and Juja City
Mall are among the latest developments in Nairobi and its environs.
The
spruced up shopping centres have expansive food courts, supermarket
chains, cinemas and luxury clothing lines among other retail stores
which offer wide variety to well-heeled shoppers.
Some
of the upcoming malls in Nairobi include Two Rivers, Rosslyn Riviera in
Gigiri, The Waterfront in Karen, while Garden City and the Village
Market are also expanding their facilities.
This
growing retail sector has attracted international brands such as
clothing line Foshini Group, French supermarket chain Carrefour and
fast-food companies including Pizza Hut, Subway and Burger King.
“Within
sub-Saharan cities where the shopping centre concept has already taken
root, the trend is towards the development of bigger and higher quality
malls.
“This is exemplified by Nairobi, already the
largest market in the region by floor space, it has seen its retail
offer continue to grow and improve.”Nairobi, Luanda, Lagos, Dar es Salaam and Maputo were ranked as the cities with the largest upcoming shopping space. The cities have a total of 1.5 million sqm under construction
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