CFC Stanbic Plans Sh5bn Mall in Nairobi

The investment banking subsidiary of CFC Stanbic Group has announced plans to construct a Sh5 billion shopping mall in Nairobi, in a bid to cash in on Kenya’s booming property market.

Stanbic Investment Management Services (SIMS), which has now re-branded to Stanlib, will raise the funds by inviting investors to pool their resources with the promise of getting a return after five to seven years.

According to Stanlib regional director James Muratha, the Nairobi shopping mall is Stanlib’s first direct venture into the real estate market and will be developed in partnership with its South African partner.

“This will be our first direct entry into the property market and we will do real estate investments in partnership with our Stanlib partner in South Africa,” Mr Muratha said.

In August, Johannesburg-based Stanlib Asset Management announced it planned to raise Sh55 billion by early 2014 to meet the fast-growing demand for retail and commercial infrastructure in Africa.

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The firm had also set a target to raise Sh13 billion by November this year for acquiring land and beginning construction on five projects in Kenya and Nigeria.

Stanlib joins a growing number of high-net-worth investors venturing into the Kenyan property market to ride a housing boom fuelled by a burgeoning middle class with growing disposable incomes.

A few months ago, London-based private equity fund Actis unveiled plans to build a Sh12.4 billion mixed-use development (Garden City) that will include a 50,000 sqm shopping mall on the newly completed Thika Superhighway.

The Nairobi property market has become a very attractive investment ground for investors as the city rides on nearly three decades of under-investment in the retail and commercial property segments.

An international survey dubbed Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index showed that Nairobi’s high-end property market recorded a 21.8 per cent growth between June 2011 and June 2012 – the highest growth rate by an African city.

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