Chinese Investment Boosts Africa’s Property Market
The inflow of Chinese investments into Africa’s real estate sector has had a positive effect on the continent’s property sector, experts said on Thursday.
Peter Welborn, Africa chairman of global real estate consultancy Knight Frank, told Xinhua in Nairobi that in some Africa countries such as Tanzania, there has been a lowering of office rent as a direct result of Chinese built commercial and residential houses.
“Chinese investors have increased the supply of buildings and hence reduced the prices for rent,” Welborn said during the launch of the firm’s Wealth Report 2016.
Welborn said Africans prefer to work with foreign investors who believe in the continent’s future.
“The Chinese have been preemptive in believing in Africa and that’s why they have been successful in the real estate sector,” he said, adding that the typical model that Chinese investors use is to partner with local investors.
“The Chinese provide the funds while the local partner provides the land. In this way, under-developed land is developed to create modern commercial and residential buildings,” he said.
