Property investment opportunities out of Africa

photo credit: Traveller07

If you can get past stereotypes of political instability, lions and flesh eating bacteria (Mycobacterium ulcerans in case you wanted to know), then you might be interested in what one Dubai-based property developer has to say this week. Kensington Real Estate has told arabianbusiness.com that it is set to focus on Africa for property development in the coming years.

Company director, Ashish Thakkar, told the website that the continent will be the next big thing in real estate development:

“Africa is where our aggressive focus is. We’re looking at hotel and development projects there. It’s the next big thing. What India and China were five years ago is what Africa is today.”

Media portrayals a setback

He believes that the main setback for Africa is the media’s negative portrayal and he’s hoping to put some positivity back in. Positivity in the form of $272 million worth of investment and the development of two residential and commercial projects in Africa, with a third project underway. Arabianbusiness.com also reports that they will soon announce a “very large” fourth project in Africa.

Rio signs up for real estate

The aforementioned third project currently underway is Kensington Luxury Heights, a 150-home residential community in Uganda. The developer boasts that footballer Rio Ferdinand has already signed up for a house there. The same Rio Ferdinand who has been employed by the company as brand ambassador for the project. Nice try. What’s next, David Beckham and Posh Spice moving to the Congo? I think not somehow.

Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate invetsing, property, property investment