Growthpoint Investec African Properties, a property investment holding company led by Investec Asset Management and Growthpoint Properties, is looking to deploy capital in the near future, according to Thomas Reilly, Managing Director.

“We are focussing on cities which are economically attractive, democratic and display strong demographics, including urbanisation growth and a growing middle class,” he said.

“We have a handful of cities that we find really attractive at this point in time,” Reilly told Africa Global Funds.

Growthpoint Investec African Properties was conceptualised in late 2015 with Growthpoint Properties subsequently committing an initial $50m in the vehicle. 

In addition, the initiative is supported by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, which committed $40m in equity.

The JV is looking to invest in commercial real estate in select cities across the African continent with the goal of generating compelling and sustainable shareholder returns and having a meaningful socio-economic impact, including contributing to the development of the capital markets for real estate. 

Commercial real estate assets targeted for investment include high-quality office space, retail and industrial or logistics properties, especially in the region’s largest capital cities.

“I think the timing of us entering the market is opportune and that our strategy is compelling. Typically we are looking at capital cities in Africa. Exceptions to that over time for example would be Lagos in Nigeria,” commented Reilly.

“We are looking to ultimately create a portfolio of scale, with a typical transaction size of between $20m and $100m,” he said.

“We have a very significant pipeline, with a large percentage of assets currently concentrated in five cities - Casablanca (Morocco), Tangier (Morocco), Accra (Ghana), Nairobi (Kenya) and Lusaka (Zambia). It’s a well-diversified portfolio with assets segregated across the office, retail and industrial sectors,” he added.