Land Equity Group has launched a comprehensive, independent advisory service, Africa Real Estate Advisors (AREA), in response to property investors’ needs to benefit from Africa’s significant growth potential.

Gregg Davies, CEO of AREA, said: “There is tremendous investment potential in African real-estate for both investors and local communities. The rapidly expanding and urbanising middle class in Sub-Saharan Africa necessitates high-quality property and infrastructure development to accommodate this influx and growth of disposable income and wealth distribution.”

“Our team's deep knowledge of local regulatory and fiscal frameworks as well as development risks enables us to provide practical commercial solutions to our clients. AREA's past experience in providing successful structured solutions lies behind our ability to identify opportunities, facilitate efficient developments and maximise growth for investors and local communities,” he said.

AREA is the first advisory service of its kind, providing a range of services to maximise property investment returns while recognising and implementing measures to mitigate the inherent risks of investing in Sub-Saharan Africa.

AREA started by advising a number of institutional clients regarding their investment strategies and structures and the establishment of property funds in various African regions.

It currently has over $100m of projects in various stages of development and a pipeline of $750m.

“AREA is at the forefront of property development and investment opportunities in the African market but we also understand the potential pitfalls unique to this investment sector and this is where we are able to provide our clients with comfort in investing in these various jurisdictions,” said Davies.

“Our advisory services span the entire investment and development process, from identifying suitable opportunities to executing the deal, optimising asset management and if necessary, initiating and managing subsequent developments. We work with investors who, like us, want the local communities where we invest to profit from our involvement. In addition to profitable investment for our clients, we want to leave behind a legacy of sustainable community development, wherever we invest,” he added.

AREA offers private and public property entities the complete spectrum of services needed to profitably invest in Sub-Saharan Africa, including corporate real estate advisory service, deal origination, development management, fund and asset management, raising capital, strategy and research, and leasing and tenant strategy.

“By combining Africa’s investment potential with AREA’s knowledge and experience in the various jurisdictions we will assist investors throughout the entire investment process creating unrivaled access to this exciting growth opportunity,” said Davies.